La penuria delle scritture in quegli antichi secoli ci priva di quelle curiosità più nobili, che si possono desiderare, e particolarmente circa le notizie della famiglia Donadio nei secoli fino al XVII, ed anche dopo. Della famiglia si hanno notizie risalenti al secolo XVIII nel quale appaiono in rogiti di compravendita di immobili alcune persone di tal casato(Nicolli, Codice Diplomatico Parmense, I, Piacenza, 1835). Giuseppe-Antonio Donadio nel 1817 ottenne la nobiltà ereditaria con il titolo di Conte. La presenza del motto e dell’ arma nella bibliografia documentata della famiglia Donadio ci conferma l’avita nobiltà raggiunta della casata. Infatti l’origine del motto risale a circa il XIV secolo e deve essere ricercata in quei detti arguti che venivano scritti sui vessilli o bandiere dei cavalieri, esposti alle finestre delle locande in cui questi alloggiavano, in occasione dei tornei, e durante i tornei stessi. Il motto era un pensiero espresso in poche parole facente allusione a un sentimento palese o nascosto, a una qualità, a un ricordo storico, per stimolo al coraggio o onore. Era scelta dal capo della famiglia, dal cavaliere entrante in lizza o data dal sovrano al proprio uomo ligio. Motto della famiglia: Pax donum dei.. Riguardo a questo cognome abbiamo ritrovato ulteriori informazioni storiche in altri archivi. Purtroppo in lingua originale Inglese. : The associated coat of arms for this name DONADIO are recorded in J.B Rietstaps Armorial General. Illustrated by V & H.V Rolland’s. This monumental work took 23 years to complete and 85,000 coats of Arms are included in this work. This Italian, French and German name of DONADIO was from a medieval given name rendered in ancient documents in the Latin form ‘Donatus’ meaning ‘to give’. The name was much favoured by early Christians, either because the birth of a child was seen as a gift from God or else because the child was in turn dedicated to God. The name was borne by various early saints, among them a 4th. century Italian bishop martyred in c.350 under Julian the Apostate, a 6th century hermit of Sisteron, and a 7th century bishop of Besancon, all of whom contributed to the popularity of the given name in the Middle Agens, which was not checked by the heresy of a 4th century Carthaginian bishop who also bore it. The name has numerous variant spellings which include DONNETT, DONNAY, DONATH, DONATO, DONATI, DONATIELLO, DONATINI and DONDADIO. As the agricultural depression of southern Italy worsened towards the end of the 19th century, people started to escape to the New World. The exodus started in earnest in 1887 with Brazil and other parts of Latin America being the original destinations. By 1893, the economy had improved in the United States and people headed there from Italy in greater and greater numbers. In 1898 there were more Italian immigrants to the USA than from any other state. In the post war era, more than a quarter of Italians left the state for a new life. They joined a flood of immigrants to America which was averaging a million a year in the pre war years. 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….
Noble title: Conti
Coat of arms: D’oro, all’olivo fruttato al naturale; col capo d’azzurro alla colomba d’argento…