Historical summary

From the Middle Ages to the XVth century

The historians Sigismondo Bertacchi, Pellegrino Paolucci and Domenico Pacchi, wrote in the XVIIth century some descriptions of the Garfagnana for the Dukes of Este (sovereigns of this province), said that the Bertacchi family came from the Count Alberti, descendants of the Frankish Hucpoldingian and Carolingian families and of the langobard marquess of Tuscany (Adalbert i and Adalbert II, for example). Their fief was the Roccalberti Castle and their branch was collateral from the marquess of Malaspina branch. Consequently, the Bertacchi family was issued from the same origins as the Obertenghi, Pallavicino and d'Este families.

Chased away from their castle in 1324 by Castruccio Castracani, the Counts Alberti took the name of Albertacchi (which was derogatory) and finally Bertacchi. About the first part of the family's history, we have a pleasant anecdote. Before 1324, the Florentins was interested in an alliance with the Counts Bertacchi from Roccalberti and sent an ambassador. The ambassador came in the castle, which was not guarded, and found the members of this noble family eating with their plates on their knees. When the ambassador came back in Florence, he said for fun that he found the Lords of Roccalberti eating on a table, which they didn't want sale in exchange of all the gold in the world.

After Roccalberti and without a castle, the family moved in Camporgiano and next in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana. It was logical that the Bertacchi became zealous servants of the Dukes of Este, when the Garfagnana asked them to protect the entire province in the XVth century. The Bertacchi was of the same Frankish and Langobard origins of the Este. The historian Emanuele Repetti said that Roccalberti couldn't be the fief of the Bertacchi, because it was the fief of the Malaspina. This argument is partially wrong, because in these ages, Bertacchi and Malaspina were certainly two branches of the same great family.

In the Alessandro Tassoni’s book, "La Secchia Rapita", Simon Bertacchi commanded the Garfagnana's army, allied with the city of Modena, against the troops of Bologna in 1325. That is in fact a literary effect, because Simon Bertacchi, ducal factor in the XVIth century, was a friend of the author.

From the XVIth century to the XVIIIth century

In Camporgiano and Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, the Bertacchi had a major influence. Scarcely settle in these towns, some members of the family became immediately close to the power of the d'Este family and let historic traces. Sigismondo Bertacchi was an important historian for the province history ; Pellegrino Bertacchi became bishop of Modena and almost cardinal in Rome ; Jacopo Bertacchi, already ducal intendent, received the county of Ligonchio. But a lot of other members left traces : Orazio Bertacchi built the Oratory of the Suffrage in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana (which became later a theatre), the knight Cesare Bertacchi, and Domenico Bertacchi, personal doctor of the Duke Alfonso II of Este.

The matrimonial alliances of Silvio Bertacchi with Claudia Carandini, daughter of a Palatin Count, in 1635, and of Veronica Bertacchi with the Count Galasso Pio di Savoia, in 1660, prove the influence of the Bertacchi family in the political and social life of the Dukdom of Este.

With Pellegrino Bertacchi and Jacopo Bertacchi the family settled in Modena and Reggio of Emily, and next in Ferrara, Bergamo, Chiavenna, Geneva and Lugano. Another branch (issued from a Sigismondo Bertacchi) settled in Barga. In this town, the family founded a command of the Santo Stefano's Order and a lot of evidences are visible : palaces, villas and alliance with other families, like Pieracchi and Biondi. Franco Bertacchi and Francesco Luigi Bertacchi wrote respectively in 1796 and 1806 scientific books and the family had some activities in various cultural domains.

From this branch of Barga are issued the branche of Florence. Giuseppe Bertacchi was Chancellor of the Granduke of Tuscany.

From the XIXth century to today

The main branches of Garfagnana, Modena and Ligonchio had their own histories, but we can indicate that they had a probably extension in the North of Italy (Bergamo, Chiavenna, Milano...). From this new extension are issued other Italian celebrities, like the geographer Cosimo Bertacchi in Piemont, the poet Giovanni Bertacchi in Chiavenna (Valtellina), Lucio Mario Bertacchi, who was near Garibaldi in the "dei Mille" expedition and the hero of the first World War, Giovanni Bertacchi from Lugo (Ravenna).

The branch of Tuscany had too some great figures like Sigismondo Bertacchi, who took part in the government of the Tuscany's Granduke Leopold the First, Andrea Bertacchi, who wrote memories about the French invasion of Lucca in 1796, Alessandro Bertacchi, who took part in the defense of Livorno against the Austrian troops in 1811. Another Giuseppe Bertacchi from Pisa was the main heir of the family's possessions after the collapse of the Bonapartes in Italy.

For a complete version of the family's history with bibliography, download the above PDF file (UNDER CONSTRUCTION).