Roberto Trevisan
In this section...
Below, are some historical records related to my family tree. Over the course of a decade, my father Gianfranco collected a great number of documents that chronicled 500 years of the Venetian history of my ancestors. I have selected only eight documents for you.
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ABOUT THE VENETIAN LANGUAGE...
As is the case today, the language spoken by a people is a living thing that changes and mutates in both its oral and written forms. This was all the more the case in a commercial trading city like Venice, where merchants and people from all over the known world met. This meant that terms and words from many other languages were also incorporated into the Venetian language.
Although the Venetian language was spoken by all social classes and in all areas of life, it was never codified with fixed grammatical rules. As a result, the spelling of written Venetian varied greatly, depending on the historical period and, above all, on the writer who translated the sound of words and proper names according to his personal interpretation. Depending on the writer, his education, and the historical period, we therefore find the same word written one way or another.
For example:
Scola – Schola (meaning guild)
Zecca – Cecca (the mint for currency)
In the historical documents that relate to my ancestors, one finds:
Hieronimo – Gierolamo – Gerolamo – Gerolemo
Contraher – Contrazer (to get married)
Contrada – Contrà (borough)
Do – Doi (for the number 2)
Cha – Cà (house)
Surnames were given on the basis of territorial origin, profession or some other characteristic that better identified a person such as being employed by a noble family or renting a house owned by a noble family. That is why my oldest known registered ancestor was recorded with the surname: BURANELLO, that is, an inhabitant of Burano island, one of the first islands in the Venetian lagoon to be inhabited.
Later, my ancestors were also identified with the surname TREVISAN, or DA CHA TREVISAN (from the house of the noble Trevisan family), then with yet another surname, BERLAN, which was that of another old, Venetian noble family. In some other historical documents, one of my ancestors was identified as "TREVISAN, also known as BERLAN".
​Click here for
the Venetian version
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1
This document is a census of the inhabitants for the borough of San Nicolò dei Mendicoli for the years 1576 - 1593.
BOROUGH OF SAN NICOLÒ DEI MENDICOLI
SUM
Souls 4165. still to be given communion: 2096. still to be confirmed: 722
From the 12th of February 1576 through January 1593, which is 16 years and 11 months
the number of souls born in our borough:
Number - - 3186
In the aforementioned time, the number of marriages was number 595
In the aforementioned time, the number of deaths for any
sex and age number 2421
2
This document mentions the marriage between Hieronimo and Pelegrina in 1581. Hieronimo was the son of the oldest ancestors that I am aware of, namely Zuane Buranello and Franceschina (born in 1538).
The 19th of February 1581
Hieronimo, son of Zuane Buranello registered for marriage with Pelegrina, daughter of the late Domenego di Rossi. She lives in Santa Martha.
3 announcements of the intention to marry were made on the 5th, 12th, and 19th of February (Sundays in February)
The marriage was witnessed by Zuan Antonio Campanato and Perin the greengrocer.
They got married on the 17th of April.
NOTES:
Marriage announcements (wedding banns). There had to be three, and they could be made either on a Sunday or on another public holiday.
3
This paper shows that Francesco Domenego, son of Hieronimo and Pelegrina, was born in 1589.
(the 16th of March, 1589)
The 16th of the aforesaid month
Francesco Domenego, son of Hieronimo the fisherman, who is the son of Zuanne Buranello and Siora Pelegrina of the late Domenego, was baptised in the presence of Francesco the fisherman, who is the son of the late Antonio Rizzo.
Zuanne Buranello and Siora Pelegrina are legitimately married.
4
This document shows that Francesco Domenego, son of Hieronimo and Pelegrina, intended to marry in 1611.
Today, the last day of December 1611
Sior Francesco the fisherman, son of Sior Gierolamo (Hieronimo) of the house of Trevisan, lives in our borough in the house that he owns. Sior Francesco wants to marry Andriana, daughter of the late Antonio Barchariol (Boatman) from Venice, who lives in our borough in the houses of Sir Carlo di Negri.
5
This document, dated 1618, records Cattarina Trevisan's intention to marry. She was the daughter of Hieronimo and Pelegrina and the sister of my direct ancestor Francesco Domenego.
* Cattarina’s name was the inspiration for the female protagonist of the novel.
(the 16th of September 1618)
Said day
Sior Paolo the fisherman, son of Simone Cavalier, who lives in our borough in the part of Arzere in Calle del Rado, wishes to marry Cattarina, daughter of Gerolemo Trevisan, who lives in our borough in the house that her father owns, near San Bonaventura.
NOTES:
In 1618, in the place where the church of the Terese stands today, in the borough of San Nicolò dei Mendicoli, there was a small church dedicated to St. Bonaventura, built in 1602, with a small adjoining house used as a convent to serve as a hospice for the elderly and infirm friars from the island of St. Francesco del Deserto.
In 1620, they were offered the opportunity to move to St. Alvise, sestiere of Cannaregio, where they built another church and monastery under the name of San Bonaventura, a church that still exists today, next to a place called Bersaglio, where the Venetian Bombardieri (artillerymen and musketeers) practised.
The friars left the borough of San Nicolò dei Mendicoli and moved to the new monastery in 1623.
6
This document dated 1666, is the promise of marriage between Gierolamo (Francesco Domenego's grandson) and Maria Squerariol, whose surname I have used as the surname of the female protagonist of my novel.
Today, the first of November 1666
Sior Gierolamo (employed in a noble house), who is the son of Sior Andrea Trevisan, lives in our borough behind the church in one of the houses of the father and wants to marry Maria, daughter of the late Giacomo Squerariol. She lives in our borough near the 2 wells in one of the houses of the Scola of Saint Zuanne.
NOTES:
9bre: an ancient way of writing some months of the year, adopted by the Venetians. More explanations in the novel.
In this document, the Scola di San Zuanne almost certainly refers to the Schola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista. In Venice, the Schole Grandi were confraternities whose functions included welfare. The Schole Grandi also owned property that they could rent to ordinary people, as in this case, where the family of my ancestor Maria Squerariol lived in a house that probably belonged to this Schola.
7
The seventh and eighth documents inspired the male protagonist’s surname, Carena. Andrea (born in 1675, son of gierolamo and maria squerariol) would marry Giulia Carena in 1706.
(the 24th of October 1706)
the 24th of the aforesaid month, 1706
Sior Andrea (employed in a noble house), son of the late Gierolamo Berlan, lives in our borough near the 2 wells. He wants to marry Siora Giulia, daughter of the late Zuanne Carena, and widow in her first marriage with the late Mattio, who was the son of the late Anzolo Franco. She lives in our borough near Ponte d'Arzere.
First public notice of marriage, the 24th of October 1706
Second public notice of marriage, the 28th of October, the feast of St. Simon and St. Jude
Third public notice of marriage, the 30th of October.
8
My ancestor Gierolamo Iseppo was born in 1709 from the marriage of Andrea (born in 1675, son of Gierolamo and Maria Squerariol) and Giulia Carena.
Today, the 25th of March, 1709
Gerolemo Iseppo, is the son of Sior Andrea Trevisan, who is the son of the late Gerolemo called Berlan and Siora Giulia, daughter of the late Zuanne Carena, his lawful spouse.
Gerolamo Iseppo was born on the 18th of March
Godfather Zuanne Gambato, son of the late Anzolo,
Godmother Mrs. Candoni
Mr. Fogliarolo, sexton, baptised him
