Paleologo-Oriundi

Upon the death of John George Palaeologus, the last Marquis of Montferrat of the Palaeologus-Montferrat family, on 30 April 1533, Montferrat was inherited by the Gonzaga family of Mantua.^[15] The new marquis, Federico II Gonzaga, was connected to the family by marriage, being the husband of Margaret Paleologa, niece of John George. Federico had married Margaret on 3 October 1531, with the explicit goal of acquiring Montferrat.^[16] The deaths of John George and later Margaret did not spell the end for the male-line lineage of the Palaeologus-Montferrat family. John George had an illegitimate son, Flaminio Paleologo, born in 1518, whom the marquis had unsuccessfully attempted to have legitimised. Although Flaminio would end his life accused of conspiracy against the Gonzagas, being violently killed in prison on 24 May 1571, he would supposedly be survived by seven children.^[15] The accusations against Flaminio were true, as he had unsuccessfully worked to overthrow the Gonzagas and gain control of Montferrat.^[17] Two of Flaminio's supposed sons are said to have had children of their own, with there being an extinct lineage descending from his younger son Ferdinando, and a lineage descending from his older son Teodoro.^[4] The Paleologo-Oriundi family claims descent from Teodoro,^{[18][4][19][20]} and though their lineage is partially documented, contradictions exist. If they were to be genuine male-line descendants, they would still not be considered true members of the Palaeologus-Montferrat family, or the Palaiologos dynasty itself, on account of descent through an illegitimate son.^[4]

According to the Paleologo-Oriundi family, Flaminio's eldest son, Teodoro (?–1586), was also accused of conspiracy and took refuge in his wife's homeland, Camerano, near Ancona. In order to pass unnoticed, he adopted the fake last name Calabraga, which would periodically be adopted by later members of the family as well.^[2] The Paleologo-Oriundi also claim that Teodoro's son, Flaminio II (1562–1624), was granted the right to use the title Prince of the Holy Roman Empire by Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1619–1637). Flaminio II's great-grandson, Pietro II (1667–1704), was the first to use the name Oriundi.^[2] The word oriundo (of which Oriundi is the plural form) is an Italian noun describing an immigrant that is originally of Italian ancestry, it comes from the Latin oriri and is linguistically related to the term Orient (east).^[21]

Four brothers of the Paleologo-Oriundi family—Francesco, Settimio, Ottavio and Noe—supposedly died in 1812 fighting for Napoleon in the French invasion of Russia.^[22]

The earliest biography published by a member of the family was the work of Federico (1858–1920), who claimed to be the great-great-great-grandson of Pietro II, published by his friend J. Chinaki in 1932. Federico's son Arnaldo (1888–1939) was a lawyer in Venice and fought in the First World War. He also worked as a historian and wrote extensively on the history of his family, together with his brother Ottorino (1891–1916), their work being published in the Italian heraldic magazine Rivista Araldica.^[22] The current head of the family is Arnaldo's son Carlo Paleologo-Oriundi (born 1924), a Venetian banker who lives in Mestre.^[23] The Paleologo-Oriundi only added "Paleologo" to their family name in 1930, changing the earlier "Oriundi" to "Paleologo-Oriundi" through a court decision.^[2] The legal system of 20th century Italy provided ample grounds for claimants and imposters, and the Paleologo-Oriundi, whether genuine or not, were not the only who managed to secure limited legal recognition for claims of Byzantine descent. The Italian courts who gave out "recognitions" typically did not investigate the claims of the families.^[3] In 1988, the historian M. L. Bierbrier deemed the Paleologo-Oriundi and other modern claimants to Palaiologos descent to be dubious, and that such claims should "not be taken seriously by any genealogist".^[1]

There existed a cadet branch of the Paleologo-Oriundi family native to Rome, the Quintini-Paleologo, descended matrilineally from Giuseppe (1792–1861), uncle of Federico. It was founded through the marriage of Giuseppe's granddaughter Ida (1854–1927) and Achille Quintini.^[22] Ida and Achille had five children; the son Adolfo (1893–1960) and four daughters.^[24][25] Though Adolfo simply used the name Quintini,^[25] Adolfo's son Giorgio (1933–2013)^[26] assumed the full last name Quintini Paleologo in the 1960s, a name which was not recognised by the Paleologo-Oriundi in Venice, who opposed matrilineal descendants using the Paleologo name.^[27] Giorgio was Adolfo's only child^[25] and was unmarried and childless.^[24] With his death in 2013,^[26] this short-lived cadet branch went extinct.^[24]

• Barker, John W. (2017). "Crusading and Matrimony in the Dynastic Policies of Montferrat and Savoy" (PDF). Byzantion Nea Hellás. 36 (36): 157–183. doi:10.4067/S0718-84712017000100157.
• Berardo, Antonio; Scarabelli, Luciano (1847). "Di Una Cronaca Anonima di Casale dal 1530 al 1582 e dell'Assedio di Vercelli del 1617". Archivio Storico Italiano. 13: 335, 337–339, 341–438. JSTOR 44458549.
• Bierbrier, M. L. (1988). "The Paleologus Family: Fact and Fiction". The Genealogist: 74–77.
• Cassano, Gian Paolo (July 2017). "Organo di informazione del Circolo Culturale "I Marchesi del Monferrato" "in attesa di registrazione in Tribunale"" (PDF). Bollettino del Marchesato (in Italian). 3 (16). Cassa di Risparmio di Alessandria: 3–9.
• Dąbrowska, Malgorzata (1996). "Sophia of Montferrat, or The History of One Face" (PDF). Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. 56 (56): 177–194. doi:10.18778/0208-6050.56.09.
• Fenlon, Iain (1980). Music and Patronage in Sixteenth-Century Mantua. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. OCLC 5832030.
• Hernández de la Fuente, David (2019). "El fin de Constantinopla y las supuestas herencias nobiliarias bizantinas". In Barrios, F.; Alvarado, J. (eds.). Aires de grandeza: Hidalgos presuntos y Nobles de fantasía (in Spanish). Madrid: Dykinson. pp. 245–262. ISBN 978-84-1324-092-3.
• Laiou, A. E. (1968). "A Byzantine Prince Latinized: Theodore Palaeologus, Marquis of Montferrat". Byzantion. 38 (2): 386–410. JSTOR 44169311.
• Mallat, Peter (1990). "The Palaiologos Family After 1453: The Destiny of an Imperial Family". Macedonian Studies. 7: 55–64.
• Mallat, Peter (2007). "I Paleologi di Monferrato dopo il 1533" (PDF). Bollettino del Marchesato (in Italian). 3/4 (16): 4–9.

• Sainty, Guy Stair. "The Pseudo Lascaris Princes and Their Fantastic Claims". European Royal Houses. Archived from the original on 12 February 2005.