Gessopalena's Lineages: Monastic Dynasties, Feudal Families

---

This report details the genetic structure and surname formation of two major male lineage clusters in Gessopalena, a town in the Abruzzo region of Italy. These clusters—well represented through extensive BigY700 testing—show how Y-DNA data corroborates historical notarial records, local noble lineages, and patterns of Jewish origin and conversion within the Italian peninsula.

Haplogroup Path: J-L70 > Z435 > Z2177 > PH185 > FGC24530 > BY76232 > BY200540

Formation: ca. 1500 BCE (J-L70)
Larcinese–Tiberino Split: ca. 1200 AD

This lineage includes:

• Larcinese Clan (of the Arx): Documented from ca. 1500's onward in Valle Arcioni, la Macchie, Calderari, Feud in Prata, Pietra Andrea, Isolina, Montedei Morte....with homes in dell'Annunziata, Monte dei Morte, Sant"Egidio (attached to the monastery which stretched to Arcioni's torrente della Cesa etc.land managers, finance commissioners, and tax collectors. .  
   
• Tiberino Clan ("Tychicus"): Priestly lineage, donors to Sant’Egidio Church, patrons to Sant'Antonio Church, Doctors, pharmacists, tavern oweers, and land stewards.  Lived in a lot of lands with de Larcinese as well as Valle Sorda.
   

Shared Ancestry and Ecclesiastical Foundations:

• The Larcinese and Tiberino are not divergent lines but rather the same lineage, split through documentary surnaming, with a shared male ancestor active ca. 1200 AD.
   
• This family served as foundational dynasts within Gessopalena and surrounding villages under the jurisdiction of the Terra Sancti Benedicti’s Arcisanum, a zone under monastic control.
   
• Their ancestral roles were both ecclesiastical and administrative, holding lands and acting as stewards in a symbiotic relationship with Cistercian and Benedictine monasteries.
   

Historical Identity and Functions:

• Figures such as Magnifico Giuseppe and Magnifico Domenico Angelo Larcinese in the late 1600s–1700s reflect the family’s continued administrative prominence.
   
• Even as Benedictine power waned, the Larcinese–Tiberino shifted to secular roles—millers, priests, tax collectors—that echoed their earlier ecclesiastical authority.
   
• Hotspots of landholding include Vicenne, Arcioni (Arcene), Prata, la Macchie, and Monte dei Morti, where the family maintained territorial continuity for over six centuries—continuing to the present day (2025).
   

Comparative Note:

• While other Gessani names rose to power later—Troilo, Persiano, Sirolli—the Larcinese–Tiberino dynasty represents a foundational, blue-blooded lineage.
   
• Their influence peaked with the height of Benedictine control and declined with the dissolution of monastic power and the establishment of the Italian state.
   

Broader Kinship Links:

• Other possible collateral branches may include De Berardo, Jacobi, Pucci, Bucciarello, Innocentio, Serenaro, Di Blasio, and Di Federico.
   

Origin: J-858 (Mesopotamian) > FGC11 (Anatolian) > FT153196
Timeframe: FT153196 formed ca. 1000–1500 BCE; major branches in Gesso form 1200–1600 AD

This group reflects another noble, feudal cohort of Gessopalena, most active from the 14th to 20th centuries.

• Surnames: D’Orazio, Troilo
   
• Naming patterns: Troilo di Troilo, Orazio d’Orazio
   
• Role: Landholders and local civic elites; appear frequently in notarial acts
   

• Surnames: Persiani, (oriignally the surname was Leonello but changted to Persiano or Presiano after common ancestor, Presiano de Leonello late 1500s,  Innaurato (variant: Naurato)
   
• Earliest record: Antonio di Persiano de Leonello
   
• Geographic cross-link: Innaurato surname also found in Fossacesia
   
• Origin Note: Likely Jewish-heritage line converted and rooted in coastal-mountain migration
   

• Surnames: Sirolli, Turchi (Turco)
   
• Historical Form: Sirollo di Sirolli, Turco di Turco
   
• Parallels: Matches with Caporale family from Lanciano, suggesting wider Jewish diaspora convergence
   

Naming Characteristic:

• These surnames emerge later, with patronymic-onset surnaming from fathers’ given names rather than topographic or occupational roots.
   
• Their wealth and influence derive more from integration into the feudal economy and the nascent Italian state than from ecclesiastical origin.
   

Gessopalena appears to have been shaped by two layers of minor nobility, distinguished by origin, function, and chronology:

  Type Source of Power Historical Peak Naming Tradition Example Family     Ecclesiastical Minor Nobility Monastic stewardship, church administration 1000–1700 Toponymic, alias-based, Latinized (e.g., de Larcenese, Fratino) Larcinese/Tiberino   Feudal Minor Nobility Feudal grants, civic ascent, tax roles 1500–1900 Patronymic (e.g., Troilo di Troilo), evolving surnames Troilo, D’Orazio, Persiani    

• The ecclesiastical minor nobility was aligned with Cistercian and Benedictine structures, holding land in trust and administering monastic estates.
   
• The feudal minor nobility rose as monastic influence waned, aligning with the civic and feudal rise of southern Italy through the Kingdom of Naples and eventually the Italian state.
   
• Both classes existed in overlapping geography, but represented different eras, systems of authority, and styles of record keeping and surname formation.
   

• Y-DNA: Related via Z2177 but diverges early from Larcinese
   
• Branch: PH3882 > PH2725 > F801 > FT153855 (~1258 AD)
   
• Identity: Possibly of Jewish origin; involved in early pasta industry; economically prominent
   

• Shares common ancestry with FTC12271 cluster
   
• Ties to Sirolli and Turchi families indicate wider regional feudal or Jewish-convert networks
   

These findings highlight:

• A dual framework of noble male lineage in Gessopalena: one descending from the Larcinese–Tiberino ecclesiastical dynasty, and the other from Jewish-rooted families who rose through feudal and civic channels.
   
• While the latter reflect upward mobility through patronymic formation and integration into the Italian state, the former—Larcinese–Tiberino—represent ancient territorial and spiritual stewards tied to the Benedictine matrix.
   
• Y-DNA testing provides definitive proof of surname evolution, feudal roles, and regional Jewish heritage.
   

This synthesis of genealogical DNA and historical record is central to understanding the ethno-religious layering and feudal power structures of Gessopalena.

Report prepared by Matthew (Matteo) de Larcinese, June 2025