Colonna

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A celebratedfamily which played an important rôle inItaly duringmedieval andRenaissance times, and which still flourishes in several branches inRome andNaples. It is commonly supposed to have been originally an offshoot of the Counts of Tusculum, deriving the family name from the castle of Colonna situated on a spur of the Alban hills, some five miles from Tusculum. The name makes its first appearance in authentic history in theperson of Petrus de Columna, owner of Colonna, Monte Porzio, and Zagarolo, and claimant ofPalestrina, whose castles were seized by Paschal II, 1101, in punishment of his lawless depradations. With the destruction of Tusculum by the Romans in 1191, the name of the ancient counts disappears forever, whilst the Colonna come prominently to the front. From the first their policy was anti-papal andGhibelline, not so much fromlove of the emperors as from the desire to maintain towards thepopes an attitude of quasi-independence. They exercised plenaryjurisdiction over their vassals in matters civil and criminal and frequently contracted alliances with foreign potentates without consulting the wishes or interests of their sovereign. They were in perpetual feud with theirGuelph neighbours, in particular with the rival house of the Orsini. They so frequently incurred thepapal censures on account of their rebellious conduct, that it became the general buterroneous opinion of the Roman people that they yearlyexcommunication of the Colonna was one of the main purposes of theBull"In Cæna Domini". Nevertheless, members of thefamily were quite often appointed by friendly pontiffs to high offices ofChurch and State. Rarely were they without at least one representative in theSacred College, and at one of the most critical junctures in the annals of theChurch, the election to thepapacy of Cardinal Odo Colonna,Martin V, put an end to the disastrousWestern Schism. Twice in the course of its history this powerful house was threatened with annihilation (seeB VIII;A VI), but on both occasions the restoration of its members was as speedy as their fall.

The long line of Colonnesecardinals was opened in 1192 when Giovanni the Elder was createdCardinal-Priest of S. Prisca byCelestine III. He was madeBishop of Sabina byInnocent III, and was employed on important legations toGermany,Spain,Sicily, andFrance. He was the powerful friend of St. Francis, and was largely instrumental in obtaining from thepope the approval of theFranciscan Rule. He is remembered atAmalfi for his munificence in building and endowing a spacioushospital. He died atRome, 1209. Three years laterPope Innocent elevated to thecardinalate a nephew of thecardinal, known as Giovanni the Younger,Cardinal-Priest of S. Prassede. He was sent to the Orient aslegate in 1217 and returned toRome in 1222 bringing with him the Pillar of the Scourging, which remains to the present day in thechapel he built for it in his titular church. He also built and endowed twohospitals near the Lateran for the relief of the poor and ofpilgrims. In 1240, after a futile attempt to reconcilePope Gregory IX andFrederick II, thecardinal, as head of hisfamily, together with the otherGhibellines ofRome, went over to the emperor and openly rebelled against theHoly See. He died in 1245.Matthew Paris (ad. an. 1244) describes him as "a vessel filled withpride and insolence; who, as he was the most illustrious and powerful in secular possessions of all thecardinals, was the most efficacious author and fosterer of discord between the emperor and thepope".

As a punishment of their Ghibellinism, no scion of the house was admitted into theSacred College until 1278, when the magnanimous Orsinipope,Nicholas III, the son of that Matteo Rosso who had razed all the Colonna strongholds inRome, in token of amnesty elevated to the dignity of the purple Giacomo Colonna with the title ofCardinal-Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata. About ten years later,Honorius IV created Pietro, nephew of Giacomo,Cardinal-Deacon of the Title of S. Eustachio. These were the twocardinals whose bitter quarrel withBoniface VIII ended so disastrously for that pontiff and for the prestige of themedievalpapacy. Deposed and degraded in 1297, they were reinstated in their dignities and possessions byClement V in 1305. Both died atAvignon, Giacomo in 1318, Pietro in 1326. These unrulycardinals continued the deeply religious traditions of theirfamily, founding and endowing thehospital of S. Giacomo for incurables and theFranciscanconvent of S. Silvestro in Capite, in which they deposed the remains of the saintly sister of Giacomo, thenun Beata Margarita. Their munificence as patrons of art is attested by many masterpieces in the Roman churches, notably Turrita'smosaics in S. Maria Maggiore, pronounced by Gregorovius "the finest work of all themosaicpaintings inRome". The learned Cardinal Egidio Colonna well deserves a special article (seeC E). One year after Pietro's death, his nephew Giovanni, a son of the noble Senator Stefano, whose immediatefamily remained faithful to theHoly See during the troublous times of Louis theBavarian, whilst his kinsman Sciarra, led theschismatical party, was raised to thecardinalate byJohn XXII, with the title of S. Angelo. He was universally esteemed, especially by men of letters. He wrote the "Lives of the Roman Pontiffs from St. Peter to Boniface VIII". At his death, 1348, his intimate friend,Petrarch, wrote the beautiful sonnet, "Rotta è l'alta Colonna". At the beginning of the Great SchismUrban created two Colonnacardinals, Agapito and Stefano, but they both died shortly after. Then followed Odo Colonna, laterPope Martin V, who, in 1430 bestowed the purple upon his youthful nephew Prospero. The latter, becoming involved in the rebellion of hisfamily againstEugene IV, was deprived of hisbenefices and sentenced to perpetual exile, but was reinstated byNicholas V, and died in 1463, lauded by the Humanists as a Mæcenas of arts and letters. In the heatedconclave of 1458 it was Prospero Colonna who decided the election of Piccolomini in the famous words, "I also vote for theCardinal ofSiena, and make himpope".

Prospero's nephew, Giovanni, was the representative of hisfamily during the pontificates ofSixtus IV,Innocent VIII,Alexander VI,Pius III, andJulius II. CreatedCardinal-Deacon of S. Maria in Aquiro in his twenty-fourth year byPope Sixtus, he was committed to the Castle of Sant' Angelo two years later, when that pontiff and the Colonna began their bitter feud. After animprisonment of over a year, he regained his liberty. One cannot feel much sympathy with him in his misfortunes during the pontificate of the Borgiapope, who could not have been elected without his vote. WhenAlexander VI began hiswar of extermination against the Roman barons, Colonna, more fortunate than Cardinal Orsini, made his escape and did not return toRome till thepope had passed away. He himself died in 1508. AlthoughJulius II restored to the Colonna their possessions and dignities, and by thePax Romana, 1511, put an end to the hereditary feuds of the rival houses, yet, their old-time position of quasi-independence was never again attained. The two secular heads of thefamily, Prospero and Fabrizio, acquired great fame as generals in the armies of theChurch and ofCharles V. Fabrizio's daughter was the highly giftedVittoria. Prospero's nephew, Pompeo, was chosen to represent thefamily in theChurch. He consented very reluctantly, for the sword was more congenial to him than theBreviary. He received a large accumulation ofbenefices, was createdcardinal byLeo X, in 1517, and vice-chancellor byClement VII. In return, he took the side of the emperor in his quarrel with thepope. On 20 Sept., 1526, took place the onslaught onRome, and thedesecration of St. Peter's and the Vatican, which covers his memory with eternalinfamy. He also joined with Constable Bourbon in the capture ofRome, May, 1527; but, horrified by the brutality of the sack of his native city, he did his best to shield his unfortunate countrymen within the walls of the Cancellaria. The indulgent Clement absolved and reinstated him three years later. He became viceroy ofNaples and died in 1532. The good name of the house was redeemed by the next Colonnesecardinal, Marcantonio, who was carefully trained inpiety and learning by theFranciscanfriar, Felice Peretti, laterSixtus V. He was createdCardinal-Priest of SS. XII Apostoli, in 1565, closely imitatedSt. Charles Borromeo in establishingseminaries and restoring discipline, was librarian of the Vatican, fostered learning, and was extremely charitable to the poor. Before his death in 1597, his kinsman Ascanio Colonna was elevated to the purple bySixtus V in 1586. Although he owed hiscardinalate largely to the favour of Philip II, yet he did not permit his gratitude to extinguish his patriotism. It was his defection from the Spanish ranks at a critical moment during theconclave of 1592 that defeated the aspirations of Philip's candidate, Cardinal Sanseverina and led to the election ofClement VIII. In his well-known exclamation: "I see that God will not have Sanseverina, neither will Ascanio Colonna", breathes the haughty spirit of his race. He died in 1608, making the Lateran his heir. Succeedingcardinals of the house of Colonna were Girolamo, created byUrban VIII in 1628, d. 1666; Carlo, created byClement XI in 1706, d. 1739; Prospero, created byClement XII in 1739, d. 1746; Girolamo, created byBenedict XIV 1743, d. 1763; Prospero, of the Sciarra branch, created simultaneously with his kinsman in 1743, d. Prefect of thePropaganda in 1765; finally, Marcantonio, created byClement XIII in 1759, d. in 1803. Though all were conspicuous for learning andpiety and for filling high office at the Roman court or in the most importantdioceses ofItaly, they need only a passing notice. The most illustrious lay prince of the Colonna was Marcantonio, who at the great sea-fight ofLepanto, 7 Oct., 1571, commanded thepapal galleys and on his return toRome was awarded a memorable triumph. To cement the friendship between the houses of Colonna and Orsini,Sixtus V married their chiefs to his nieces and ordained that they and their descendants should enjoy the dignity of Assistant Princes at the Pontifical Throne.

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