Gli antichi diplomi imperiali e reali a favore della Chiesa di Vercelli, anteriori e di poco posteriori al mille, menzionano una silva Rovaxinda nel luogo dove poi nel 1170, secondo taluni genealogisti, i quattro fratelli Alberto, Guglielmo, Guido e Risbaldo di Biandrate, consignori di Rovasenda, Roasio, Castelletto, Salussola, ecc., costrussero una potente rocca, assumendo da questa loro signoria il nome di Rovasenda. E questi genealogisti riallacciano i signori di Rovasenda la manfredingo Aimone conte di Vercelli (dec. 977c.), da cui sarebero discesi, attraverso a varie generazioni Bonifacio e Giovanni signori di Biandrà (progenitori dei signori di Rovasenda), ai quali l’imperatore Federico I di Hoenstaufen per investitura del 1 marzo 1155 avrebbe concesso numerosissime terre nelle regioni Vercellese e Biellese. Il Gabotto attaccherebbe i signori di Rovasenda a Bonifacio di Biandrò, mentre il Baudi di Vesme all’opposto li riallaccerebbe al fratello Giovanni. La costruzione genealogica dei due illustri storici, se può apparentemente soddisfare, e tutt’altro che sicura, ove si consideri che per giustificarla si dovette ricorrere alla curiosa distinzione fra i signori di Biandrà, manfredingi, e i conti di Biandrate, anscarici, per poter riallacciare i primi al manfredingo Aimone conte di Vercelli. Motto della famiglia: Vici et vivo. Riguardo a questo cognome abbiamo ritrovato ulteriori informazioni storiche in altri archivi. Purtroppo in lingua originale Inglese. : The Last Name of MELLE was a French and Italian nickname from the Old French MERLE, meaning a blackbird. The name was rendered in medieval documents in the Latin form MERULA. This bird seems in the Middle Ages to have been regarded at times as a foolish creature like the magpie, and at other times as a cunning rogue like the jackdaw. In Italy today it is generally thought of a shrewd, but in Milan it is a byword for simplicity and in Sicily it is noted for its timorousness. The Last Name may have been acquired in any of these senses. It may also have been an occupational name for a catcher of blackbirds for the cooking pot. The name has numerous variant spellings which include MERLEAU, LEMERLE, LEMESLE, MERLIER, MERLI, MIERULA, MELO, MERLET, MERLOZ and MERLETTI, to name but a few. Hereditary last names were primarily imported from France into England during the Norman Conquest of 1066. In the two centuries or so after the Conquest last names were acquired by most families of major landholders, and many landed families of lesser importance. There appears to have been a constant trickle of migration into Britain between about the years 1200 and 150O, mostly from France and the Low Countries, with a small number of migrants from Scandinavia, Germany, Italy and the Iberian peninsular, and occasional individuals from further afield. During this period groups of aliens settled in this state as for example, the Germans who from the late 15th century onwards settled in Cumbria to work the metal mines. Immigration during this time had only a small effect on the body of last names used in Britain. In many cases, the last names of immigrants were thoroughly Anglicised. The late sixteenth century saw the arrival, mostly in London and the south-coast ports of large numbers of people fleeing from the war regions of France. A noble member of the name was Maurice MERLEAU-PONTY (1908-61) the French philosopher, born in Rochefort-sur-mer, Charente-Maritime. He studied in Paris, taught in various lycees, served as an army officer in World War II and then held professorships at Lyon University (1948) and in Paris (from 1949). His two main philosophical works are ‘La Structure du comportement’ (1942) and ‘ Phenomenologie de la perception’ (1945)….
Noble title: Nobili
Coat of arms: Di rosso al leone d’oro, col capo d’oro, carico di un’aquila coronata, di nero. Cimiero: Fanciullo di carnagione che tiene una spada nella destr…