Amidei

Amidei was the name of a noble and ancient family from Florence, Italy. The Amidei, according to a tradition came from Rome, but lived in Florence since the foundation of the city.

History

The Amidei lived in Florence and in the area around the city. They owned a castle in Mugnana and other properties in that zone. At that time they probably produced oil and wine, although their main financial income was from loans. They loaned money and some times the loan kept on from father to son. In fact there was one or more wills in which the father stated he was leaving some credits that had to be withdrawn. Bongianni of the Amidei was a councillor in Florence in 1182. In the early thirteenth century, the Amidei were closely allied with the Ghibelline faction, led by the Uberti and Lamberti families. Their strongold was on via Por San Maria, which connected the Ponte Vecchio to the Mercato Nuovo and Mercato Vecchio. (The remains of their tower, Torre d'Amidei, survived World War Two and can still be seen.)

The Amidei are particularly famous for their role in the factional conflicts between the Guelfs and Ghibellines. In 1215 a fight broke out during a banquet celebrating the ennoblement of a young Florentine. One young noble, Buondelmonte de' Buondelmonti, stabbed a rival in the arm. To make up for the injury and dishonour, it was decided that Buondelmonte should marry a girl from the Amidei. On the day that Buondelmonte was to pledge troth to the Amidei girl, the Amidei and their parenti e amici had gathered in the piazza, waiting for Buondelmonte to arrive so they could begin the ceremony. Buondelmonte rode straight past the assembly and went to pledge troth to a girl from the Donati, a leading families of the Guelf faction. The Amidei were infuriated and gathered their allies to discuss what sort of vendetta they should make. They debated whether they should scar Buondelmonte's face, beat him up, or kill him. Mosca di Lamberti took the floor and argued that they should kill him at the place where he had dishonoured them. (His famous words, 'cosa fatta capo ha', were recorded in Dante's Inferno and an earlier chronicle known as Pseudo-Latini.) On Easter morning, Buondelmonte crossed the Ponte Vecchio on his way to marry the Donati girl, was pulled from his horse by the Amidei and their allies, and murdered. The murder of Buondelmonte became the legendary origin of the Guelf and Ghibelline conflict in Florence, but early fourteenth century chroncilers, including Dino Compagni and Giovanni Villani, maniuplated the story to lay blame for the conflict on one group or another.

On the 20th of April 1749, Maddalena Amidei got married to Carlo Barbiellini and they agreed to keep her name, since she was one of the last descendants of the Amidei.

References:

Giovanni Villani, Nuova Cronica, ed. G. Porta. 6.38.Dante, Inferno, XXVIII.Pseudo-Latini, "Cronica", ed. O. von Hartwig in Altesten (Halle, 1880).Dino Compagni, Cronica, ed. I. del Lungo (Citta di Castello, 1913).N.P.J Gordon, 'The murder of Buondelmonte,' Renaissance Studies 20.4 (2006).

Legend

The family descended from the family of Cotius or Cozzi, who, always according to a legend, descended from the Gens Julia, family of which Julius Caesar was part. There was in fact Marcus Juulius Cotius who had an important role in the Cozius Alpes. The Amidei were related to the Piccolomini for a certain Giulius Piccolominis Amideis, and as soon as they knew that their relatives descended from the Gens Julia, they decided to call one of them Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who became pope Pius II, and his nephew became pope Pius III.

aint Amadeus

One of the Amidei was called Bartholomeus Amadeus of the Amidei and was one of the seven saint founders of a religious congregation, very spread world wide, especially in Germany. He moved from Florence to Mount Senarius (18 km away from the city), with his other six friends, in order to be left alone and to concentrate himself on his devotion to God. He died 12 February 1266, and according to the legend, the other Father Founders saw a flame rising to the sky as a symbol of his love for God. In 1888 he, along with the other six saints, was sanctified by Pope Leo XIII.

Coat of Arms

Their coat of arms consists in a gold shield with three red stripes on it. The stripes started with the red one and then alternated with the gold shield. After some years there was a slight modification; the shield started with the gold stripe and then always alternated with the red stripes.