I Mattei «di Paganica»: una famiglia romana tra XV e XVII secolo

Abstract

The Mattei "of Paganica”: a Roman family from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century. This essay examines the history of the Roman family Mattei, and especially of one of its branches, that of the lords of Paganica, between the fifteenth and seventeenth century. The study is based on unpublished documents (notarial acts and family correspondences). Although the narration is strictly genealogical and biographic, the history of the Mattei of Paganica is hardly unique; in fact, it is exemplary of the forms in which, over generations, the economic and social primacy of Roman noble families manifested itself, and of the strategies these families employed to maintain and perpetuate their eminent position. This family history also provides an opportunity for a reflection on the reasons for the chronological lags and the non-linearity with which individuals and families follow common trajectories of social change, and on the successes and failures that punctuated the diversification, rise, or crises of noble families.