Le Thadee

WINEGROWERS BY NATURE

The Name

Our name, Le Thadee, literally means “the Thadeas” and recalls the figure of a young princess, natural daughter of the Emperor Charles V, who lived in Montefalco in the Sixteenth Century: Thadea, as most girls at that time, has not been able to choose her future.

the logo

A simple sign full of significance

The double circle

Representing a double circle as big barrels, Grands Tonneaux, Tonneaux and Barriques seen from the front

Trained-up-elm

The double circle stems from the roots of a trained-up-elm grapevine, as the ones we have in our Della Stella vineyard

The spurred cordon

The double circle stems from the roots of a vine grown with the double spurred cordon training technique

The "T" of Thadea

The grapevines represented in the logo also have the shape of a T, initial letter of Thadea’s name

The six small arches

The six small arches that form the upper part of the T refer to the six arches forming the portico of the town hall of Montefalco

The History

Secret romance

Born on January 23, 1523 in Bologna, Thadea was the offspring of a secret relationship between Emperor Charles the Fifth and a noblewoman, Orsolina of the wealthy Perugian family Della Penna.

The life of Thadea

Orsolina had taken a trip to Belgium with her husband Valentino dei Cancellieri to visit the court of Charles V. Having lost her husband prematurely, thanks to her beauty, she immediately attracted the attention of the young Emperor, who at the time was 22 years old, and Thadea was born out of this secret loving relationship. To avoid causing a scandal in the imperial court or in the city of Perugia, it was decided that Orsolina would go back stopping in Bologna to give birth to the child away from prying eyes, with the help of the protectress Joan of Burgundy, designed by the Emperor as the one in charge of the education of Thadea. She will take care of Thadea for all her life, separating the girl from the mother, who went back untarnished to Perugia. Thadea and Joan have later been hosted in the convent of San Lorenzo in Collazzone, not far from Montefalco. During her childhood, Thadea met her father in private meetings and important ceremonies. To be certain of her identity, the Emperor wanted her knee to be etched with a small symbol “IHS”.

 

When the maternal uncles discovered the existence of Thadea, they went to the monastery, abducted her when she was only thirteen years old and gave her in marriage to Sinibaldo dei Coppeschi, of the eminent De’ Cuppis family hailing from Montefalco, where she spent most of her life. The aforementioned family, in the person of Bernardino De’ Cuppis, at the end of the Fifteenth Century began to build bonds with the Roman Pontifical court and specifically with the Della Rovere family. 

In spite of the good status and social recognition of the family, Charles V did not approve the marriage, considering it not worthy of Thadea’s class. In fact, he had much more ambitious nuptial projects for this natural daughter, similarly to what happened to her older half-sister Margret of Austria, born out of his relation with Joan Van Der Gheynst and betrothed to Alessandro De’ Medici in 1533. It is believed that this is the reason why Thadea was never officially recognized.

 

The Project

The story of Thadea helps us understand how little of their fate could women decide in past centuries, and this is sorrowfully true in many parts of the world still to these days.

Also viticulture is still mainly run by men: at Le Thadee we seek and strongly encourage a close collaboration between genders in all operative positions, aiming to produce wines with characteristics that are peculiar and enticing to both men’s and women’s taste.