Magnates and their honours · The Papal State: the pope's own lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Savelli

The Savelli are a Roman house on the rise because their cardinal, Cencio, ran the papal chamber for a decade and wrote the Church's rent-roll.

They hold Rignano on the Via Flaminia north of Rome and the lordship of Albano on the Via Appia in the Alban hills. They are not named in any quarrel of 1199-1200.

Who he is

Name
The sons of Aimerico (Almerico) Savelli, among them Cardinal Cencio; the lay head that winter is not pinned
Title
Roman barons, lords of Rignano and of Albano
Since
Rignano 1116 (lease); Albano 'from the twelfth century'
Born
Not pinned
Family
Aimerico (born about 1110 in the family tree) is the first member of the unbroken line; his son Cencio, cardinal-deacon of S. Lucia in Silice, was chamberlain under Clement III and Celestine III and compiled the Liber Censuum (1192); he will be Pope Honorius III (1216)
Confidence
low

it.wikipedia (Savelli (famiglia)): Pierguidone received the castle of Rignano in 1116 by long lease (emphyteusis) from the canons of S. Maria in Trastevere; the Savelli held the lordship of Albano 'already in the twelfth century'; Castel Savello, Castel Gandolfo and Palombara appear only in Honorius IV's will of 1279. GM Part 4 calls Cencio 'possibly a Savelli'; it.wikipedia makes him Aimerico's son.

Overlord

The pope (Albano is a suburbicarian see; Rignano is held of the canons of S. Maria in Trastevere).

What it holds

  • Rignano on the Via Flaminia, held by lease from the canons of S. Maria in Trastevere since 1116
  • Albano on the Via Appia (lordship from the twelfth century)

How it was acquired

Lease and papal favour in the twelfth century.

Allies and rivals

Cardinal Cencio sits in the curia; no feud recorded for 1200.

How things stand that morning

Hold Rignano and Albano; Cencio is a cardinal, no longer chamberlain (GM ruling 9 open).

Wealth

The roads north (Flaminia) and south (Appia) of Rome; rents.

Military

Castle knights; no numbers.

Threats

  • Rome's claim on the Alban hills

Places of note

  • Rignano: Savelli castle on the Via Flaminia
  • Albano: Savelli lordship on the Via Appia

Where the sources disagree

  • GM Part 4 marks Cencio 'possibly a Savelli'; it.wikipedia states it as fact (son of Aimerico).

Evidence: Two dated holdings from it.wikipedia; nothing on the family's lay head in 1200.

On the map: Later Savelli lands (Castel Savello, Castel Gandolfo, Ariccia, Palombara, the Aventine) are not drawn.

Primary sources for Papal State

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.

12 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.

Sources and studies

  1. Savelli (famiglia) (it.wikipedia)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.