ORSIINI, FAMIGLIA

ORSINI, FAMILY. - The origins of the Roman Orsini family are traced back to a PETER who lived in the 12th century, father of GIACINTO, cardinal of S. Maria in Cosmedin, and of a BOBONE; this latter was the father of an ORSO, after whom the family is called in the 13th century “de domo filiorum Ursi.” A nephew of this Orso was MATTEO ROSSO, to whom the family owes its first fortune and renown. He defended the cause of Gregory IX against Emperor Frederick II, who made him senator of Rome in 1241, and he successfully withstood the siege and prevented Frederick from entering Rome. He died on 13 October 1240, having bound the fortunes of his house to those of the Guelph party in opposition to the Colonna, leaders of the Ghibelline faction; although, for a time, the sons of his brother NAPOLEONE headed the Ghibellines during the enterprise of Conradin of Swabia (cf. F. Savio, Niccolò III, in Civ. Catt., 1894, I, p. 137). This first Napoleone was the progenitor of the Orsini of Viterbo, the counts of Tagliacozzo, the dukes of Gravina, and the dukes of Bracciano (ibid., II, p. 31). Matteo Rosso was the father of GIOVANNI GAETANO, who later became Pope NICHOLAS III (v.), of NAPOLEONE, and of GENTILE, who was senator of Rome in 1240. Gentile’s son was that MATTEO ROSSO whom Urban IV created cardinal of S. Maria in Portico in May 1262 and who died on 4 September 1305. He conducted negotiations with Charles of Anjou, led the Guelph party against the two Colonna cardinals Giacomo and Pietro, was a protector of the Friars Minor and the Poor Clares, rector of the Patrimony of St. Peter, and one of the most eminent figures in Rome in his time. Another MATTEO ROSSO, brother of Nicholas III, was senator of Rome in 1278 and 1279 and again in 1288, and was the progenitor of the Orsini of Monteporzio and the counts of Manoppello.

Nicholas III created his brother GIORDANO cardinal deacon of S. Eustachio on 12 March 1278 (d. 1287), a man of no particular prominence, together with the Dominican Latino Malabranca, son of his sister Mabilia. The sons of Gentile Orsini and grandsons of Nicholas were ORO and BERTHOLD Orsini, who also played a significant role in the events of those years. Orso was rector of the Patrimony and progenitor of the Orsini of Soriano and Castel S. Angelo; Berthold was the first rector of Romagna after Nicholas III had reclaimed it from Rudolph of Hapsburg and was the progenitor of the Orsini of Nola and Pitigliano and the princes of Taranto. Almost to replace the deceased Cardinal Giordano in the Sacred College, Nicholas IV created cardinal deacon of S. Adriano NAPOLEONE on 16 May, son of Rinaldo, brother of Nicholas III. Orso, his brother, was the progenitor of the Orsini of Marino and Monte Giordano (cf. R. Morghen, Il card. Matteo Rosso O. e la politica papale, in Arch. Soc. romana di Storia patria, 46 [1923], pp. 271-372; C. A. Villemen, Kard. Napoleon O., in Hist. Studien, Berlin 1927, fasc. CLXXII). As can be seen, the family extended its branches not only within the lands of the Church but also into the neighboring Kingdom of Naples.

When on 17 December 1295 Boniface VIII created cardinal of S. Lucia in Selci FRANCESCO, son of Napoleone Orsini (d. 1312), three members of that house were present in the Sacred College: Francesco, Matteo Rosso, and Napoleone; a notable fact, considering the small number of cardinals then composing the Sacred College.

In the Perugia conclave, begun on 18 July 1304, Cardinal Matteo Rosso represented the pro-papal, anti-French policy against Cardinal Napoleone, who, championing the candidacy of Bertrand de Got, succeeded in outmaneuvering Matteo Rosso and securing his election on 5 June 1305, after which, on 14 November, he crowned Clement V at Lyon. He, who had been legate in the Marca, the duchy of Spoleto, and Perugia (1300) and rector of Sabina (1301), was sent to Italy to procure peace (1306-1309); but he came to realize the error of his ways and in the conclave of 1316 reluctantly acquiesced in the election of John XXII, against whom he then intrigued in 1321; and in 1334 he began to support Louis the Bavarian in opposition to the Pope and France, in league with the rebellious French. He died on 23 March 1342. Meanwhile, in Rome in 1312, the imperial coronation of Henry VII had taken place, supported by the Colonna; the Orsini were for Robert, king of Naples; hence the struggle between the two families, which ceased when Henry left Rome and PONCELLO. He was appointed vicar of King Robert (1313). On 18 December 1316, John XXII created cardinal deacon of S. Teodoro GIOVANNI, son of Gaetano Orsini, and later sent him as legate to Tuscany on 20 July 1327, when the excommunicated Louis the Bavarian was already in Italy.

The struggle of the Orsini with the Colonna, supporters of the Bavarian, then flared up again and continued for a long time; BERTHOLD and FRANCESCO, nephews of the cardinal legate, were killed by Sciarra Colonna in 1333 and avenged by Cardinal Giovanni. The latter then died at Avignon on 27 August 1335. Meanwhile, on 18 December 1327, the Dominican Matteo Orsini, a Roman, archbishop of Siponto (d. 18 August 1340), had entered the Sacred College, and on 17 December 1350 Clement VI created cardinal deacon of S. Adriano RAINALDO Orsini (d. 6 June 1374); but these two were not prominent figures. Meanwhile in Rome the Orsini house, together with the Colonna, fought against Cola di Rienzo, and BERTHOLD Orsini was created senator with Luca Savelli in 1347. GIORDANO Orsini, rector of the Patrimony, besieged Orvieto for the Church in 1354 against Giovanni di Vico.

The Orsini played an important part during the Great Schism. Gregory XI had created cardinal of S. Giorgio al Velabro on 30 May 1371 that GIACOMO Orsini, son of Roberto, count of Nola, who took part in the election of Urban VI and then so basely consented to the election of the antipope Clement VII, though without wholeheartedly following his cause (d. 31 August 1370). Notwithstanding this, Urban VI sought to have representatives of the powerful baronial family in the Sacred College and in his great creation of 18 September 1378 included also PONCELLO Orsini, bishop of Aversa (d. 2 February 1395). Then in 1382-85 he created cardinal deacon of S. Maria in Domnica TOMASSO Orsini of Manoppello (d. 10 July 1390) and appointed him legate of the Patrimony; the cardinal succeeded in taking Viterbo from the lords of Vico.

On the other hand, RINALDO Orsini, count of Tagliacozzo and brother of Cardinal Giacomo, joined the Breton bands fighting for Clement VII and recaptured Orvieto on 22 May 1380, supported the cause of Louis of Anjou against Charles of Durazzo of Naples, took Spoleto (1385), Corneto (1386), and was now aiming to form a state there when he was killed at L’Aquila on 14 April 1390.

A particular importance in the affairs of the Church in those years was held by another condottiere: PAOLO Orsini, who fought for Innocent VII at Bologna in 1405, at Rome in 1406 under Gregory XII, when he virtually became master of the city, which he delivered to King Ladislaus in April 1408, perhaps in agreement with the Pope himself. Then, in 1409, in league with Giacomo of Tagliacozzo and other Orsini, he joined Louis II of Anjou and Alexander V in opposition to the Colonna and King Ladislaus, until he was defeated by Braccio di Montone and killed on 5 August 1416.

Francesco Orsini, at the death of Boniface IX (1404), had assumed the defense of the Capitol against the people, soon repulsed by the Colonna.

Meanwhile, on 15 June 1405, Innocent VII had raised to the cardinalate, together with Oddo Colonna (later Martin V), also GIORDANO Orsini, archbishop of Naples, son of GIOVANNI, senator of Rome. The cardinal,

Giovanni Battista Orsini, penitentiary major, was granted large sums by the Counts of Pisa (1409) and of Costanza, and later, at the behest of Martin V, he undertook various legations and led the crusade against the Hussites, until in 1431 he became, alongside Eugenius IV, the principal promoter of papal policy aimed at reducing the power of the Colonna family. When he died on 29 May 1438, he was mourned as the most generous protector of his city. In the following years, another great prelate of the Orsini family, Latino, became archbishop of Trani and abbot of Farfa; Nicholas V created him cardinal on 20 December 1448; he served as camerlengo and legate at the coronation of Ferdinand of Naples (d. 11 August 1477).

Battista Orsini, prior of Santa Maria dell’Aventino, became in 1460 grand master of the Knights of Saint John and restored the fortunes of the Order. Cosimo Orsini, archbishop of Trani and nephew of Cardinal Latino, was created cardinal by Sixtus IV on 15 May 1480. After his death at Bracciano on 21 November 1481, Sixtus IV created cardinal of Santa Maria in Domnica on 15 November 1483 Battista Orsini, son of Lorenzo of Monterotondo.

During the wars that troubled the Papal States in the final years of Sixtus IV, in which the troops of Ferdinand, King of Naples, also participated, Virginio and Paolo Orsini fought on the side of the Church alongside other members of their lineage and worked to reclaim their rights to the county of Albe and Tagliacozzo against Lorenzo Colonna; they then assisted Sixtus IV in the harsh reprisals he took against the Colonna on 30 May 1484. The feud between the two families resumed under Innocent VIII, but this time the two Orsini were among the Pope’s enemies, whom they believed favored the Colonna; their houses were burned at Monte Giordano and they suffered serious damage in raids around Rome. Finally reconciled with the Pope, the Orsini succeeded in bringing Lorenzo de’ Medici into good relations with Innocent. Lorenzo was in fact married to Clarice Orsini, daughter of Iacopo of Monterotondo and cousin of Cardinal Orsini; Rinaldo Orsini, Clarice’s brother, was archbishop of Florence, and in 1487 Lorenzo arranged the marriage of his son Piero to Alfonsina, cousin of Virginio. Virginio was captain in the service of the King of Naples, while Paolo served Florence; Niccolò Orsini, count of Pitigliano, was captain general of the Church, and thanks to other members of the family the house was able to exercise great and menacing authority in the affairs of Rome. This power seemed excessive even to Alexander VI, and a war broke out that was fought around Bracciano and nearby places in 1496–97: Gian Giordano, son of Virginio, was taken prisoner at Naples, where he was serving under the King, along with Paolo, while Virginio himself died at Naples on 18 January 1497. Once this war was concluded, another broke out in August with the Colonna and lasted until 1498. It soon became clear, however, that Alexander VI intended the extermination of both families, and the Orsini joined the conspiracy known as the Magione, aimed at Cesare Borgia, in October 1502. On 3 January 1503, Cardinal Battista was imprisoned—though he had been a supporter of Alexander’s election—and died in Castel Sant’Angelo on 22 February, reportedly by poison; Archbishop Rinaldo was also imprisoned on 4 January; Paolo and Francesco Orsini were strangled by Cesare on 18 January; Gian Giordano escaped thanks to the protection of the King of France. The family suffered a crushing blow, though they did not cease their feud with the Colonna, which threatened to compromise the peace of Rome, until 28 August 1511, when, during a serious illness of Julius II, a reconciliation was reached: both sides agreed to renounce all grounds for hatred, to profess loyalty to the Church, and to abandon the pernicious names of Guelph and Ghibelline, the pretext for internal strife. The same Gian Giordano, who had married Felice, daughter of Julius II, took it upon himself in 1512 to reconcile with the Pope the members of his family who had become estranged from him. Like their rival family, the Orsini continued in the following years to provide condottieri and kings to the princes of Italy; suffice it to recall that Niccolò of Pitigliano served Venice and fought at Agnadello in 1509, and that Lorenzo of Ceri was captain of Clement VII in the tragic year of 1527.

Leo X, recalling the family ties with the Orsini, created on 1 July 1517 cardinal of San Giorgio al Velabro Francotto Orsini of Monterotondo, who died in the Curia in January 1534 without particular distinction. Paul IV turned to Camillo, son of Paolo Orsini, when in the war against the Spaniards in 1556–57 he sought to fortify Rome (cf. P. Paschini, *Distruzioni e fortificazioni di Roma ecc.*, in *Rendiconti della Pontificia Accademia di Archeologia*, 7 [1931], pp. 69–87). Flavio (or Fulvio), auditor of the Camera, was created cardinal by Pius IV on 12 March 1565 and died in the Curia on 16 May 1581. Later, Paul V created cardinal on 2 December 1615 Alessandro Orsini, who died at the age of thirty-three at Bracciano on 22 August 1626. Virginio Orsini, knight of Malta, was created cardinal of Santa Maria in Portico by Urban VIII on 16 December 1641 and died as bishop of Tusculum at Monte Giordano on 21 August 1676. Meanwhile, Clement X had created cardinal on 22 February 1672 Pier Francesco of the princes of Gravina and Solofra, who on 29 May 1724 became Pope Benedict XIII (v.).

Benedict XIV created cardinal of Saints Vito and Modesto on 9 September 1743 Domenico Orsini of the Aragonese branch. He had been extraordinary ambassador of Maria Amalia, Queen of Naples, to Clement XII, and after the death of his wife entered the ecclesiastical state; he was then ambassador of Ferdinand IV of Naples and protector of that kingdom. Under Clement XIII, in agreement with the minister Tanucci, he strongly opposed the Jesuits, and during the subsequent conclave acted in accordance with the aims of the Bourbon monarchs; under Clement XIV he collaborated with Azpuru and Cardinal de Bernis in the suppression of the Jesuits, though he did not share Tanucci’s views on the constitution of the Church (Pastor, XVI, I and II passim). He died in Rome on 19 January 1789 and was buried at the Lateran. The Orsini family now shares with the Colonna the honor that one of its members is prince assistant to the papal throne.