The Lomellini

I'm reading a book titled Rivers of Gold by Hugh Thomas about the Rise and Fall of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan.

Chapter 4 begins with the Genoese or Italian explorers and the influence on the Spanish crown. During the early 15th Century the Genoese merchants were dominant in Mediterranean commerce. The Italians were very influential to the Spanish crown as there also happened to be a sitting Genoese Pope, Pope Innocent VIII. whose ancestry was purported to be Genoese on both sides of his family.

Among the prominent Genoese families was the Lomellini family. According to this book, the Lomellini's controlled the Portuguese Gold trade and dominated the salt and silver commerce of Sardinia and Ceuta. They brought most of the Gold from Africa by caravan and their other specialty was the slave trade. Unlike the Portuguese who traded slaves and then aimed to convert them to Christianity, the Genoese traded gold and slaves in Crimea, Tunisia, Malaga, Granada and Chios and their aim was to make money, not to convert slaves.

The slaves were Circassians, Ethiopians, Slavs, Bosnians, Berbers and Black Africans, Canary Islanders, Muslims and Greeks and even Christians. They would trade men women and children and trade them on the open world markets. They were great seafaring families as were Columbus and his brothers.

Just thought I'd share a little history with those who have Lomeillini ancestors.

Alicia,
San Jose, Calif