Around 1300 this was one of a number of merchant families in
San Miniato to carry the name "'Buon Romei'" (or 'Borromei') because of their origins in the city of Rome. The first member of the family to come to prominence was Filippo who, backed by Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV and
Gian Galeazzo Visconti (later to become duke of
Milan), led the
Ghibellines of
San Miniato in their 1367 revolt against the
Florentine Guelphs. In 1370 he was taken prisoner by the Florentines and decapitated. He left five children who had taken refuge in Milan at the time of the revolt. Filippo's youngest son Giovanni founded the Borromei Bank in Milan, while his older sons Alessandro and Borromeo founded a bank in
Venice together. Filippo Buonromei married Talda di Tenda, sister of
Beatrice di Tenda (the hero of a tragic opera by
Vincenzo Bellini and wife of the Milanese duke
Filippo Maria Visconti). Filippo's daughter Margherita Borromeo († 1429) married Giacobino Vitaliani († 1409), a
patrician from
Padua, their son
Vitaliano Vitaliani (1390-1449) was adopted in 1406 by his childless uncle Giovanni Borromeo, the owner of the Borromei Bank in Milan. The Vitaliani family traces its origins back to Giovanni dei Vitaliani in the 11th century and had been ''Lords of Bosco, Bojone und Sant'Angelo'' since c. 1100. In 1418
Vitaliano I Borromeo became treasurer of his uncle, Duke Filippo Maria, who also made him Count of
Arona in 1446. He acquired the fiefs and castles of Arona and in 1449 of
Angera on the banks of
Lago Maggiore (The castle of Angera is still today owned by the family.). Ever since, the Borromeos were the leading land owners (and at times Milanese governors) around the Lago Maggiore. Vitaliano Borromeo († 1449) had built a castle at
Peschiera Borromeo near Milan in 1437. In 1450
Francesco I Sforza was backed by the family in his struggle to become heir and successor of the Visconti dukes and used the castle as a base for his siege of Milan. When he became duke, his gratitude for the family's services overwhelmed them with rewards and honours, among which was the title of a
count of Peschiera for Vitaliano's son Filippo Borromeo (1419–1464) in 1461. Filippo expanded the bank as far as
Bruges and
London. The business was run at least until 1455. In 1520 Ludovico Borromeo built the castle
Rocca Vitaliana at
Castelli di Cannero, a fortification against the
Old Swiss Confederacy.
Giberto II Borromeo († 1558), Milanese governor at the Lago Maggiore, married Margherita Medici di Marignano, the sister of Pope
Pius IV and of
condottiero Gian Giacomo Medici, Duke of Marignano. One of their sons,
Carlo Borromeo (1538−1584), became a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, archbishop of Milan, and a canonized saint. Federico (1535-1562), brother of Charles, became
Prince of
Oria (in the
Kingdom of Naples) and married Virginia Feltria, daughter of
Guidobaldo II della Rovere,
Duke of Urbino and
Giulia da Varano,
suo jure Duchess of Camerino, but died without issue. , the majority still owned by the family, although now open to the public. The family has owned the
Borromean Islands since the 16th century. The islands have beautiful gardens. Two of the islands have grand palaces, still owned by the family. Vitaliano Borromeo built a summer palace on the
Isola Bella for his wife Isabella between 1650 and 1671 which was later enlarged by Cardinal Giberto III (1615–1672) and Count Vitaliano VI (1620–1690). Count Carlo IV (1657–1734) had the garden terraces added. The family still owns the majority of the Borromean Islands.
The "State" of the Borromeo Between the fourteenth century and the seventeenth century, the Borromeo were able to gain control of many fiefs in the
Valdossola/
Lake Maggiore area. They organised them as an almost independent state within the
Duchy of Milan obtaining sovereignty, jurisdictions and control over the local army and fortresses. The "State" was subdivided in ten
podesterie:
Mergozzo,
Omegna,
Vogogna,
Val Vigezzo,
Cannobio,
Intra,
Laveno,
Lesa,
Angera and
Arona. The podestà of Arona was the main justice administrator for the Borromeo counts over the area and was independent of both the Novara and Milan jurisdictions, the former controllers. The "state" was quite extended, it occupied almost half of the modern
Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola with an extension of around one thousand square kilometres. The "Borromeo's State" ended in 1797 with the invasion of Milan by
Napoleon Bonaparte who revoked all the Borromeo's privileges and jurisdictions over this area; so the Borromeo maintained there only their ample estates as the
Borromean Islands. File:Angera Rocca 4.JPG|Castle Rocca di
Angera File:Isola Bella-approdo.jpg|Palace on
Isola Bella File:Paazzo Borromeo - Außenansicht 1.jpg|Palace on
Isola Madre File:Peschiera Borromeo castello fossato.jpg|Castello Borromeo in
Peschiera Borromeo Cardinals Seven cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church were members of the Borromeo family: •
Carlo Borromeo (St. Charles), *1538 †1584 •
Federico Borromeo, *1564 †1631 •
Giberto III Borromeo, *1615 †1672 •
Federico Borromeo, *1617 †1673 •
Giberto Bartolomeo Borromeo, *1671 †1740 •
Vitaliano Borromeo, *1720 †1793 •
Edoardo Borromeo, *1822 †1881 File:Carlo Borromeo.jpg|St. Charles File:FedericoBorromeo.Cardinal.jpg|Federico File:Giovanni Giacomo De Rossi, Il card. Giberto Borromeo.jpg|Giberto III File:Federico Borromeo il Giovane.jpg|Federico File:Giberto Bartolomeo Borromeo.jpg|Giberto Bartolomeo File:Vitaliano Borromeo.jpg|Vitaliano File:Edoardo Borromeo.jpg|Edoardo == Styles ==