Orsini family

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other persons named Orsini, see
Orsini (surname)
.
Orsini
County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos
Despotate of Epirus
Grand Duchy of Tuscany

 Two Sicilies
 Kingdom of Italy
Current region Italy
Foundedc. 600 A.D.
FounderCajo Orso Orsini
Current headDomenico Napoleone Orsini, Duke of Gravina
Titles
MottoSenza rimproveri
(Italian for 'Without reproach')
feudatories
in Italy from the Middle Ages onwards, holding a great numbers of fiefs and lordships in Lazio and in the Kingdom of Naples.

The House of Orsini is an

condottieri, and other significant political and religious figures.[3]

Origins

According to their own family legend, the Orsini are descended from the

Papal Bull in 1511. In 1571, the heads of both families married nieces of Pope Sixtus V as an act of reconciliation. Ironically the Colonna family also claims descent from the Julio-Claudian dynasty of ancient Rome
.

The Orsini descend from Cajo Orso Orsini who lived c. 600 CE. Five popes are descended from him: Stephen II, Paul I, Celestine III, Nicholas III and Benedict XIII.[5] Some members used the surname of Bobone-Orsini. One member by the name Bobone, lived during the early 11th century, father of Pietro, who was in turn father of Giacinto Bobone (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 Bobone surname was lost with his children, who were called de domo filiorum Ursi. Two of them, Napoleone and

Senator. Two of his sons, and Napoleone, were also Senators. Matteo ousted the family's traditional rivals, the Colonna family, from Rome and extended the Orsini territories southwards down to Avellino and northwards to Pitigliano. During his life, the family was firmly in the Guelph faction. He had some ten sons, who divided the fiefs after his deaths: Gentile (died 1246) originated the Pitigliano line and the second southern line, Rinaldo that of Monterotondo, Napoleone (died 1267) that of Bracciano, and another Matteo Rosso that of Montegiordano, from the name of the district in Rome housing the family's fortress. The most distinguished of his sons was Giovanni Gaetano (died 1280): elected pope as Nicholas III, he named his nephew Bertoldo (d. 1289) as count of Romagna, and had two nephews and a brother
created cardinals.

The second southern line

The rise of the Orsini did not stop after Nicholas' death. Bertoldo's son, Gentile II (1250–1318), was two times Senator of Rome,

Anastasia de Montfort, Countess of Nola
. Romano's stance was markedly Guelph. After his death, his two sons divided his fiefs, forming the Pitigliano and the second southern line.

The Tower of Raimondello Orsini in Taranto, c. 1880.

Roberto (1295–1345), Gentile II's grandson, married Sibilla del Balzo, daughter of the Great Senechal of the Kingdom of Naples. Among his sons, Giacomo (died 13 August 1379;

Gregory XI in 1371, while Nicola (August 27, 1331 – February 14, 1399) obtained the counties of Ariano and Celano. The latter was also Senator of Rome and enlarged the family territories in Lazio and Tuscany
.

His second son,

Giannantonio (1386–1453) sent his troops to help her against the usurpation attempt of James of Bourbon, he received in exchange the Principality of Taranto
.

The links with the court increased further under

ducati. Giannantonio remained faithful to Alfonso's heir, Ferdinand I
, but was killed during a revolt of nobles. Having died without legitimate sons, much of his possessions were absorbed into the Royal Chamber.

Pitigliano line

This line was initiated by Guido Orsini, second son of Romano, who inherited the county of

Duke of Milan and the Republic of Venice. Later he entered the service of Ferdinand I of Naples, but, not having taken part in the Barons' conspiracy, he was rewarded with the fiefs of Ascoli and Atripalda
. He took part in the Aragonese campaign in Tuscany and was killed at the siege of Viterbo.

Gerolama Orsini, Pier Luigi's wife.

The most outstanding member of the Pitigliano line was

Marignano
, an important general of the Spanish army.

The line started to decay after the loss of Nola by Ludovico, who was also forced to accept the Sienese suzerainty over Pitigliano. Under his son Giovan Francesco (died May 8, 1567) the county entered the orbit of the

Grand Duke of Tuscany. Later, the attempt of Alessandro (died February 9, 1604) to obtain the title of Monterotondo was thwarted by Pope Gregory XIII. His son Giannantonio (March 25, 1569 – 1613) sold Pitigliano to Tuscany, in exchange for the marquisate of Monte San Savino
.

The line became extinct in 1640 with the death of Alessandro.

Monterotondo line

This line was founded by Rinaldo, third son of Matteo Rosso the Great. His son, Napoleone, became a cardinal in 1288 and remained a prominent member of the Curia until his death at Avignon in 1342.

This branch of the family was often involved in the baronial struggles of the Late Middle Ages Rome, at least three members of the family being elected as Senators, while others fought as condottieri. Francesco in 1370 took part to the war of Florence against the

Leo X
in 1517.

The most important member of the Monterotondo Orsinis was

Duke of Gravina
were strangled to death on 18 January 1503.

The line decayed from the late 16th century, when several members were assassinated or lost their lands for various reasons. Its last representatives Enrico (died September 12, 1643) and Francesco (1592 - September 21, 1650) sold

Barberini
in 1641.

Bracciano line

Napoleone, another son of Matteo Rosso the Great, received Bracciano,

Alexander VI. In 1492 Gentile Virginio bought the county of Anguillara from Franceschetto Cybo
.

During

Prince Assistant to the Papal Throne
. His nephew Virginio was a famous admiral for the Papal States and France, but in 1539 he had his fiefs confiscated under the charge of treason.

Sforza and Costanza Farnese, an illegitimate daughter of Pope Paul III. An accomplished condottiero, he was however also a ruthless figure who had his wife Isabella de' Medici murdered. For this and other homicides he had to flee to northern Italy. He was succeeded by Virginio, whose heir Paolo Giordano II married the princess of Piombino and was created Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. His brother Alessandro was cardinal and Papal legate, and another brother, Ferdinando (died March 4, 1660) acquired the assets of the other line of San Gemini. In the 17th century the Dukes of Bracciano moved their residence to Rome. This, along with a general economical decadence, damaged the dukedom, and last Duke and Prince, Flavio (March 4, 1620 – April 5, 1698) was forced by the huge debts to sell it to Livio Odescalchi
.

Gravina line

Princely arms of the Gravina line

The line of Gravina, from the name of the eponymous city in

Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes
.

The fourth duke, Francesco, was part of a conspiracy along with his brothers Giulio and Paolo against Cesare Borgia but were found out, and Francesco was strangled to death on 18 January 1503 along with his brother Paolo. One of Francesco's nephews, Flavio Orsini, was created cardinal in 1565. The fifth duke, Ferdinando (died December 6, 1549), had all his fiefs confiscated by the Spaniards, but he regained them after a 40,000 scudi payment.

After the heirless death of Duke Michele Antonio (January 26, 1627), his lands passed to his cousin Pietro Orsini, count of Muro Lucano (died 1641). The latter's nephew Pier Francesco, who had renounced the succession in favour of his brother Domenico to become a Dominican, was later elected pope with the name of Benedict XIII.

His successor raised Benedict XIII's nephew, Prince Beroaldo Orsini, to the dignity of

Holy Roman Empire
. The last cardinal from the family was Domenico.

This branch of the family moved to Rome in the 18th century, where Duke Domenico (November 23, 1790 – April 28, 1874), married Maria Luisa Torlonia in 1823. In 1850, he was Minister of War and General Lieutenant of the Papal Armies, and also Senator of Rome.

The remaining princely family is represented by Prince Domenico Napoleone Orsini, Duke of Gravina (b. 1948). With no sons or male-line descendants, the heir to the dukedom of Gravina is his unmarried brother Don Benedetto Orsini (b. 1956), followed by his cousin Prince Lelio Orsini d'Aragona (b. 1981), whose mother is Princess Ketevan Bagration of Mukhrani.

Notable members

Orsini popes

Orsini cardinals

Others

Notable buildings

The Orsini Castle in Nerola.

Apart from the Bracciano castle, other notable buildings and structures associated with the Orsini include:

Orsinis in literature

The Orsini family was briefly mentioned in Boccaccio's book The Decameron in the 5th day, 3rd story. In the woods, it is described that soldiers from a rival family's soldiers attacked a fictional character in the book named Pietro while they had become lost in the woods about eight miles from Rome. Boccaccio describes the soldiers acting to spite of the Orsini's. Furthermore, a castle named Campo de' Fiori, was included in the text. L'Idole (R. Merle) also has Paolo and Lodovico Orsini as main protagonists, since the book is about Vittoria Accoramboni's life.

See also

References

  1. ^ George L. Williams, Papal Genealogy (London 2004).
  2. ^ Richard Sternfeld, Der Kardinal Johann Gaëtan Orsini (Papst Nikolaus III.) (Berlin 1905).
  3. Enciclopedia Italiana
    . Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  4. ^ Kleinhenz 2004, p. 802.
  5. ^ George L. Williams, Papal Genealogy (London 2004).
  6. ^ Giuseppe Bruscalupi, Monografia storica della Contea di Pitigliano (Firenze 1906).
  7. ^ Caroline P. Murphy, The Pope's Daughter: The Extraordinary Life of Felice della Rovere (New York: Oxford University Press 2006).

Sources

External links

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