Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.32728/h2022.02
Patrician family Borisi: short biographies, genealogies and heraldic heritage of members of the Istrian comital branch (15th - 18th C)
Gianpaolo Gergeta
Abstract
The patrician family Borisi has been present in Bar since at least the 14th century, where one can find a stone coat of arms from the 15th or 16th century: an uprooted pine on a shield surrounded by a wreath, all within a serrated frame. Pietro Boris and Giacoma, née Bruti, were the founders of the Istrian branch of Borisi. They had four sons: Bernardo, Marino, Francesco and MarcʼAntonio, and the only known daughter Franceschina. After the fall of their hometowns of Bar and Ulcinj to the Ottomans in 1571, some members of the Bruti noble family moved to Koper, and then to Constantinople and Moldavia, where they were joined by the sons of Pietro Boris who moved to Koper in 1592. In nearby Ankaran one can find a house with their coat of arms: an uprooted pine on an Italian shield surrounded by three wreaths and the letters V, M, F and B, all within a serrated frame. Marino Borisio (Borisi) moved to Dubrovnik soon after. Bernardo Borisi (Borisius, Borisio) received neglected lands in the fields of Acquadizza, Fontane, Monte Pighera and Scoglio Riviera from the Rašpor captain in 1593, and two years later the Venetian Senate confirmed this privilege. Therefore, Bernardo moved serfs from Zeta and bought the ruins of the Neboise castle, converted it into his residence and built a church next to it. He placed his coat of arms on these buildings: two facing lions under an uprooted pine tree. MarcʼAntonio Borisi (died 1620) was in the service of the La Serenissima as an interpreter with the Turkish government in Constantinople. Due to the deterioration of relations between Venice and the Ottoman Empire, he was executed in 1620 by the order of the Grand Vizier. His son Pietro bought jurisdiction over the settlement and the entire territory of Funtana for 1000 ducats in 1648, thus acquiring for himself and his heirs the title of Conte Borisi di Fontane, which was confirmed in 1665. As a coat of arms, he used an obliquely placed squared shield: on the first and fourth gold fields with a blue head stands a natural-coloured cypress growing from a green base supported by two upright red lions with a gold crown, the right one holds in the fore right paw a golden crown, and the other a golden sceptre; on the second and third argent fields, a natural-coloured grape vine with two leaves and one blue bunch is laid obliquely to the right. Above the shield is a helmet with a golden crown, from which gold, blue and silver ostrich feathers emerge as jewellery. The cloak is blue (inside) and gold (outside) on the right, and blue and silver on the left. Pietroʼs son MarcʼAntonio (1637 – 1706) and his brothers managed to obtain jurisdiction and the right to fish in the waters and harbour of Funtana with the investitures of the Rašpor captain from 1687 and 1691, but they were revoked in 1734. The Borisi were included in the list of Istrian title holders in 1725. In 1791, Bernardo Borisi (1732 – 1807) received confirmation of the title of Conte from the last doge, Ludovico Manin. After the collapse of the Republic of Venice, the new Austrian government (1797 – 1805) maintained the found circumstance, while the French government (1805 – 1813) abolished all previous social and political relations. The return of the Habsburgs led to a partial restoration of old relations and the recognition of the Venetian noble titles.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
309011
URI
Publication date:
29.12.2022.
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