 It is the ancestral home of the Sannazzaro family, who later extended their rule to the Oltrepò Pavese and Montferrat.In 1466 Giacomo Malaspina, lord of Massa, became the lord of Sannazzaro; his son Francesco founded the lines of the marquesses of Sannazzaro, which lasted until the abolition of feudalism by the Napoleonic invasion of Italy in 1797.Sannazzaro was part of Savoy from 1713, and, after its annexation to the unified Italy in 1859, received its current name in 1863.