CORSINI

corsini, the name of a florentine princely family, of which the founder is said to be neri corsini, who flourished about the year 1170. like other florentine nobles the corsini had at first no titles, but in more recent times they received many from foreign potentates and from the later grand dukes of tuscany. the emperor charles iv. created the head of the house a count palatine in 1371; the marquisate of sismano was conferred on them in 1620, those of casigliano and civitella in 1629, of lajatico and orciatico in 1644, of giovagallo and tresana in 1652; in 1730 lorenzo corsini was elected pope as clement xii., and conferred the rank of roman princes and the duchy of casigliano on his family, and in 1732 they were created grandees of spain. they own two palaces in florence, one of which on the lung' arno corsini contains the finest private picture gallery in the city, and many villas and estates in various parts of italy. see l. passerini, _genealogia e storia della famiglia corsini_ (florence, 1858); a. von reumont, _geschichte der stadt rom_ (berlin, 1868); _almanach de gotha_. (l. v.*)