According to tradition, the branch of the Arborio family currently residing in Vercelli, a country still adorned with many castles, originally made its way from Arbois, a town in Burgundy. Evidently the family's authority was so great that its castles were subject only to the Holy Roman Empire until the reign of Frederick Barbarossa. When Pope Innocent III excommunicated him for troubling the Roman Church, he considered it appropriate punishment to release the castles subject to him. At that time, the castles of the Arborio did not recognize any superior authority when the state of Vercelli was governed by the people. The Arborio family flourished in this state.

In the year of the Lord 1243, the nobles surveyed, constructed and built the city of Gattinara, uniting the villages of Rado, Loceno, Locenello and Mezzano under the dominion of the Arborio family. To this day the noble descendants of this family retain the name of Arborio di Gattinara. When the Holy Roman Empire neglected to protect Italy, these towns and their castles (Arborio, Greggio, Ghislarengo, Lenta, Ricetto, Giardino, Cassinale and San Columbano) did not have enough strength to defend themselves. In 1404, in order to escape the yoke of tyrants, the towns begged for help and submitted to Count Amadeus VIII of Savoy as imperial vicar for his protection.