Spinola Family

Spinola Family, one of the noble families that dominated the history of Genoa, Italy, during the city-state’s great period, from the 12th to the 14th century.

They were descended from a younger son of Ido, the viscount who ruled Genoa in the 10th century as the representative of its feudal lord, the Marchese Obertinghi. The Spinola furnished many consuls to the aristocratic “consular” commune of the 12th century. Guido Spinola served as consul several times between 1102 and 1121. In 1190 his descendant, also named Guido, commanded a Genoese fleet in the Third Crusade, afterward being repeatedly elected consul and serving on a number of embassies.

During the first half of the 13th century, in predominantly Guelf (pro-papal) Genoa, the Spinola headed the Ghibellines, the party supporting the Holy Roman emperor Frederick II in the factional struggles of the period. Niccolò Spinola (d. 1240) became grand admiral of Frederick’s fleet. In 1237 Guglielmo Spinola led an unsuccessful coup against the Guelf podesta (chief magistrate), who sentenced the rebels to exile and destruction of their houses and property but revoked the sentence on intervention of the archbishop of Genoa. In 1270 Oberto Spinola and Oberto Doria instituted the first of a series of governments headed by members of their two families when they seized power as captains of the people. The two men ruled Genoa for the 15 years that have been termed the golden age of the Genoese medieval commune. Other Spinola who served jointly with Doria as captains of the people were Oberto Spinola’s son Corrado; Opizzino (Opicino) Spinola during Emperor Henry VII’s invasion of Italy; and, after a long interruption, Galeotto Spinola in 1335. At that time the resumption of the rule of the two powerful families ended in a popular revolt and the installation of the first doge of Genoa (1339). The Spinola made several unsuccessful attempts to regain power.

In later periods, first under the domination of Genoa by the Visconti of Milan and then by Spain, Austria, and France, the Spinola distinguished themselves as soldiers, prelates, ambassadors, and literary men. When the constitutional reforms of Andrea Doria reinstated the dogeship, Battista Spinola occupied that office from 1531 to 1533. Notable among the family’s military men was the Spanish general Ambrogio di Spinola (1569–1630). The family contributed three archbishops to Genoa and 13 cardinals. Among its literary figures were several historians, including Massimiliano Spinola (1812–79), the author of works on Ligurian history. Among the famous women of the family was Laura di Negro Spinola (d. 1838), who aided the cause of Giuseppe Mazzini, the Italian revolutionary patriot, and his followers.