o represent."--_Mazzinghi._

The identity of the Volpes and Bigliottis is attested by ancient sepulchral
monuments of the family in Santo Spirito at Florence. To mark the ancient
origin, they retained or assumed the fox (_volpe_) as their arms. Borghini,
in his _Discorsi_ (Florence, 1584-5), mentions the family as an instance of
the name giving rise to the arms, and mentions Sandro Biglotti, 1339, as
the first who assumed the fox as his ensigns. The distinction and influence
enjoyed at Florence by the family is indicated by its having contributed
ten Gonfaloniers of Justice to the republic; an office corresponding in
rank with those of Doge of Venice {246} and Doge of Genoa. Details of
several branches of the family will be found in _Saggi Istorici D'Antichita
Toscane di Lorenzo Cantini_: Firenze, 1798.

Among the junta of twenty noblemen of Venice, chosen in 1355, on the
discovery of the conspiracy of Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice, we find the
name of "Ser Niccolo Volpe":--

"Questi [que' del Consiglio de' Dieci] elessero tra loro una Giunta,
nella notte, ridotti quasi sul romper del giorno, di venti nobili di
Vinezia de' migliori, de' piu savii, e de' piu antichi, per consultare,
non pero che mettessero pallottola."--_Vitae Ducum Venetorum_,--though
the title is in Latin, the work is in Italian,--published in Muratori's
_Rerum Italicarum Scriptores_, tom. xii. p. 634.

The following particulars are extracted from the _Biographie
Universelle_:--

"Ivo. Biliotti, d'une famille patricienne de Florence (qui avoit fourni
dix Gonfaloniers de Justice a cette republique, et place ses armes sur
les monnaies de l'etat), fut un des derniers defenseurs de la liberte
de sa patrie, et un des meilleurs capitaines de son temps. En 1529, il
defendit le fort de Spello, en Toscane, contre les troupes liguees du
pape et de l'Empereur Charles Quint. Il obligea le prince d'Orange, qui
les commandait, a se retirer, et se distingua aussi au siege de
Florence. Il passa au service de Francois I^{er}, roi de France, avec
de Gondi et Pierre de Strozzi, ses parents, et fut tue au siege de
Dieppe. Une partie de la famille Biliotti, proscrite par les Medicis,
se refugia a Avignon et dans le comtat Venaissin, vers la fin du 15^e
siecle. Le 29 juillet, 1794, le chef de cette maison, Joseph Joachim,
Marquis de Biliotti, chevalier de St. Louis, age de soixante-dix ans,