House of Arese

The Arese (or Aresi, Aresio, or Arexio in ancient form) are a prominent family of the Milanese nobility.
Origins.
Originating in the comune of Arese on the outskirts of Milan and likely descending from the Lombard Captains of Arexio (Capitanei d'Arexio; de Cataniis de Arexio) who controlled the territory as feudal lords from the 11th century, the Arese are one of the most ancient patrician citizens of Milan, represented in the "Matricula nobilium familiarum Mediolani" of Ottone Visconti in 1277.
14th and 15th centuries.
During the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, the Arese were notable as “nobiltà di toga” ('nobles of the robe'), aristocracy who's rank came from holding key judicial or administrative posts during the signoria of the Visconti, Dukes of Milan, and the Ambrosian Republic. Ambrogio Arese, "Capitan d'Aresio" (d.1388) was member of the Decurion Council, Notary of the Office of Provisions, and Chancellor of Milan under Galeazzo II Visconti. Giacomo Arese was Collegiate Jurisconsult and Ducal Sindacatore from 1406. Martino Arese (d.1427) was a wool merchant, member of the Decurion Council during the rise of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, first Duke of Milan, and made gentiluomo Ducale in 1409 during the violent reign of young Gian Maria Visconti for facilitating transition of power to Filippo Maria Visconti. During the rule of the Sforza, from 1450, the family expanded across the administration of the Duchy of Milan.
16th and 17th centuries.
The family became particularly influential in the years following the death of Ludovico Sforza, as the embattled Francesco II Sforza ceded Milan to Spanish Habsburg rule (1556–1707). In 1538 Bartolomeo Arese, il Vecchio (1508–1562) acquired feudal lordship of the Pieve of Seveso under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, with heirs consolidating power under Philip II, King of Spain through close alliances with the Archbishops of Milan Saint Charles Borromeo and Gaspare Visconti. Marco Antonio Arese (1550–1610) was Podestà of Cremona and Governor of Rimini under Pius IV. Giulio I Arese (1560-1627) was a founding member of the Accademia degli Inquieti in Pavia in 1594 and president of the Senate of Milan from 1619, under Phillip III. Bartolomeo III Arese (1590–1674) was nominated president of the Senate of Milan in 1660 after leading the suppression of French conspiracy in Northern Italy for Philip IV of Spain during the Thirty Years' War and the Great Plague of Milan. Bartolomeo III's vast political influence and artistic patronage, while governing the Milanese domains under Charles II and Philip V and acting as president of the Council of Italy, marks the height of the Arese's jurisdiction of Milan.
In the same period, Paolo Cesare Arese (1574-1644), philosopher, theologian, and Bishop of Tortona, authored "Della tribolatione e suoi rimedi" (1624) and "Imprese Sacre" (1621) in which he supports the Ptolemaic system.
18th and 19th centuries.
Following the War of the Spanish Succession, the Arese were prominent figures in Milanese cultural life, the establishment of the Cisalpine Republic, the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, Milanese resistance to the Austrian Empire, and Italian unification. At the start of the 18th century, General Giovanni Francesco Arese (1642–1712) formed a significant collection of paintings, praised by Montesquieu in 1728 upon his visit to Palazzo Arese in Milan. Marco VI Arese Lucini (1770–1825) was an officer of the Cisalpine Republic and the Italian Republic, appointed by Napoleon Bonaparte once making Milan its capital. His wife, Antonietta Fagnani Arese (1778–1847) was a translator of Goethe and is the subject of Ugo Foscolo's ode "All'amica risanata." Francesco Teodoro Arese Lucini (1778–1835) was held in the Špilberk Castle and sentenced to death (later commuted) by Francis I, Emperor of Austria for his former alliance with Eugène de Beauharnais, Viceroy of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, and for conspiring to liberate Lombardy and unite it with Piedmont.
Francesco Benedetto Arese Lucini (1805–1881) authored "A trip to the prairies and in the interior of North America 1837-1838," a diary of his journey with childhood friend Luis Napoleon Bonaparte, later Napoleone III. He was an Italian Senator and unofficial ambassador of Count Camillo Cavour in Paris during establishment of the Kingdom of Italy, negotiating concession of Nice and Savoy to France. Achille Arese Lucini (1841-1904) was a military officer and member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy.
20th century.
Franco Arese Lucini, count of Barlassina (1918–1994) was a prominent historian of Milan, president of the Lombardy Historical Society, and Mayor of Osnago. His research archives are held at the University of Insubria in Varese and Como.
Crest.
The heraldic emblem of the Arese are a pair of wings: a "stemma parlante" (speaking emblem), where in Milanese dialect the word for 'wings' is "ar".