Colli, Bonifacio de' - Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. III, p. 1154

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

COLLI, BONIFACIO de'. - Co-founder of the Theatines, he died a holy death in Venice on 28 Aug. 1558. Of the noble C. family of Alessandria, having taken a degree in jurisprudence and moved to Rome while still young, as a layman he was equerry and familiaris of Leone X, who entrusted him with the task of bringing the cardinal’s hat to Tommaso Wolsey, archbishop of York. He was an active member of the Oratory of Divine Love in Rome and, in 1524, guardian of the hospital of the Incurables. Having become a priest, he joined s. Gaetano Thiene and, together with G. Pietro Carafa and Paolo Consiglieri, was his companion in founding the Order of Regular Clerics (14 Sept. 1524).

In 1528 he is found in Verona, where G. M. Giberti (v.) had called the Theatines to collaborate with him in his extensive plan of reforms. In 1530 he was sent to Naples, where on 25 June he presided over the opening of the monastery of the Sapienza, founded by sister Maria Carafa (v.). In 1533 he was elected for the first time provost of S. Nicolò in Venice, then the first house of the Order.

C. is the author of an important letter to Giberti which, together with the briefs of Clemente VII and Paolo III, constitutes the first nucleus of the Theatine Constitutions.

BIBL.: F. A. Caracciolo, De vita Pauli IV... Collectanea historica. Item Caietani Thienaei, Bonifacii a Colle, Pauli Consiliarii..., Colonia 1612, p. 261 ff.; J. Silos, Historiorum Clericorum Regularium..., I, Roma-Palermo 1650; P. Paschini, S. Gaetano Thiene, Gian Pietro Carafa e le origini dei Chierici Regolari Teatini, Roma 1926; F. Andreu, La Regola dei Chierici Regolari nella lettera di B. de' C. a Gian Matteo Giberti, in Regnum Dei. Analecta Ord. Cleric. Reg., 6 (1946), pp. 38-53.

Francesco Andreu

COLLI. - FRANCESCO di PAOLA, baron, pontifical general, b. in Alessandria in 1726, d. in Rome on 20 July 1802. An expert in artillery, he entered the service of the Holy See as lieutenant colonel in May 1793, assisting the Bolognese general Enea Caprara in the execution of extensive reforms of the army.

Son of the baron Francesco, son of ANGELO, also a scholar of ballistic studies, b. in Piedmont in the second half of the 18th century, and d. in Rome following the hardships of the retreat from Russia in 1812.

After Berthier occupied Rome, he offered his services to the Roman Republic as an official in the Ministry of War. Upon the return of Pius VII, he was appointed commander of Castel Sant'Angelo with the rank of lieutenant colonel (July 1802). Following the new French occupation, he was arrested by General Miollis, along with other loyal pontifical officers, and detained in Castel Sant'Angelo (1 March 1808). Eventually joining the French ranks with the rank of colonel, he left for Russia and, during the disastrous retreat, was the only senior officer of the corps who managed to save the equipment entrusted to him.

BIBL.: A. Da Mosto, Milizia dello Stato romano (1600-1797), in Memorie storiche militari, 10 (1914), pp. 546-65; P. Pagliucchi, I castellani del Castel S. Angelo, II, Roma 1928, pp. 161, 169, 177-81; P. Dalla Torre, Materiali per una storia dell'esercito pontificio, in Rass. storica del Risorg., 28 (1941), pp. 19, 31 e 32 dell'estr.; id., L'opera riformatrice ed amministrativa di Gregorio XVI, in Gregorio XVI. Miscellanea commemorativa, II, Roma 1948, pp. 60-61. Paolo Dalla Torre