12th – 16th century ,
Pistoia, one of the two Rospigliosi mansions in the city, birthplace of pope Clement IX and his brother Camillo The family originated from
Milan: in the late 12th century Ridolfo Rospigliosi, possibly to escape
Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, settled in
Lamporecchio, a village between
Pistoia and
Empoli, on the slope of the Monte Albano, at the entrance of the
Val di Nievole, where the family acquired farms and forests and built a country house. These large possessions were owned by the Rospigliosi until the twentieth century. The family, which had obtained the first nobility titles at the beginning of the 13th century, After the Rospigliosi had moved to Pistoia they became active in trade and industry, such as wool, cloth, spices and contracting of local taxes. During the whole 15th and 16th centuries, the Rospigliosi continued trading and owned a flourishing bank in Pistoia, with branches and correspondents all over Europe. Favouring his relatives, the pope continued the
nepotistic politics of his
Barberini,
Pamphili and
Chigi predecessors, although it should be noticed that the positions that he was assigning were not supposed to generate large revenues, so that this can be seen as a first trend inversion with respect to the recent past of the church government. Among others, Giulio Rospigliosi was passionate about music and before being elected pope wrote several opera
libretti. ==Residences==