Doria
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Doria, originally de Auria (from de filiis Auriae), meaning "the sons of Auria", and then de Oria or d'Oria, is the name of an old Genoese family who played a major role in the history of the Republic of Genoa from the 12th century to the 16th century. Legend has that a noble Genoese lady named Auria or Oria della Volta fell in love with a noble pilgrim who was going to Jerusalem for the First Crusade; his name was Arduino di Narbonne but their children were named after the mother — de Oria, the children of Oria.
Documentary evidence refers to two members of that family, Martino and Genuardo, in 1110; they are called filiis Auriae (the sons of Oria), which makes at least part of the family legend plausible. The Doria had fiefs in Sardinia from the 12th century to the 15th century, and also in Dolceacqua, Oneglia and Portofino, in the Riviera to the west of Genoa.
Simone Doria lived in the late 12th century and was an admiral of the Genoese in the crusader's assault against Saint Jean d'Acre. Percivalle Doria, who died in 1275 fighting for the Ghibelline, was an infamous warlord and a well-known Provençal poet. The brothers Oberto Doria and Lamba Doria were naval commanders and politicians: Oberto was Captain of the People in Genoa and led its naval forces in the victory of La Meloria against Pisa in 1284 while Lamba won a major battle against Venetian Andrea Dandolo at Curzola in 1298. Tedisio Doria (or Teodosio) financed the expedition of Vadino and Ugolino Vivaldi in 1291. Branca Doria is mentioned by Dante in the Divine Comedy because of his treacherous murder of Michele Zanche, his father-in-law, in 1275. The most remarkable member of the family is Admiral Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (1466-1560), who re-established the Genoese Republic.
There are several branches of this family which are still extant and still live in Genoa, like the Doria Lamba branch, which is descended from Lamba Doria. However the two main princely branches, Doria-Pamphilii-Landi and Doria d'Angri were extinguished in the 20th century, while non-agnatic princely branches like the Colonna-Doria are still flourishing. There are also titled branches outside Italy, such as the Porrata Doria family in Spain, which rank as marquesses.
The Doria clan helped finance the Portuguese and Spanish navigations in the late 15th and 16th centuries. A Lodisio Doria settled, and had many descendants, in the island of Madeira in 1480 in order to produce sugar out of sugarcane. Their descendants are the Teixeira Doria and França Doria families, which also have as ancestor Portuguese navigator Tristão Vaz, one of the discoverers of the Madeira island. The França Doria branch is headed today by the Viscount of Torre Bela.
Francesco Doria, a banker at Seville, financed Christopher Columbus, and his son Aleramo Doria was a banker to King John III of Portugal until 1556. Finally, Aleramo's daughter Clemenza Doria was one of the earliest settlers in the 16th century Portuguese colonization of Brazil. Clemenza Doria married twice; her second husband was Fernão Vaz da Costa (c. 1520-1567), son of Portuguese Chief Justice Dr. Cristóvão da Costa and a great-grandson of the legendary navigator Soeiro da Costa. Their descendants use the Costa Doria name until today. Portuguese and Brazilian members of those branches also spell their family name as Dória or even Dorea. Descendants of that branch are José Carlos Aleluia, Brazilian politician, and (through female lines} Brazilian pop singer and composer Chico Buarque de Hollanda.
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[edit] References
- Teresa Luzzatto Guerrini, I Doria, Novissima Enciclopedia Monografica Illustrata, Florence (1937).
- Clemente Fusero, I Doria, dall'Oglio (1973).
- Documentary sources at the Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Lisbon (Portugal)
