The House of Colonna, also known as Sciarrillo or Sciarra, is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope and many other church and political leaders. The family is notable for its bitter feud with the Orsini family over influence in Rome, until it was stopped by papal bull in 1511. In 1571, the heads of both families married nieces of Pope Sixtus V. Thereafter, historians recorded that "no peace had been concluded between the princes of Christendom, in which they had not been included by name".
The House of Orsini is an Italian noble family that was one of the most influential princely families in medieval Italy and Renaissance Rome. Members of the Orsini family include five popes: Stephen II (752–757), Paul I (757–767), Celestine III (1191–1198), Nicholas III (1277–1280), and Benedict XIII (1724–1730). The family also included 34 cardinals, numerous condottieri, and other significant political and religious figures. The Orsini are part of the Black nobility who were Roman aristocratic families who supported the Popes in the governance of the Papal States.
This article concerns the period 289 BC – 280 BC.
This article concerns the period 279 BC – 270 BC.
This article concerns the period 269 BC – 260 BC.
Berenice IV Epiphaneia was a Greek princess and Queen of the Ptolemaic dynasty. From 58 to 55 BC, Berenice IV ruled Egypt during the political exile of her father Ptolemy XII Auletes to Rome. It is unclear if she was co-ruler of Egypt with her mother Cleopatra V or a possible sibling Cleopatra VI from 58 to 57 BC, but became sole ruler in 57 BC. On the return of Ptolemy XII to Egypt with Roman military aid and an army led by Aulus Gabinius, Berenice IV was overthrown and executed by her rival father, who later bequeathed his throne to his daughter Cleopatra VII and son Ptolemy XIII as co-rulers.
The House of Barberini is a family of the Italian nobility that rose to prominence in the 17th century Rome. Their influence peaked with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623, as Pope Urban VIII. Their urban palace, the Palazzo Barberini, completed in 1633 by Bernini, today houses Italy's Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica.
The Duchy of Gaeta was an early medieval state centered on the coastal South Italian city of Gaeta. It began in the early ninth century as the local community began to grow autonomous as Byzantine power lagged in the Mediterranean and the peninsula due to Lombard and Saracen incursions.
The counts of Tusculum, also known as the Theophylacti, were a family of secular noblemen from Latium that maintained a powerful position in Rome between the 10th and 12th centuries. Several popes and antipopes during the 11th century came from their ranks. They created and perfected the political formula of noble-papacy, wherein the pope was arranged to be elected only from the ranks of the Roman nobles. The Pornocracy, the period of influence by powerful female courtesans of the family, also influenced papal history.
Marcantonio II Colonna, Duke of Tagliacozzo and Duke and Prince of Paliano, was a Roman aristocrat who served as Viceroy of Sicily in the service of the Spanish Crown, general of the Spanish forces, and Captain General of the Church. He is best remembered for his part as the admiral of the Papal fleet in the Battle of Lepanto. He was "one of the most illustrious land and sea captains of the 16th century."
Pier Leoni was the son of the Jewish convert Leo de Benedicto and founder of the great and important medieval Roman family of the Pierleoni. He was called the Jewish Crassus by Gregorovius.
The family of the Pierleoni, meaning "sons of Peter Leo", was a great Roman patrician clan of the Middle Ages, headquartered in a tower house in the quarter of Trastevere that was home to a larger number of Roman Jews. The heads of the family often bore the title consul Romanorum, or "Consul of the Romans," in the early days.
Ptolemy I was the count of Tusculum in the first quarter of the twelfth century. He was a son of Gregory III. Peter Pisanus, in his Vita Paschalis II refers to Ptolemy and the abbot of Farfa as the allies of the emperor in the same way that the Saints Peter and Paul were the allies of the pope.
Ptolemy II was the count of Tusculum and consul of the Romans from 1126 to his death. He was the son and successor of Ptolemy I.
Gregory II was the son of Alberic III, Count of Tusculum and Ermelina. He was the Count of Tusculum and the Lateran from 1044 to his death.
Don Guido Colonna, dei principi di Paliano, noble of Rome, patrician of Naples and Venice was an Italian aristocrat, diplomat and European Commissioner.
The Corsican Brothers is a 1941 American historical swashbuckler film directed by Gregory Ratoff and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in a dual role as the titular conjoined twins who are separated at birth and raised in entirely different circumstances. Both thirst for revenge against the man who killed their parents, both fall in love with the same woman. The story is very loosely based on the 1844 novella Les frères Corses by French writer Alexandre Dumas, père.
Peter was a medieval Roman noble. Like his father, he carried the illustrious title of Romanorum patricius, consul, dux et senator, implying his secular command over Rome and its militia. He was the son of Alberic III, Count of Tusculum. As a result, he was a descendant of Theophylact I, Count of Tusculum.
The Sacchetti family is an Italian noble family originating in Tuscany, now resident in Rome, whose earliest documented member Merlo lived during the late 10th and early 11th centuries. The name of the family is derived from one or more members known as Sacchetto. According to Ugolino di Vieri (1438–1516),"nobile Sacchetti genus est, moenia primus romanus sangius".
Titus Manlius Torquatus was a politician of the Roman Republic, who became consul in 165 BC. Born into a prominent family, he sought to emulate the legendary severity of his ancestors, notably by forcing his son to commit suicide after he had been accused of corruption. Titus had a long career and was a respected jurist. He was also active in diplomatic affairs; he notably served as ambassador to Egypt in 162 BC in a mission to support the claims of Ptolemy VIII Physcon over Cyprus.
