COLONNA, FAMILY. — The first COLONNA recorded by history is that PETRUS DE COLUMNA who, under Paschal II (1009–1118), had occupied Cave, territory of the Holy See, and was driven out with the loss of Colonna and Zagarolo (Lib. Pont., II, pp. 298, 307 n. 15).
He was probably the son of Gregory, Count of Tusculum, brother of Benedict IX. The first member of the family to appear in the ecclesiastical hierarchy was JOHN, created cardinal of S. Prassede in 1212, who in 1223, upon returning from a journey to Palestine, brought back the reputed column of the Flagellation and placed it in his titular church. He stood alongside Gregory IX in the struggle against Emperor Frederick II until 1240, when he went over to the imperial side and joined the Ghibelline party, of which the COLONNA family thereafter remained constant adherents. He died in 1245.
A nephew of this cardinal was another JOHN COLONNA, who, having gone to Paris for his studies, became a Dominican despite the opposition of his uncle, who tried to blacken his name before Gregory IX. He was appointed archbishop of Messina by Alexander IV in 1255 and transferred to Nicosia in 1262. In 1262–63, under Urban IV, he served as vicar of Rome. The year of his death is unknown. He compiled a *Mare historiarum* from the origins of the world down to Louis IX, which was printed in French translation in 1488; important excerpts survive in MGH, *Scriptores*, XXIV, pp. 266–84.
He also wrote *De viris illustribus* of both pagan and Christian figures (Hutter, II, p. 438).
In Rome the COLONNA family had its houses contiguous to the church of SS. Apostoli, but it extended its power over nearly the entire region of Trevi, even occupying the mausoleum of Augustus, the Agosta. Toward the end of the 13th century, the house was divided into three branches: that of Palestrina, which was the principal branch and took its name from the city, the most important fortress in the region; that of Gallicano; and that of Genazzano.
A daughter of Oddo COLONNA of Palestrina was MARGHERITA, who entered religious life as a Poor Clare nun, died at Castel S. Pietro on Monte Prenestino on 30 Dec. 1280, and was venerated as blessed; her cult was confirmed on 17 Sept. 1847, and her body was transferred to S. Silvestro in Capite (cf. L. Oliger, *B. Margherita C. – Le due vite scritte dal fratello*, etc., Rome 1935).
Her elder brother was JAMES, who studied at Bologna and on 12 March 1278 was created cardinal of S. Maria in Via Lata by Nicholas III.
The COLONNA family managed to win the favor of Nicholas IV, who on 16 May 1288 created Peter COLONNA, son of John and brother of Cardinal James, cardinal of S. Eustachio; Peter had studied canon law at Padua. Stephen, brother of Cardinal Peter, received special papal commissions for peace in Romagna, so that in those years the family became very powerful in Rome (cf. P. Balan, *Storia d’Italia*, IV, Modena 1895, p. 154 ff.).
MATTHEW, ODDONE, and LANDOLPH complained of the rule of their brother Cardinal James, head of the family after John’s death; Pope Boniface VIII intervened in the disputes, but the two rebellious cardinals were stripped of their cardinalate and excommunicated on 23 May 1297. In the ensuing war Palestrina was destroyed and the COLONNAs were forced to flee. It was then that Stephen and James Sciarra, brothers of Cardinal Peter, took refuge in France with King Philip the Fair; Sciarra, as is well known, was among those who, with the king’s emissaries, assaulted Pope Boniface at Anagni on 6 Sept. 1303. The death of Boniface VIII, which occurred a month later, changed the fortunes of the COLONNAs: the two cardinals were absolved from censure by Benedict XI, but did not recover their cardinalate until the time of Clement V. Cardinal James died at Avignon on 14 Aug. 1318; Cardinal Peter, archpriest of S. Maria Maggiore and of the Lateran (1318), died in 1326, also in Avignon (cf. L. Moehler, *Die Kard. Jakob Peter C.*, Paderborn 1914). With these two cardinals, the COLONNA fortunes at the Avignon court had begun.
Sciarra COLONNA was senator of Rome in 1322 during the disturbances provoked by the arrival of Emperor Henry VII; later he became a supporter of Louis the Bavarian, whom on 17 Jan. 1328 he crowned emperor in the name of the Romans and on 10 Apr. sanctioned the deposition of John XXII. Forced to flee Rome with the Bavarian in August, he died in October 1329. Stephen COLONNA, on the other hand, sided with the Guelphs and later, in 1347, was among the most determined opponents of Cola di Rienzo, succeeding in driving him from Rome and restoring order to the city by the end of that year. He died at a very advanced age not long afterward.
In those years the struggles of the COLONNAs against the Roman barons—Orsini, Savelli, Caetani—continued unabated, waged with varying fortunes and bringing ruin to the entire countryside.
The head of the house was Stephen; from him were born Stephen the Younger and JOHN COLONNA, created cardinal of S. Angelo by John XXII on 13 Dec. 1327, one of the few Italians raised to the purple in those years. He too was archpriest of the Lateran and died on 3 July 1348. His friendship with Francis Petrarch is well known; the poet was his guest for several years in Avignon. A brother of Cardinal John was JAMES COLONNA, canon of Noyon, who, appointed bishop of Lombez in Gascony on 23 May 1328 at the age of 27 (d. 1341), was likewise bound by a special friendship with Petrarch.
Urban VI, upon the outbreak of the schism, hastened to conciliate the COLONNA family, since the Orsini were opposed to him; in his great creation of 18 Sept. 1378 he made cardinals AGAPITUS of the title of S. Prisca and Stephen, provost of S. Omer; Stephen died before receiving his title, and Agapitus died in October 1380. Agapitus had at that time acquired a certain reputation; he had been archdeacon of Bologna, then successively bishop of Ascoli, Brescia, and Lisbon; a friend of Cardinal Robert of Geneva, he had lost his bishopric for not following him into schism, and only after repeated entreaties accepted the cardinalate.
NICHOLAS and JOHN COLONNA of Palestrina took an active part in the struggles that, with varying fortunes, unfolded in Rome and its environs during the period of the schism, maneuvering among the different factions that dominated those unhappy days.
On 12 June 1405 Innocent VII created cardinal Oddo COLONNA, who belonged to the branch of Gallicano and who was elected pope at Constance on 11 Nov. 1417 under the name of Martin V. To restore peace to the Papal States, the pope relied especially on Giordano, his elder brother, and on Anthony, Prosper, and Orsato, sons of his third brother Lorenzo, who had died tragically. PROSPER was created cardinal of S. Giorgio in Velabro on 24 May 1426, but published only on 8 Nov. 1430. In those years the COLONNAs also had as adherents such notable churchmen as Giuliano Cesarini and Domenico Capranica.
The family’s power reached its zenith through the establishment of extensive interests in the Kingdom of Naples, which continued unabated in the following age. All this provoked the jealousy of the rival baronial houses, especially the Orsini. The consequences became evident after the death of Martin V (1431), when the Orsini, favored by the new pope Eugenius IV, managed to prevail. A war ensued that quickly became entangled with the affairs of the Kingdom of Naples and with those of the condottieri eager to make their fortunes. Cardinal Prosper hoped to become pope in 1447, but preference was given to the cardinal who became Nicholas V. The cardinal died in Rome on 24 March 1463.
A new phase in the struggle with the Orsini and the Church came with Sixtus IV. On 15 May 1480 this pope had created cardinal of S. Maria in Aquiro the Giovanni C. who was then given in commendam the see of Rieti. The C. backed the party of Ferdinand, king of Naples, together with the Savelli, while the Orsini took the side of Count Girolamo Riario, the Pope’s nephew. Falling under suspicion, the cardinal Colonna, together with Cardinal Savelli, was held as a hostage on 2 June 1482 and was not released until 14 November 1483.
As the disputes grew, Lorenzo C., protototary and head of the house, was put to death on 30 June 1484 at the instigation of Riario, and the fortunes of the Colonnas suffered a severe blow; yet they continued to hold their own during the succeeding pontificates amid the political rivalries, serving as military leaders. After the death of Cardinal Giovanni on 28 September 1508 and his burial in the church of the SS. Apostoli, the see of Rieti passed to his nephew Pompeo, abbot of Grottaferrata and Subiaco, more a man of faction and arms than a churchman, a fierce opponent of Julius II in 1511; he was created cardinal of the SS. Apostoli by Leo X on 10 July 1517 and vice-chancellor in 1524 under Clement VII.
Like Prospero (d. 1523) and Fabrizio C. (d. 1520), who were the most illustrious captains of those years, Pompeo was among the most determined adversaries of Clement VII both in the conclave and thereafter. With his kinsmen Vespasiano and Ascanio he led the assault on the Vatican on 20 September 1526 (Pastor IV, II, pp. 215 ff.); for which on 21 November he was stripped of all his offices and benefices (E. Ferrero and G. Müller, Carteggio di Vittoria C., Torino 1839).
