FRANGIPANI, FAMIGLIA. — A noble and powerful Roman family which, in the 11th and 12th centuries, exercised considerable power in the city and in papal elections. The name, in its various medieval corruptions, assumed differing forms: Prajapanis, Prajampane, Fragapane, Frangipanius, etc. The coat of arms, which in its upper field displays two lions breaking a loaf of bread, is said to be connected with the legend that linked the F. family to the Roman family of the Anicii, one of whose members, Flavius, in the 8th century, during a famine and flood in the city, «frangebat panem» for the people.
Only at the beginning of the 11th century does the celebrated LEONE de Imperio or de Imperatore appear, «qui vocatur Frangapane»; from then onward they were lords of Cisterna near Velletri, and extended their domains along the Tyrrhenian coast between Rome and Terracina.
In Rome they occupied the Palatine, where, near the Arch of Titus, they possessed the famous «Turris chartularia». During the two centuries of their predominance in Rome, they appear sometimes favorable to the papacy and sometimes to the Empire, in the interplay of political interests, according to which they followed the opportunities of the moment.
In 1061 a CENCIO F. defended the monk Ildebrando, the future Gregory VII, in the election of Alexander II; and when, in 1084, Roberto il Guiscardo was at the gates of Rome to free Gregory VII, the same Cencio was at the head of the Gregorian party in the city, thereby facilitating Guiscardo’s entry. In 1093 Urban II found hospitality and refuge in the Torre cartularia; in 1108 a PIERLEONE and a LEONE F. are known to have assumed, by mandate of Paschal II, the government of Benevento.
But with GIOVANNI the F. are already seen turning toward the Empire, when in 1117 Henry V descended into Italy. Their opposition to the papacy is dramatically demonstrated by the scandal involving CENCIO F., who in 1118 carried out the sacrilegious attack against Gelasius II immediately after his election, in the church of S. Maria in Pallaro (S. Sebastiano al Palatino), near the houses of the F.; the attack was repeated in July of the same year at S. Prassede, where the F. had another fortress. The hostility continued under Callistus II, who had the towers of the F. demolished, forcing them to submit.
A new rapprochement with the papacy took place in 1124 with the election of Lamberto of Ostia (Honorius II), the candidate of the F. against the Pierleoni. Their loyalty continued, more or less, throughout the 12th century, thereby strengthening their position in the city, whose primacy they disputed with the Annibaldi. In 1147, in fact, under Eugene III, when the territory of Latium was divided among the powerful Roman families, PIETRO F. became lord of Terracina and Sezze, while in Rome they occupied and fortified the Colosseum. They also possessed the Septizonium, JACOB, MAX (v.), belonging to this family, was called de’ Settesoli.
In the 13th century, under Gregory IX, they are again found siding with the emperor Frederick II.
Several families established in other regions of Italy claimed to be related to the Frangipani of Rome and assumed their name.