Prospero Colonna
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Prospero Colonna (1452–1523), sometimes referred to as Prosper Colonna, was an Italian
Biography
A member of the ancient noble family of the
His first notable action as a military leader was in 1484 when he defended the family castle of Paliano against an assault by the rival Orsini and Riario families. After some other battle deeds, Prospero, who had joined Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere's party, was imprisoned in Castel Sant'Angelo (Rome) by Pope Alexander VI. Once freed, he was soon imprisoned again for his allegiance to Charles VIII of France during his invasion of Italy. In the end, the King of France was victorious against the Pope and entered Rome, backed by Prospero and Fabrizio Colonna, in 1495.
During the brief French rule over the
The situation changed again with the new French invasion of
Prospero Colonna had an important role in the Spanish victory at Cerignola (1503), which gave Spain the keys to Naples. After Alexander VI's death, he was also able to take back his territories in the Lazio. He commanded the light cavalry at the Battle of Garigliano. His relationship with Córdoba soured after Bartolomeo d'Alviano, a condottiero from the rival Orsini family, entered his service around this time, leading Colonna to become their political enemy.
Prospero added Itri, Sperlonga, Ceccano, and Sonnino to his fiefs, becoming once again a great feudal lord in southern Italy. He married Covella di Sanseverino, who gave him an heir, Vespasiano.
Confident in the constancy of the lady of his affections, Prospero took for his companion a gentleman of low degree, to whom she, unfortunately, transferred the love he thought was his own. Feeling that he had been the author of his own ruin, Prospero took for device the
bull of Perillus, which had proved the death of its inventor, with the motto, Ingenio experior funera digna meo, "I suffer a death befitting my invention."[2]
In 1515, he was commander of the forces of Pope
Continuing in the service of the Pope, Colonna gained a decisive victory against France in northern Italy in 1522 (Battle of Bicocca).
His health was declining, however, and he died in 1523 in l'Hôtel Clemenceau at Milan.
References
- ^ Guicciardini, Storia d'Italia, IV, p. 212
- ^ p.75 in Fanny Bury Palliser, Historic Devices, Badges, and War-Cries, London: Sampson Low, Son & Marston 1870