According to tradition, the Colonna are a branch of the Counts of Tusculum — by Peter (1099-1151) son of Gregory III, called Peter "de Columna" from his property, the Columna Castle, in Colonna, Alban Hills.
The first cardinal from the family was appointed in 1206 when Giovanni Colonna di Carbognano was made Cardinal Deacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano[1].
At this time a rivalry began with the pro-papal Orsini family, leaders of the Guelph faction. This reinforced the pro-Emperor Ghibelline course that the Colonna family followed throughout the period of conflict between the Papacy and the Holy n Empire.
In 1297, Cardinal Jacopo disinherited his brothers Ottone, Matteo, and Landolfo of their lands. The latter three appealed to Pope Boniface VIII, who ordered Jacopo to return the land, and furthermore hand over the family's strongholds of Colonna, Palestrina, and other towns to the Papacy. Jacopo refused; in May, Boniface removed him from the College of Cardinals and excommunicated him and his followers for four generations. The Colonna family (aside from the three brothers allied with the Pope) declared that Boniface had been elected illegally after the unprecedented abdication of Pope Celestine V three years previously. The dispute lead to open warfare, and in September Boniface appointed Landolfo to the command of his army, to put down the revolt of Landolfo's own relatives. This he did, and by the end of 1298 Colonna, Palestrina, and other towns had been captured and razed to the ground. The family's lands were distributed among Landolfo and his loyal brothers; the rest of the family fled Italy.
Family enmity with Pope Boniface VIII led to destruction of the fortress at Palestrina and to the seizure of the Pope at Anagni by Sciarra Colonna in 1303. It was he who, in old age, crowned Louis IV as Emperor in 1328. In honor of this event, the Colonna family was granted the privilege of using the imperial pointed crown on top of their coat of arms.
The family remained at the centre of civic and religious life throughout the late Middle Ages. In 1248, after having dedicated her entire life to serving God and the poor, Margherita Colonna died. A member of the Franciscan Order, she was beatified by Pope Pius IX in 1848.
In the 1300s, the family sponsored the decoration of the Church of San Giovanni, most notably the floor mosaics. In 1314, Cardinal Egidio Colonna died at Avignon, where the Popes had withdrawn. An Augustinian, he had studied theology in Paris under St. Thomas of Aquinas to become one of the most authoritative thinkers of his time, and tutor to French king Philip the Fair. The celebrated poet Petrarch was a great friend of the family, often living in Rome as a guest of the family. He composed a number of sonnets for special occasions within the Colonna family, including "Colonna the Glorious, the great Latin name upon which all our hopes rest".
In 1627 Anna Colonna, daughter of Don Filippo Colonna, married Taddeo Barberini of the Barberini family of Pope Urban VIII.
In 1728, the Carbognano branch (Colonna di Sciarra) of the Colonna family added the name Barberini to its family name [2] when Giulio Cesare Colonna di Sciarra married Cornelia Barberini, daughter of the last male Barberini to hold the name and grand-daughter of Maffeo Barberini (son of Taddeo Barberini).
The Colonna family have been Prince Assistants to the Papal Throne [3] since 1710, though their papal princely title only dates from 1854.
The family residence in Rome, the Palazzo Colonna, is open to the public every saturday morning.
The main 'Colonna di Paliano' family is represented by Prince Marcantonio Colonna di Paliano, Prince and Duke of Paliano (b. 1948), whose heir is Don Giovanni Andrea Colonna di Paliano (b. 1975), and by Don Prospero Colonna di Paliano, Prince of Avella (b. 1956), whose heir is Don Filippo Colonna di Paliano (b. 1995). The 'Colonna di Stigliano' line is represented by Don Prospero Colonna di Stigliano, Prince of Stigliano (b. 1938), whose heir is his nephew Don Stefano Colonna di Stigliano (b. 1975) [4].
Notable members
- Stefano Colonna, an influential noble in Medieval Rome an Imperial vicar in the early 14th century.
- Vittoria Colonna, (Naples, Italy, 1490 - Rome, Italy, 1547), friend of Michelangelo. Married in 1507 Spanish-Italian Ferdinand d'Ávalos, marquis of Pescara, deceaseD 1525, adopting on becoming a widow, [[Alfonso d'Ávalos ], also marquis del Vasto, a nephew of her former husband.
- Marcantonio II Colonna the Younger, (Civita Lavinia, Italy, 1535 - Medinaceli, province of Soria, Spain, poisoned?, 1584). Duke of Tagliacozzo. Son of Ascanio Colonna and Juana de Aragón. He participated in the naval Battle of Lepanto against the Turks, 7 October 1571 and was Viceroy of Sicily, 1577 - 1584. Prince of Paliano .
- Pirro Colonna, 16th century captain under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
- Carlo (4 November 1665 - 8 July 1739) was created cardinal by Clemens XI in 1706
The Orsini family was one of the most celebrated princely families in medieval Italy and renaissance Rome.
Members of the Orsini include popes Celestine III (1191–1198), Nicholas III (1277–1280), and Benedict XIII (1724–1730), numerous cond...ottieri and other significant political and religious figures.
According to their family legend, the Orsini are descended from the Julio-Claudian family of ancient Rome. This is fanciful, as is the alleged connection to the German families of Anhalt, Baden and Bohemian Rosenberg sporting the same name. The Orsini also carried on a political feud with the Colonna family until by Papal Bull it was stopped in 1511; in 1571 the Chiefs of both families married the nieces of Pope Sixtus V.
The Orsini were related to the Boboni family existing in Rome in the 11th century. The first members always used the surname of Boboni-Orsini. The first known family member is one Bobone, in the early 11th century, father of Pietro, in turn father of Giacinto dei Boboni (1110–1198), who in 1191 became pope as Celestine III. One of the first great nepotist popes, he made two of his nephews cardinals and allowed his cousin Giovanni Gaetano (Giangaetano, died 1232) to buy the fiefs of Vicovaro, Licenza, Roccagiovine and Nettuno, which formed the nucleus of the future territorial power of the family. The Boboni surname was lost with his children, who were called de domo filiorum Ursi. Two of them, Napoleone and Matteo Rosso the Great (1178–1246) considerably increased the prestige of the family. The former was the founder of the first southern line, which disappeared with Camillo Pardo in 1553
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orsini_family
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