Counts of Lavagna As Counts of Lavagna the Fieschi possessed a sort of judicial and political independence from the
Republic of Genoa. This family, based in the nearby village of San Salvatore di Cogorno, built a vast noble domain in the Ligurian Levant and
Chiavari hinterland. In 1010 the investiture of the Fieschi took place at
Genoa: the family were created Counts of Lavagna. In the words of
Henry the Holy, King of Italy since 1004 and
Holy Roman Emperor from 1014 and the last of the
Ottonian dynasty, 'Ordiniamo il predominato Fieschi vicario generale di essa città con ampio potere.' ('We appoint the pre-eminent Fieschi to be Vicars General of this city-state with broad powers'). During the
Middle Ages there were countless political clashes for the domination of Lavagna between the Fieschis and the Republic of Genoa which had an always faithful ally and a defensive border stronghold in the nearby
Chiavari. During this time, the strongest antagonists of the family proved to be the
Dorias. When the village became a free municipality, around the 12th century, the Fieschi lordship continued, within the limits, to carry out the administrative and political work of Lavagna. In the fourteenth century, with the absorption of the Fieschis into the highest Genoese nobility, a gradual downsizing of the Lavagna dominions began.
Other important roles Males of the Fieschi— all of them styled
Conte di Lavagna— played major roles as
Guelph partisans in the governance and military history of medieval
Genoa, ever in conflict with the Republic and always retaining their connection with their holdings here. In 1138, in an agreement between the Fieschi and the commune of Genoa, the Fieschi agreed to spend part of the year in the city. They earned great riches from trading and financial activities, and later developed in numerous different branches. Apart from Liguria, they possessed fiefs in
Piedmont,
Lombardy,
Umbria and in the
Kingdom of Naples.
Sinibaldo Fieschi, younger brother to Count Opizzo, was
elected Pope Innocent IV in 1243. One nephew became
Patriarch Opizzo of
Antioch and another was
elected Pope Adrian V as one of the
three popes of 1276. In the Fieschi conspiracy of 1547,
Giovanni Luigi Fieschi and the nobles unsuccessfully attempted to recapture the
dogate from
Andrea Doria, and the power of the Fieschi was broken. ==Famous members==