An old Trastevere house, loyal to the popes in the twelfth century, with fortified farms along the Via Aurelia west of Rome.
Their castles are listed only in 1254, so on 1 January 1200 they are drawn as a point: a family of the city with lands in the Roman Campagna toward Cerveteri.
Who he is
- Name
- Not pinned (the Normanni and their branch, the Alberteschi)
- Title
- Roman magnates of Trastevere with castles along the Via Aurelia
- Since
- Twelfth century
- Born
- Not pinned
- Family
- Descended from Stefano Normanni, first half of the twelfth century, whom Gelasius II honoured as 'prince and shield of all the curials'; the Alberteschi are a branch
- Confidence
- low
it.wikipedia (Normanni (famiglia)): with the Colonna the oldest-rooted family of Rome in the twelfth century; seated in Trastevere; the Alberteschi held a tower by the Ponte Santa Maria (Ponte Rotto); the family founded fortified villages in the twelfth century; Alberto's will of 1254 lists Ceri, Palo, Luterno, Castel Campanile, Castel Lombardi, Castiglione (Torrimpietra), Prungiano (Leprignana), Testa di Lepre, Castel di Guido and the villa of San Giorgio, north-west of Rome along the Via Aurelia.
Overlord
The commune, and through it the pope.
What it holds
- Towers in Trastevere and by the Ponte Santa Maria
- Castles along the Via Aurelia (Ceri, Palo, Castel Campanile, Torrimpietra, Castel di Guido and others), attested in 1254; held in 1200 not pinned
How it was acquired
Twelfth century.
Allies and rivals
Not pinned for 1200.
How things stand that morning
Not pinned beyond their standing in the city.
Wealth
Farms and pasture of the Aurelia country; Trastevere property.
Places of note
- Ponte Santa Maria tower: Alberteschi tower by the bridge
- Ceri: Castle attested as theirs in 1254
- Castel di Guido: Castle on the Via Aurelia attested in 1254
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Their castles are dated 1254; nothing places them in 1200.
On the map: No ground drawn: the Aurelia castles are known only from 1254.
Primary sources for Rome
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Annals of Montecassino; Annals of Ceccano (Fossanova) (12th and early 13th centuries; Ceccano to 1217). Two sets of annals from either side of the papal and Sicilian frontier. Read online
- Chronicle of Richard of San Germano, Richard of San Germano (first version about 1216, enlarged to 1243). The fullest southern narrative of the Hohenstaufen kingdom, written by a notary on the border of the Terra di Lavoro. Read online
- The Deeds of Innocent III, Anonymous (a curial official, perhaps Peter of Benevento) (about 1208 to 1209). The curia's own account of the pontificate's first decade, with letters copied in. Read online
- The Book of Census of the Roman Church, Cencius Camerarius (Cencio Savelli, later Pope Honorius III) (1192, with later additions). The papal rent roll: every church, monastery, town and kingdom that owed a census to Rome in 1192, diocese by diocese, with the sums, followed by lists of papal lands and castles, the ceremonial Ordo and copies of charters. Read online
- The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.