I di Collalto, are a noble family of Lombard origin, which takes its name from the homonymous locality, today a hamlet of the municipality of Susegana in the province of Treviso. There is no certain evidence of the origins of the Collalto, but the traditions that hold this Lombard family seem to be true. One can reasonably assume that they were part of that warrior aristocracy that, with the arrival of the Franks of Charlemagne and the fall of King Desiderio, passed from one subjection to another without losing their prerogatives of nobles.
The first documented member is Rambaldo I: on 25 October 958 (or 959) the king of Italy Berengario II and his son Adalberto issued a diploma with which they gave him, probably ex novo, the curia of Lovadina, with all its appurtenances , and the nearby wood of Montello. These were strategic areas, located at some fords on the Piave river; the sovereign was evidently interested in defending the Marca Veronese (from which the Trevigiano also depended) after it had been devastated by the Hungarians in previous decades.
The Rambaldo document is called dilecto fideli nostra, but no reference to the count of Treviso appears. The title, however, is attested in a writing of 971 when the same Rambaldo, witness to a placito held in Verona by the patriarch of Aquileia Reginaldo, is referred to as Comes Tarvisianense Committee. It is therefore presumed that he had been appointed that between 960 and 971.
We also know that Rambaldo had married Berengario's daughter, Gisla. All this suggests that the first members of the family had joined the party of the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in the struggle that opposed the latter to the Papacy (they were the years of the Privilegium Othonis). Further proof of this is the diploma issued by emperor Otto II in 980, with which he transmitted to the count of Treviso the rights of the Camera Regia on his possessions in the Ceneda committee, including between the Soligo and Raboso torrents.
Starting from Rambaldo the genealogy of the Collalto continues uninterrupted up to the present day. Of his sons are remembered: Byanzeno or Bianchino I, considered the forefather of the Caminesi; Rambaldo II, who also obtained various privileges from the emperor; Gaiberto or Giberto. Also belonging to this family was Almerico, bishop of Treviso attested in 1003.
Among the privileges received by Rambaldo II, it should be remembered that of 994 when Otto III confirmed his rights as Count on the city of Treviso, also giving him some mansi in various locations in the Treviso area.
Even before the year 1000, their patrimony consisted of numerous properties scattered among the committees of Treviso, Ceneda, Padua and Vicenza and, in particular, in the jurisdiction over the territory between the Piave, the Montello, the Montebelluna-Musano line and the Postumia route.
During the period that saw them at the head of the city of Treviso, the Collalto demonstrated a fluctuating policy towards the imperial and ecclesiastical authorities. If at first, as we have seen, they proved to be faithful subjects of the sovereign (which enabled them to expand and consolidate their power), in the following years they also built strong bonds with the Church through the foundation of churches, monasteries and hospitals. The Abbey of Nervesa stands out among them, erected in their properties by Montello da Rambaldo III and from 1062 passed under the direct protection of the pontiff, or outside the jurisdiction of the bishop of Treviso.
The removal from the imperial faction was confirmed from about 1080, with the struggle for investitures. The thing generated a sharp split within the Treviso public life: while the counts of Treviso supported the cause of the Papacy, the Bishop Rolando of Parma, openly supported Henry IV the Salico. The revenge of the sovereign was not long since the family was revoked the title count that was transferred to Valfredo di Desenzano.
Subsequently the Collalto returned to the emperor's graces: in 1116 Enrico V accepted the explicit request of the sons of Rambaldo III, Ensedisio and Guido, and restored their titles, privileges and concessions upon payment of a fine of 800 lbs (they managed to sold it only by selling some goods located around Mestre).
In 1108 the Collalto Counts erected the Mestre Tower, thus giving rise to the new site (castle) of the city.
The old castle was on the site of the Roman Castrum, "Castelvecchio") stood where the two branches of the Marzenego river separated, to the west of the village of San Lorenzo, about the former hospital Umberto I (access from the Terraglio it was the present via Castelvecchio).
The first fortified center of Collalto, placed on a hill facing the river Piave, is probably dated around 1110 when Ansedisio (or Ensedisio) were assigned those lands to control the fords on the river. The administrative organization of the Collalto is documented in 1138.
The ancient writings recall that Arsedisio and Widotto ceded, in 1117, some territories of today's province of Venice to the Abbey of Saint Ilario di Venezia, among which Mirano, Scaltenigo, Vetrego: these assets that had been inherited by their ancestors, such Gisla, wife of Guido da Spoleto.
In 1245 the count Schenella III bought the hill of San Salvatore, near Susegana, by the mayor of Treviso Alberico da Romano.
Giuliana, daughter of Rambaldo VI, founded, in the early thirteenth century, the monastery of Santi Biagio and Cataldo in Venice and, for having dedicated her life to helping the poor, was popularly considered a saint.
The center of the power of the Collalto was centered on the castles of Collalto and San Salvatore and when in 1312 (or 1321) Rambaldo VIII received the feudal jurisdiction from the Emperor Henry VII, the county became almost an independent principality with its own laws (to remember the Collateral Statute). While the castle of Collalto also controlled administratively the localities of Falzè di Piave, Sernaglia (now common Sernaglia della Battaglia), Barbisano (now fraction of Pieve di Soligo) and Refrontolo, that of San Salvatore administered Santa Lucia di Piave, Colfosco di Susegana and Susegana.
The figure of Schinella VI was interesting. For two years (1379 - 1380) he was at the service of the Patriarch of Aquileia, in 1387 he was found, as a count palatine, following Gian Galeazzo Visconti in France. But in 1390 it was reported in the service of Francesco Da Carrara against the Visconti so that, when Francis died (1393, was among the nobles present at the funeral.In 1394 he fought with the Da Camino in Ferrara and, in 1395, was at the service of Da Polenta in Rimini For having defeated the Hungarians, invaders of the Veneto, received the recognition (1413) of the Doge of the Republic of Venice, seems to have expired in 1415.
So the Collalto, while formally preserving their independence, became patricians of the Republic of Venice, holding positions in the judiciary and participating in the defense of the city. An example is Toso da Collalto who distinguished himself in various war exploits: from 1527 to 1533 he was predominantly in Lombardy, except in 1532, when he was busy at the island of Corfu. He will die around 1540.
In 1623 the emperor of Austria, to thank Rambaldo XIII of the indispensable military aid, assigned to the family some territories and castles in Moravia.
In 1806 Napoleon abolished the feudal organizations and the county became the municipality of San Salvador, currently the municipality of Susegana.
In 1822, Napoleon fell for some time, the Hapsburgs gave the firstborns of the Collalto the title of princes of the Empire. First was Odoardo III (1747-1833), with the titles of "Prince of Collalto and San Salvatore, Patrizio Veneto and Nobile di Treviso, Commander of the Arsenal of Venice, Podestà of Brescia, Inquisitor of State, Head of the Council of X, General in Palma and Imperial Chamberlain ".
Now the lands of the localities of the Collalto and of the Castello di San Salvatore are enhanced by a prestigious winery managed by the current descendants.