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According to the Marescotti-Ruspoli archive and as often seen on
various family trees and reported on the official "Libro d'oro della
Nobiltà Italiana" published by the Collegio Araldico, the origins of the
Marescotti can be traced back to Marius Scotus born in Galloway in south
west Scotland in the 8th century.
In the year 773 king
Charlemagne started a military campaign against the Lombards in Italy,
because they were not respecting an agreement made with Pepin the Short
to give part of their land to the state of the Church. He asked for help
from king of Dál Riata (Western Scotland) Eochaid IV.[5] The latter
asked his cousin Count William of Douglas to recruit and bring to France
a brigade of 4,000 men, which he did. But soon thereafter he had to
return to Scotland to govern the family clan, leaving his command to his
younger brother Marius Douglas, who at the time was described as
courageous, tall, strong and with a reddish beard.
The army of
the Franks crossed the Alps and took base in the Benedictine Abbey of
Novalesa, in the high valley of Dora Riparia. Mario Scoto, as he was
known in Italy, discovered a small path through forests between the
mountains which was absolutely unusable by the army, but perfect for the
Scottish highlanders. After walking quietly for three days along the
path, Mario Scoto and his men attacked the Lombards by surprise from the
back, while king Charlemagne attacked with the cavalry from the front.
It was a major victory for the Franks which marked the decline of the
Lombards in Italy.
In the spring of the following year, Pope
Adrian I and the king decided to meet. With a small escort, amongst whom
Mario Scoto was present, Charlemagne travelled the ancient via Cassia to
Saint Peter's Basilica where he was received and blessed by the pope.
Mario Scoto was Catholic as were the majority of Scottsmen at the time
and at the service of his king became himself a defender of the Faith.
He became an appreciated military advisor and distinguished himself in
the Spanish campaign and in the battle against the Saxons at the
confluence of the Weser with the Aller in which of the 5,000 Saxons,
only the 500 who chose to be baptised were spared their lives.
Towards the end of the century Mario Scoto retired from the army,
married an Italian noblewoman called Marozia and, for his devotion to
the pope, settled in Rome where he was granted the honor to escort the
pope. He was therefore present when in April 799 Pope Leo III was
assaulted and kidnapped near the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina. Mario
Scoto was able to find the pope in a monastery on the Aventine Hill and
rescued him and returned him to his throne at the Holy See. The scene
was later painted in Bologna by Giuseppe Antonio Caccioli.
On
Christmas Day 800 Mario Scoto was invested Count of Bagnacavallo in
Romagna and was granted the privilege to adorn his family crest, which
already had the rampant leopard (sic) of Scotland, with the three
fleur-de-lis, characteristic symbol of the French kings.
The
family still conserves an old portrait of a soldier with the following
encryption in Latin: "Marius de Calveis, Scotus, Carl Mag M Dux Familiam
Marescotti Fundavit ANN D. DCCC" (Marius of Galloway, Scottish, military
commander under Charlemagne, founder of the Marescotti family. AD 800)
In the 9th century the Marescotti people (name derived from Mario
Scoto) carried the title of counts of Bagnacavallo, a large fiefdom
between the Lamone and Savio rivers. Charlemagne had received vast lands
in the Bologna area and had later distributed them, as was the custom in
those days, to the veterans of his army.
Some members of the
family in chronological order:
Alberto il Malvicino de Calveiso
de' Calvi Count of Bagnacavallo. Alberto Count of Bagnacavallo. Ermes,
Massimiliano and Oddo Marescotti (Mariscotti) were Consuls of Orvieto
respectively in 1035, 1091 e 1099. Carbone - in 1120 build a tower in
Bologna. Marescotto - Consul of Imola nel 1140
Raniero Marescotti
- elected cardinal by Pope Lucius II December 18, 1144.
Marescotto - Consul of Bologna e Captain general of Bologna in the war
against Imola in 1179. Pietro de' Calvi Marescotti - Podestà of Faenza
in 1185. Marescotto Consul of Bologna 1227 Guglielmo - Podestà di Siena
nel 1232, his son Corrado was Chancellor of Emperor Frederick II in
1249. Alberto Marescotti son of Ugolino was Consul of Bologna, Captain
general of the infantry of Bologna, then took Faenza in 1281 and
regained Imola in 1290.
See also:
• Marius Douglas
• Mario Scoto
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