79-page in Letter size (74-page in A4 size) downloadable, printable PDF, clickable table of contents, 40 colour images, genealogy charts, etc., footnotes, extensive appendix of pergamene (legal parchments), and resource list.
| Buy eBook: 'The Benassuti of Trentino' | |
|---|---|
| LETTER SIZE, 8.5 X 11 inches | |
| A4 SIZE, 21 cm X 29.7 cm | |
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About the eBook: The BENASSUTI of Trentino: Medieval Origins, Nobility, and a Dynasty of Notaries.
This project has been a labour of love. It represents over 2 years’ worth of research, study, analysis, writing, and rewriting. It traces the Benassuti back to the original patriarch — Benassuto of Cles — who lived in the latter half of the 1300s, in the post-Black Death era. Tracing the early family history via means of notary documents and diplomas of nobility, and connecting these with later parish records, I have done my best to piece together a viable genealogical model of the Benasutti, from their origins to the present era. I have also addressed many of the misconceptions of past research, and have included some fascinating glimpses into the lives and personalities of many of the Benassuti through the centuries, and the history of their times.
The finished work is significantly longer and contains many more images than my other surname studies, so I really cannot publish as a blog article (as it would probably crash your browser!). Thus, to give you a taste of what the eBook is about, below I’ve shared:
- The INTRODUCTION, entitled ‘Why Study the Benassuti’
- The TABLE OF CONTENTS, which shows you all the chapters and subheadings covered in the book.
- The TABLE OF IMAGES (40 in total), to give you an idea of the visual content of the book.
I truly hope the materials below will sufficiently pique your interest enough to buy The Benassuti of Trentino. I have spent hundreds of hours (and Euros) in the course of working on this piece, and every single purchase will help support my future research projects.
INTRODUCTION: WHY STUDY THE BENASSUTI?
If you don’t want to read the introduction, you prefer to watch this short video instead:
As I research so many different surnames of Trentino, you might wonder what inspires me choose one particular surname to be the focus of a longer, more in-depth historical study.
The answer isn’t always clear, nor is it even particularly logical.
I suppose it would be ‘logical’ for me to choose surnames from my own family tree. Well, in the case of the Benassuti, they are indeed among my ancestors, but the most recent of my Benassuti ancestors was born over 430 years ago, which means I really don’t have that many Benassuti in my own pedigree. One of my father’s cousins married a Benassuti, but that also wouldn’t have been a compelling enough reason on its own to study the Benassuti in such detail.
Another ‘logical’ reason would be if I knew there was a lot of ‘extra’ documentation about that family, aside from parish records. Regarding the Benassuti, this is certainly the case. For centuries, they were a formidable dynasty of notaries, who earned many academic degrees, and were awarded at least two major noble titles. All of the documents related to those activities help us construct a richer story beyond the simple recording of births, marriages and deaths.
Aside from these ‘logical’ reasons, you might find it surprising that encountering contradictions, errors or anomalies in the work of past researchers can also drive me to investigate a particular family. And that was definitely the case with the Benassuti. Honestly, I have lost count of the number of contradictory statements about them I have found in books, articles, and in other people’s family trees. It kind of drove me crazy, and I wanted to (at least try to) sort it out for my own peace of mind. This is one of the main reasons why it has taken me more than two years to complete this study. As soon as I learned one thing, it seemed to contradict something else that had been said elsewhere, which meant I either had to figure it out, or be satisfied with an ‘I don’t know.’ Now, even after months and months of analysing, cross-comparison, and interpretation, there are certainly still many grey areas, but I have tried my best to offer you my ‘informed theories’, rather than just my personal ‘educated guesses.’
But perhaps the most important reason why I chose the Benassuti as the focus for a longer study is that many thousands of present-day people of Trentino descent are related to them, if not directly descended from them. As we can (more or less) trace this family back to around the post-Black Death era (mid-1300s), they had a long time to propagate. I will talk more about the specific figures towards the end of this report, but statistically, if you have any ancestry in the parish of Santa Croce del Bleggio (Val Giudicarie), you have a very good chance of being related to the Benassuti. But Bleggio is not the only connection; those with ancestors from Cles, Trento and even Pergine might also be related, as I will explain as we go along.
In this study, I will be walking you through the origins and early centuries of this ancient noble family in Cles, and how they settled in Tignerone in Val Giudicarie, with some spending a few generations in the city of Trento. We will look at their professional and educational achievements, and the details of their noble titles. We’ll explore the extinction of some lines, and the endurance of others. In addition to those who bear the Benassuti surname, we will also consider the formidable number of us who are descendants of Benassuti woman. Diverging from the usual forms of documentation, we will also get a rare glimpse into the mind and emotions of one Benassuti nobleman, in a poem he wrote in the 17th century. And lastly, we will briefly look at the Benassuti of the 20th century and the present day.
In the APPENDIX at the end of this report, you will also find a substantial list and summary of many dozens of pergamene (legal parchments) drafted by Benassuti notaries, all organised according to author and date.
I humbly submit this study before you, in the hope you will find it both interesting and informative.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
To give you an idea of the content of the eBook, here are the headings from the Table of Contents:
TABLE OF IMAGES (40 in total)
Figure 2: Family group of Matteo Benassuti and Margherita (early 1500s)
Figure 3: 28 March 1566. ‘Antonio, son of Matteo Benassuti of Tignerone’ cited as godfather
Figure 4: 1596 baptism establishing Francesco as brother of Giovanni Antonio Benassuti (Tignerone)
Figure 5: 1559 baptismal record of Benassuto Benassuti (Tignerone)
Figure 6: 1578 baptismal record of Margherita Benassuti (Tignerone)
Figure 7: 5-Generation Descendant Chart for Benassuto da Cles
Figure 8: Family group of Tommaso Benassuti and Elisabetta (Trento)
Figure 9: 1566 baptismal record of Giovanni Francesco Benassuti (Duomo di San Vigilio, Trento)
Figure 10: 1593 marriage record of (Giovanni) Francesco Benassuti and Elisabetta Melchiori (Trento)
Figure 11: Family group of (Giovanni) Francesco Benassuti and Elisabetta Melchiori (Trento and Arco)
Figure 12: Family group of Matteo Benassuti and Vittoria Gaudenzi (in Trento)
Figure 13: 1606 marriage record of Giovanni Battista Benassuti and Barbara Turri (Santa Maria Maggiore, Trento)
Figure 14: Family group of Giovanni Battista Benassuti and Barbara Turri (in Trento)
Figure 15: Notary seal of Giovanni Battista Benassuti (1627)
Figure 16: Family group of Dr Francesco Benassuti and Isabella Bordogna (Santa Maria Maggiore, Trento)
Figure 17: 1665 baptismal record of Giorgio Vincenzo Benassuti, son of Francesco and Isabella
Figure 18: 1693 death record of priest Giorgio Benassuti
Figure 19: 1676 death record of priest Lodovico Benassuti
Figure 20: Vicolo Benassuti in Piazza del Duomo, Trento (photo by Lynn Serafinn)
Figure 21: Casa Cazzuffi (left) and Casa Rella (right) on Piazza del Duomo, Trento
Figure 22: 1622 stemma granted to Francesco Benassuti
Figure 23: Examples of signatures of (Giovanni) Francesco Benassuti
Figure 24: Opening Lines of Poem by Francesco Benassuti
Figure 25: Excerpt from Poem of Francesco Benassuti (talking about animal voices)
Figure 26: 1668 death record of Dr Tommaso Benassuti
Figure 27: Page 6 of the 1663 doctoral diploma of Francesco Antonio Benassuti
Figure 28: Relationship chart between the two Tommaso Benassutis in Trento
Figure 29: Family group of the Tommaso Benassuti, chirurgo, and wife Maria (Trento)
Figure 30: 1647 baptismal record of Giovanni Antonio, son of Tommaso, chirurgo (Trento)
Figure 31: 1691 baptismal record in which Giovanni Antonio (the godfather) is said to be a citizen of Trento
Figure 32: 1673 earliest reference to Giovanni Antonio with imperial nobility honourifics
Figure 33: Family group of Giovanni Antonio Benassuti and Francesca Cattarina (possibly Bianchi) in Tignerone
Figure 34: 1707 death record of Giovanni Antonio Benassuti
Figure 35: Family group of Francesco Antonio Benassuti and Felicità Domenica Zorzi (in Tignerone)
Figure 36: Relationship between Ser Francesco and Giovanni Antonio Benassuti
Figure 37: Wood carving of 1622 stemma in the Benassuti home in Tignerone
Figure 38:The 3 sons of Matteo Benassuti (colour-coded)
Figure 39: Santina (memorial card) for Daniele de Benassuti, who died during WW1
Figure 40: Marion Gosetti Benasutti in 1927. Photo courtesy of her grandson, Michael Benasutti
| Buy eBook: 'The Benassuti of Trentino' | |
|---|---|
| LETTER SIZE, 8.5 X 11 inches | |
| A4 SIZE, 21 cm X 29.7 cm | |
| CLICK HERE to see all of Lynn's eBooks in the Digital Shop. | |
By the way, if you are unfamiliar with how to navigate through a PDF eBook using its in-built bookmarks, click here for an image I’ve made explaining it:
Many thanks to those who of you who have already bought The Benassuti of Trentino or other eBooks on this website. Again, every purchase helps support my research projects.
BEFORE YOUR GO….
Be sure to pick up a copy of up my
FREE 10-page FAQ Genealogy Guide.
| Download your FREE 10-page FAQ Research Guide | |
|---|---|
| LETTER SIZE, 8.5 X 11 inches | |
| A4 SIZE, 21 cm X 29.7 cm | |
| CLICK HERE to see all of Lynn's eBooks in the Digital Shop. | |
Until next time!
Warm wishes,
Lynn Serafinn
Genealogist at https://trentingenealogy.com
02 August 2024
P.S. Due to ongoing health issues, I am unable to travel to Trento (or anywhere else) for the indefinite future.
However, I have MANY research resources here in my home library, which means I can do research for many clients without having to travel. I am now taking bookings for OCTOBER 2024.
If you would like to book a time to discuss having me do research for you, I invite you to read my ‘Genealogy Services’ page, and then drop me a line using the Contact form on this site. Then, we can set up a free 30-minute chat to discuss your project.
Join our Trentino Genealogy Group on Facebook: http://facebook.com/groups/TrentinoGenealogy
Lynn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LynnSerafinn
View my Santa Croce del Bleggio Family Tree on Ancestry:
https://trentinogenealogy.com/my-tree/
CAVEAT: Please note that the online version is many years out of date, as I have been working on it offline, and have added many thousands of new people and fixed many errors.