Gabrielli

The Gabrielli were an old feudal house of Gubbio in Umbria, first documented in the tenth century, when Cante Gabrielli received castles in central Italy from Pope Stephen VII; the castle of Luceoli was renamed Cantiano after him. The family combined warfare with church careers: Girolamo Gabrielli led a hundred knights on the First Crusade, and several members were beatified or canonised.

The most famous member was Cante Gabrielli, commander in chief of the Guelph League in central Italy and podestà of Florence, who condemned Dante Alighieri to exile; Dante repaid him in the Divine Comedy by naming the furious devil Rubicante after him.

The Gabrielli ruled their native town: Giovanni Gabrielli held the lordship from 1350 to 1354 and Gabriello Gabrielli was both lord and bishop from 1381 to 1384. After losing Gubbio the self-styled duke Cecciolo failed to reconquer it; the family's branches then served Italian courts and the papacy, which made Gabriele de' Gabrielli a cardinal in 1505.