Questa famiglia si esercitava da molto tempo nella mercatura della seta, ciò che le procurò una ragguardevole fortuna. Il 15 dicembre 1686, Giorgio, avendo offerto la solita somma di 100 mille ducati pei bisogni della guerra di Candia, venne aggregato alla veneta nobiltà, e la parte ballottata il 12 dicembre in Senato con voti favorevoli 132, contrari 9, non sinceri 3, e presa in Maggior Consiglio ottenne voti favorevoli 609, contrari 123, non sinceri 9. Il fasto e le gesta antiche della presente famiglia accompagnata con la scarzezza delle scritture non lascia scorgere il prinicipio della sua nobiltà; e perciò a ragione gli scrittori e ricercatori confessono con tutta la loro investigazione di non sapere accertare la sua origine; ma non vedendo noi addurre ragione alcuna per farci credere questa opinione, che tiene anche dubbia, potremo ancor noi proferire la nostra, non opinione, ma certezza evidente, mentre viene da noi appoggiata ad alcune evidenti ragioni che non sanno mentire. Trovansi Scrittori anche di concetto non volgare, i quali per aver’osservato, che in diverse Città del Mondo sparsamente fioriscono famiglie dell’istesso cognome, per antica nobiltà conspicue, si sono posti a farle apparire tutte derivanti da un sol ceppo; il che avvenga non sia ad essi riuscito di effettuare con tutta quella chiarezza, che desiderare si potrebbe nella descrizione della Genealogia di questa Casata.. Riguardo a questo cognome abbiamo ritrovato ulteriori informazioni storiche in altri archivi. Purtroppo in lingua originale Inglese. : This French, Italian, Spanish and English nickname was primarily extrapolated from the Norman title of rank COUNT and rendered in medieval documents in the Latin form COMITIS meaning a companion. Surnames having a derivation from nicknames form the broadest and most miscellaneous class of last names, encompassing many different types of origin. The most typical classes refer adjectivally to the general physical aspect of the person concerned, or to his character. Many nicknames refer to a man’s size or height, while others make reference to a favoured article of clothing or style of dress. Many last names extrapolated from the names of animals and birds. In the Middle Ages ideas were held about the characters of other living creatures, based on observation, and these associations were reflected and reinforced by large bodies of folk tales featuring animals behaving as humans. The name is spread widely throughout Europe and in many different forms which include COMTE, LECOMTE, CONDE, CONTINELLI, and CONTIELLO. Notable members of the name include ARMAND DE BOURBON CONTI (l629-l666) a French nobleman, founder of the House of Conti, a junior branch of the House of Conde. The brother of Louis II. Prince de Conde (The Great Conde) he took his title from a little town of Conti near Amiens. He married the niece of Cardinal Mazarin. Although feeble and deformed, he was an enthusiastic warrior, campaigning in Spain and Italy. The origins of Italian last names are not clear, and much work remains to be done on medieval Italian records. It seems that stable bynames, in some cases hereditary, were in use in the Venetian Republic by the end of the 10th century. The typical Italian Last Name endings are ‘i’ and ‘o’, the former being characteristic of northern Italy. The singular form ‘o’ is more typical of southern Italy. In Spain identifying patronymics are to be found as early as the mid-9th century, but these modified with each generation, and hereditary last names seem to have come in slightly later in Spain than in England and France. As well as the names of the traditional major saints of the Christian Church, many of the most common Spanish last names are extrapolated from personal names of Germanic origin. For the most part these names are characteristically Hispanic. They derive from the language of the Visigoths, who controlled Spain between the mid-5th and early 8th centuries….
Noble title: Nobili
Coat of arms: D’argento al leone coronato d’oro…