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Cofrancesco Family History
The research into the history of the Cofrancesco family was provided by Albert Cofrancesco. The following is an excerpt of his years of research while living in Italy.
View a portion of the Cofrancesco Family Tree by clicking here. The family tree traces the family from it's origination in the 16th century.
To view or download a more detailed family history, including the family tree, researched and written by Albert Cofrancesco, in Microsoft Word format, click here.
THE FAMILY COFRANCESCO
BY
ALBERTO CARLO SILVESTRO COFRANCESCO
A/K/A
A. CHARLES COFRANCESCO
In 1984, I retired and being "empty nesters", my wife and I went to live in Italy. She is from the town of Sora in the Province of Frosinone, and we had met while I was on business and also visiting relatives in the area. So we settled in Sora. I did not have, nor do I now have, any desire to live in the Benevento Area. Nice to visit, but live there-NO THANKS!
We spent much time visiting primarily in Cerreto Sannita and Massa/Faicchio where the majority of the family is located. The urge to know more about our family once more overtook me, and since I now had the time to do so, I renewed the search on my own.
It is necessary to understand the "hurdles" that were encountered and had to be overcome, quite frankly in some cases, I was forced to make an "educated" guess due to circumstances encountered, such as the earthquake of 1688 which destroyed ALL RECORDS IN THE PROVINCE, and made it necessary for me to try to come in the "back door", by that I mean "try to link someone who survived 1688 to someone who was alive before 1688, such as my great, great, great, great grandfather who I believe was born 1660 died 1734", usually the survivors left their history to their family. Not always however, and this made it very difficult at times!
I recalled my dad telling me that our name came into existence beginning with the Battle of Marilengo in the early 1500's and that our family could be traced back to a HUGH CAPET, who was the last direct male descendant of Charlemagne. At the time with this information in mind, I felt it would be easier to start at Marilengo.
Lo and behold, I searched maps and history books but could find no Marilengo! With history books, I didn't fare much better with HUGH CAPET, nothing more than a reference that he was the founder of the Capetian Dynasty in France which spanned the years 987(?) AD-to present day.
Actually, the Capetian Dynasty ended in 1328 AD. However, what occurred was no more than a name change, from Capet to a descendant who preferred the name of his fiefdom to Capet, and thus emerged the Valois Dynasty with Philip VI of Valois as King.
An additional change occurred in 1589 AD, when Margaret of Valois married Henry IV Duke of Bourbon and established the Family Bourbon as the ruling Family of France under Henry IV.
Here was an intra-family intrigue (of which there were quite a few starting with Charles Martel, the grandfather of Charlemagne). Prior to this marriage the Dukes of Bourbon where also "Princes of Valois"! Down through the years, as a method of preserving titles, domains etc., intra-family marriages were not "uncommon". There was quite a history of aunts marrying nephews, nieces marrying uncles and even instances of brother and sister marrying. It wasn't until 1516 AD that Pope Leo X, decreed that henceforth no marriages would be permitted between relatives of less than the "Third Degree", apparently ruling out all of the above and requiring cousins to be no less than third cousins.
Another obstacle that "DROVE ME UP A TREE" during my search in Italy, France and Germany was that in France, it seemed the only names that were available were Louis, Antoine, Pascal and Michel! In Italy, Luigi, Antonio, Pasquale and Michele! Try to keep about 10 of each of these names, in every branch of the family, in proper perspective(without mixing one with another)! More so when certain of them emmigrated from France to Italy!
I decided that I would start my search in France with the advent of Charlemagne. I visited libraries, monasteries, churches and city halls in places like Paris, Orleans, Bordeaux, Avignon, Tours, and a number of other towns and cities and for a while it seemed I was getting "no where", and just traveling in circles!
My successes began when a Friar at a monastery in Avignon, suggested that I go to Aachen, Germany the birthplace of Charles Martel. (My history books told me he was born in Paris). The friar turned out to be correct! According to records Charles Martel (known as Charles the Hammer), was the illegitimate son of a Merovingian King, Pepin of Heristal, and was born in 692 (?) AD. His sons Pepin The Short and Carloman, ruled the Empire that Charles had left, jointly. Subsequently Carloman grew weary and retired to become a Benedictine Monk at the Abbey of Monte Cassino in Italy, leaving his brother in sole possesion of the Empire which included most of what today is West Germany to the Rhine River, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland and parts of Northern Italy.
Charlemagne in turn was the illegitimate son of Pepin, born 742 AD, and half-brother to Carloman, the legitimate son of Pepin. Carloman was killed in battle 771 AD, as he and Charlemagne were Co-Kings fighting in the battle together, suspicions were aroused as to how Carloman may have died.
With the deaths of Pepin and later, Carloman the Merovingian Dynasty came to an end. Charlemagne saw fit to now name the Family Carolingian, in honor of his half-brother Carloman.
Thus began the Carolingian Dynasty which was to last until the ascent of Hugh Capet to the throne. (It is quite possible that the family goes back even prior to Charles Martel. Clovis, the first Merovingian king had been a Roman General and Governor of the region. However, records of his rule and subsequent rulers were next to "non-existant". I could not establish any direct link from Clovis to Charles Martel.)
Charlemagne had three sons:
Charles - King of Acquitaine
Pepin - King of Italy
Louis I - King of France
Charlemagne had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III on December 24,800 A.D.
No one of his sons were credited with anything of note, and each was kept busy during their reigns in maintaining order, quelling rebellions and warding off invaders. Neither did any of the three produce offspring of note, although Pepin had three grandsons by his son Bernard who became Holy Roman Emperors. Although, many subsequent offspring resulted from these Emperors, there was really nothing of great importance that occurred from the death of Louis I, son of Bernard in 876 AD until the reign of Louis V, the last Direct King of the Carolingian Line and in reality the last DIRECT MALE DESCENDANT OF CHARLEMAGNE!
Under the LAW OF PRIMOGENITOR initiated by Charlemagne, male descendants deriving from the female line, were not considered to be DIRECT DESCENDANTS OF THE RULER!
Louis V died at the young age of twenty, his Regent had been his Uncle, who was referred to as "Hugh the Great". Upon the death of Louis V, no direct descendants remained except for Charles, Duke of Lorraine a cousin. Charles was considered a "Traitor" to country and family, as he had joined in a war years earlier against Lothair, father of Louis V. Even though defeated, Charles never reconciled with the family. His uncle, Hugh the Great had a son, also named Hugh. The Great managed to have an aunt of Louis & Charles adopt his son as her own. Hugh the Great, was also the Mayor of The Palace (Regent/Prime Minister ?), he himself was "direct" in the line from Charlemagne, but on the female side; he figured this action would give his son more validity as a "Carolingian"! It apparently did as the nobles refused to recognize Charles as the legitimate successor to the throne and named Hugh the Great's son as King.
History has not recorded the surname of Hugh or Hugh the Great. Upon his ascent to the throne, Hugh assumed the surname "Capet" which he derived from the word "cappa" which referred to the cape that he was so fond of wearing.
Now began the era of the Capetian Dynasty, which would end (except for name changes of the Royal Family) with Henri de Bourbon-Parma who at last report was living in Palm Beach, Florida. He is the current "Pretender" to the throne of France. CORRECTION, HE PASSED AWAY IN LATE 1999. HE HAD NO MALE HEIRS.
The rule of the "Direct Capetians" which ended in 1328 with the ascent to the throne of France of Philip VI Duke of Bourbon, Prince of Valois was a very turbulent era. Out of the turbulence arose William the Conqueror, later King of England, Richard the lionhearted, his brother John, and Robert Giuscard, (the Norman prince, who finally stripped the Colafrancescos of their remaining power)among others, ALL CAPETIANS! As previously stated, these were turbulent times, wars were the order of the day. The invasion of England by William, the Crusades, the first One-Hundred Years War, and many other wars in between.
In 1328 Philip VI began, and the turbulent years continued, the rule of the "Direct Valois" continued until 1589 with the death of Henry III. In addition to the normal wars of the era, there was also the second One-Hundred Years War, Joan of Arc also lived and died during this era. In 1498 Charles VIII died and with him his direct line of Valois. The title of King now went to the Orleans branch of the family, Louis Duke of Bourbon and Orleans, Prince of Valois, who assumed the throne as Louis XII, he reigned until 1515 and died without heirs. The titles now passed to the branch of Bourbon-Orleans known as Valois-Angoule'me(House of Anjou) under Francis I who now was "Master" of Bourbon, Orleans, Valois and Anjou. Francis was born 1494 died 1547. His younger brother Louis Duke of Bourbon, Prince of Valois born 1496 died 1571(?) and Francis(to the French, Francois I, to the Italians, Francesco I) are probably the TWO MOST IMPORTANT PERSONAGES IN THE FAMILY COFRANCESCO!!!!
Francis I and his brother Louis were both daring and adventurous characters! Francis ascended to the throne of France at the age of twenty-one, immediately upon the death of his uncle Louis XII, his brother Louis was only nineteen at the time.
One of his first acts as King was to declare war with Austria for two main reasons, Charles V the Emperor of Austria was also the heir to the Spanish throne. Queen Isabella (of Columbus fame) had passed away and King Ferdinand was on his deathbed, also because the Duchy of Milan had been a part of France since Charlemagne's time until the 1200's he felt it rightfully should be part of France once again. His intent was to "kill" two birds with one stone, neutralize Charles V, who was his enemy, and regain Milan which previously was ruled by the Visconti's, of whom he and Louis were direct descendants!
The Swiss joined the Austrians against Francis and on September 13, 1515 the Swiss and the Austrians were defeating the French forces under Field Marshals Lautrec, Trivulce and LaPalice.
On the day of September 14, 1515, Louis Duke of Bourbon, Prince of Valois arrived with a force of 12,000 men to turn the tide against the Swiss and Austrians, pursued them in their retreat and completely destroyed them at Villa-Franca. The original battle was the "BATTLE OF MARIGNANO, SOME "HISTORIANS" REFERRED TO IT AS THE BATTLE OF MARILENGO WHILE OTHERS CALLED IT THE BATTLE OF MERILENGO! Take your pick, the name of the town today is MARIGNANO AND WAS IN 1515!!
When Louis arrived with his army and engaged the Austrians and Swiss, it is said that the Austrian Field Marshall Bayard, asked one of his Aide-de-Camps (who was a Colafrancesco) 'who in the hell is that in command of the French reinforcements?' , the Aide rather than replying Louis de Bourbon or Prince Louis of Valois or Francis' brother, whatever; in the lack-a-daisical manner of the the Italians of the day, replied ' He's with Francesco ' (the Italian for Francis/Francois)!!
HENCE THE NAME !!!!!!!COFRANCESCO!!!!!! LOUIS WAS NOT TO USE THIS NAME UNTIL ABOUT 15 YEARS LATER IN 1530 (?) WHEN HE DECIDED TO SPEND THE REST OF HIS LIFE IN ITALY, AS HIS BROTHER FRANCIS SUBSEQUENTLY HAD A SON AND THREE GRANDSONS ALL OF WHOM SUCCEEDED HIM AS KING! Son Henry II born 1517 and first of three grandsons, Francis II born 1537.
It was not until the 1530's more likely than not, after the birth of Francis II, when hopes for Louis to succeed Francis I to the throne faded, that Louis and two sons moved to the area of Villa-Franca, the scene of his GREAT TRIUMPH. Here he became known as Louis Cofrancesco and his sons, Henri and Antoine also assumed the name COFRANCESCO!
By the way, I did suffer some moments of embarrassment during my search. It was rough finding the connection to Louis Duke of Bourbon, until once again a Monk intervened, this time in Orleans. He questioned me, "Are you certain your name is Cofrancesco?' When I replied in the affirmative, he merely said "Shame on you, have you never heard of Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Valois, Duke of Benevento?" I was tempted to reply, "What do you think I'm here for?", but his statement made me believe that if anyone could steer me right, it was he. Later, I asked him if by chance he was a Cofrancesco, his answer was No! He was just very interested in the lives of Francis I and Louis.
Sure enough the next thing he did was bring me a "ledger"; about two feet high, a foot wide and at least 6-10 inches thick. He left it with me with the admonition, be careful you ruin anything and it will cost you $1,000 per page. I proceeded to open it, and the first page that I took between my thumb and forefinger felt as though it was going to disintegrate right then and there. I beckoned to the Friar and he came back to me and before I could say anything to him, he said "you're not rich, and you're afraid to open it, aren't you?" I replied "you're reading my mind!" He opened it to the part I would be interested in and said when I needed to turn the page let him know.
Louis, nor his sons Henri & Antoine, ever left Northern Italy, and not much was recorded of any of the three from that time on. Two grandsons, (sons of Henri & Antoine ?), named Antoine circa 1585-1666 and Pascal circa 1592-1672 were the first COFRANCESCOS to migrate to the Benevento area. Antoine, who became Antonio circa 1622, to Cerretto Sannita with three sons; Louis, Pascal and Michel. Subsequently all assumed the Italian version of their names, Luigi, Pasquale and Michele.
I use the word "circa" due to the fact that prior to 1710 it is almost impossible to get an exact date, due to the earthquake of 1688, as mentioned previously all records in the Province were destroyed.
Pascal followed Antoine about two years later, circa 1624. Their ORIGINAL PURPOSE was not to build a better life, BUT to claim territory that the COLAFRANCESCOS had ceded to their Grandfather Louis after the War. The territory comprised the greater parts of the Provinces of Avellino, Caserta, Foggia, Campobasso, Isernia & Frosinone together with the entire Province of Benevento, which was the Capital City and Province of the Colafrancescos. Part of the terms of Cessation were the complete evacuation of the Province of Benevento by the COLAFRANCESCOS!
In those days, all of Europe with the exception of England, was comprised of "ABSOLUTE MONARCHIES", and as Charlemagne previously set forth the LAW OF PRIMOGENITOR , this law was followed in all countries except England.
Under the LAW, the FIRST BORN MALE received all the family riches upon the death of the head of the family. The rest were left to fend for themselves. Antoine, apparently modified the law and treated his sons and brother much better by arranging for them to receive ¼ each, upon his demise so long as they stayed and settled their new domain.
Pascal, however being the youngest brother, and with Antoine settled comfortably in his new domain, was allowed by Antoine to forfeit his grant upon the death of their father circa 1640, and return to Villa-Franca and inherit the family domain there. It never was established whether their father was Henri or Antoine! Could not determine from the records available.
Pascal, who is now Pasquale, and Antoine who is now Antonio, apparently kept in close touch with one another. Pasquale returned many times to visit his brother and nephews prior to his death in 1672.
Pasquale had two sons, Luigi Antonio and Michele Andrea. It is assumed that they and/or their heirs succeeded to the Estate that Pasquale had inherited from his father. It was Luigi Antonio who kept record of the Cerreto branch of the family, which must have been passed on to him by his father, which enabled me to make some links between 1688 and 1710.
I never did follow up on the Northern branch of the Family, I do know, however that the Milan branch for the most part descend from Francesco and Filomena Cofrancesco COFRANCESCO. Also that the Genoa branch descends from my dad's younger brother Vincenzo, and most of the Rome branch descends from a mixture of Cerreto and Faicchio ancestors. The remainder of the Northern branch, I at this time assume descend from the above Pasquale and his family, this includes the Swiss, French (in the province of Savoy) and Torino and thereabouts.
From all indications, the Family Cofrancesco for the first fifty or so years in Benevento, settled in Cerreto Sannita originally, the first record I found of a Cofrancesco in any of the other towns, was Antimo Federico who passed away in 1725. I assume that this may very well be the son of Luigi Antonio 1610-1690(?) who was born 1664 in Cerreto and died 1725 in San Lorenzello, which is probably a twenty-thirty minute walk from Cerreto.
All taken into consideration, it appears that the Family did extremely well considering the "Economy" of the area in which they were located. It has always been and still is a very depressed area! The fact they did well was undoubtedly due to their "modification of Primogenitor", to the extent that the first TWO males inherited considerable land, while the rest were given a "DOWRY" and left to manage on their own. Even so, as the male line increased the land and money eventually ran out! It was probably in the early 1700's that those who received the "DOWRY" rather than land, began to think, "what the hell am I doing here in Cerreto?", and began drifting off into other towns such as Telese, Faicchio, Castelvenere, Solopaca, etc. Apparently those who inherited land, even though it may have been located in Foggia or Avellino wherever, did not leave Cerreto but lived off the land as landlords.
While the "drifting off" places were primarily in the Province of Benevento, after about 1890 the "drifting off" places became the U.S.A. , Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela where we have quite a few more relatives.
It did not take too long for the FAMILY to "MULTIPLY"! The three sons of Antonio(Antoine) among them produced fourteen male heirs! These fourteen in turn produced among them NINETY-THREE MALE HEIRS, just factoring in say twenty females, they must have been real BUSY!! Under these circumstances, it is easy to see why the land and money eventually ran dry!!
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