House of Mattei
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mattei family was one of the most powerful Roman noble families during the Renaissance, holding high positions in the papal curia. The Mattei gave eight Cardinals to the Church, among them Girolamo Mattei (1586), Gaspare Maffei (1643) Alessandro Mattei (1803), Mario Mattei and, as late as 1875, Ruggero Luigi Emidio Antici Mattei. The founder of one powerful branch of the Mattei was Giovanni Giacomo Mattei, Count Palatine of the Lateran Palace and Conservatore of Rome, 1451. He married in 1437 Isabella dei conti dell'Anguillara.
In Rome the Mattei owned five palazzi in the rione Sant'Angelo (together they formed the so called "isola dei Mattei": see Palazzo Mattei), and one in Trastevere. Moreover, they owned Villa Celimontana in the rione Celio. The family assumed control over the bridges closest to their ancestral palace, levying charges on various types of traffic, including the Jews who lived in the nearby ghetto when burying their dead outside the city.
The purchase of the territory of Giove in 1597 entitled two Mattei brothers to be marchesi di Giove, raised in 1643 to a dukedom, in addition to their older title of Nobile Romano. Duke of Paganica was another Maffei title.
