In
1309 the Della Volta family, with the families Mallone, Bustarino, Marchione, Stancone, Ingone, and Libertino formed the
Albergo Cattaneo (first of these consortium institutions), thus putting this new surname before theirs. Its origin dates back to the mission of the very powerful
Ingo della Volta as
ambassador of
Genoa in
Pavia, in
1161. On this occasion he was appointed
cattaneo ("captain", in old
Italian). A branch of the family moved to
Naples, having one of its members as prince of
San Nicandro in 1650. The various families of the
Albergo Cattaneo, after
XIV century, on occasions when it was necessary to refer to the ancestors of the Cattaneo family, will always qualify by specifying the original surname of the family of origin. In
1528, the following families remained to establish the
Albergo "Cattaneo": Bava, Borrelli, Bozzoni, Canessa, Carizia, Cattaneo, Chiavari, Foglietta, Lagomarsino, Lasagna, Lazzari, Leccavela, Oliva, Pietra, Riccoboni, Stella, Tagliacarne, Vento, Zerbino. == History ==