The Martinengo family

Historical Brescian families and of the Riviera of the Magnifica Patria

The Martinengo: Count Camillo Martinengo Cesaresco (born 1612) q. Antonio. ……… After an adventurous youth – his love affairs are known for Camilla Porcellaga – for his misdeeds he was banned from the Republic, he passed to Parma and perhaps that was when he negotiated with Alesandro Pallavicino. When he was able to free himself from the ban, he returned to Barbarano and led him splendid life. In 1668 Grand Duke Cosimo III of Tuscany received you in large parties. At his death in 1690 he instituted a fedecommesso on the palace and the neighboring estates so that his property passed for a century always inherited by lineage. Having no children the palace passed to Lodovico (born1651) son of his brother Francesco and it was then that the various family vicissitudes occurred, already told. From Lodovico, who had spent many years of his youth at the court of Florence, and from Caterina Martinengo Palatino was born, among others, Carlo Camillo (born 1686) who, by Girolama Gennari degli Orzizecchi, had ten children; the first-born Giuseppe Antonio (1730) married Teresa Olmo. In 1749 passed that famous correspondent forward letter that was Lady Maria Wortley Montagu who described the site in a letter to her daughter. We’ll talk about her about another building. To Giuseppe Antonio succeeded Lodovico Camillo (born 1770?) Husband of Giuseppa dei conti Pellizzari. His father was still alive when in 1797 the French of Bonaparte arrived. Others, and also we in another volume, have narrated the fact of arms in which the palace was involved during the two battles of Lonato. We will only say that the general Guyeux, surprised by an Austrian body, for several days he had several hundred men in the palace, also being bombed by an Austrian flotilla. He was later freed by General Sauret. The occupation, the military actions and the looting of the dregs of the population, happy to let off steam on the “palass of the Count Camill” brought serious damage to the furniture of the Martinengo counts who were far away. From Lodovico were born nine children (of which only three males) who had no descendants and the family with them became extinct. The last to die in 1884 was Giuseppe Camillo, a luminous figure of patriot who died out during the X Days and was commander in 1848 of the National Guard. Still alive he adopted Mr. Eugenio Cocchetti di Rovato, daughter of his sister Ester and Mr. Giuseppe Cocchetti. Eugenio married the English Evelina Carrington, the famous writer named Evelina Martinengo Cesaresco, but she had no children. He was his heir, both of the palace of Brescia as well as of the villa of Rovato and of this palace the son of his sister Vittoria married to the nob. Luigi Terzi. That one child, Giuliano (1875), married Donna Teresa of the Torlonia princes and had two sons Ottobono and Manfredi.

Historical sources Fausto Lechi, “Dimore Bresciane, in cinque secoli di storia”