Pope Clement X, born Emilio Bonaventura Altieri, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 April 1670 to his death on 22 July 1676. Elected pope at age 79, he has since been ranked as the oldest pope at the time of his election.
The Vatican City State is a neutral nation, which has not engaged in any war since its formation in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty. It has no formal military compact or agreement with neighbouring Italy, although responsibility for defending the Vatican City from an international aggressor is likely to lie primarily with the Italian Armed Forces. When presenting the Lateran Treaty to the Italian parliament in 1929, Benito Mussolini declared: "It is evident that we [the Italian state] will be the necessary guarantors of this neutrality and inviolability [of Vatican City], since, in the remote hypothesis someone wanted to hurt her, he would first have to violate our territory." Although the Vatican City state has never been at war, it was exposed, together with properties of the Holy See in Rome, to bombings during World War II.
The Wars of Castro were a series of conflicts during the mid-17th century revolving around the ancient city of Castro, which eventually resulted in the city's destruction on 2 September 1649. The conflict was a result of a power struggle between the papacy – represented by members of two deeply entrenched Roman families and their popes, the Barberini and Pope Urban VIII and the Pamphili and Pope Innocent X – and the Farnese dukes of Parma, who controlled Castro and its surrounding territories as the Duchy of Castro.
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 Palatine Guard was a military unit of the Vatican. It was formed in 1850 by Pope Pius IX, who ordered that the two militia units of the Papal States be amalgamated. The corps was formed as an infantry unit, and took part in watch-keeping in Rome. The only occasion on which it saw active service was during the token resistance on 20 September 1870 to the occupation of Rome by Italian government troops.
The Italian nobility comprised individuals and their families of the Italian Peninsula, and the islands linked with it, recognized by the sovereigns of the Italian city-states since the Middle Ages, and by the kings of Italy after the unification of the region into a single state, the Kingdom of Italy.
The black nobility or black aristocracy are Roman aristocratic families who sided with the Papacy under Pope Pius IX after the Savoy family-led army of the Kingdom of Italy entered Rome on 20 September 1870, overthrew the pope and the Papal States, and took over the Quirinal Palace, and any nobles subsequently ennobled by the pope prior to the 1929 Lateran Treaty.
The Order of Pope Pius IX, also referred as the Pian Order, is a papal order of knighthood originally founded by Pope Pius IV in 1560. Currently, it is the highest honor conferred by the Holy See. The awarding of the order fell into disuse and was re-instituted by Pope Pius IX as a continuation on 17 June 1847.
Antonio Barberini was an Italian Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Reims, military leader, patron of the arts and a prominent member of the House of Barberini. As one of the cardinal-nephews of Pope Urban VIII and a supporter of France, he played a significant role at a number of the papal conclaves of the 17th century. With his brothers Cardinal Francesco Barberini and Taddeo Barberini he helped to shape politics, religion, art and music of 17th century Italy. He is sometimes referred to as Antonio the Younger or Antonio Barberini iuniore to distinguish him from his uncle Antonio Marcello Barberini.
The Roman Court or Papal Curia was reformed by the papal bull Pontificalis Domus issues by Pope Paul VI in 1969. It abolished the role of the old Roman nobility at the papal court with the exception of the position of Prince Assistant to the Papal Throne. The titles abolished, such as the Grand Master of the Sacred Apostolic Hospice and Marshal of the Holy Roman Church and the Sacred Conclave, remain heredity but are now purely honorary.
The Pontifical Swiss Guard, also known as the Papal Swiss Guard or simply Swiss Guard, is an armed force and honour guard unit maintained by the Holy See that protects the Pope and the Apostolic Palace within the territory of the Vatican City State. Established in 1506 under Pope Julius II, it is among the oldest military units in continuous operation, and is sometimes called "the world's smallest army".
Don Luigi Braschi-Onesti, 1st Duke of Nemi, 1st Prince of Rocca Sinibalda, 1st Marquess of Belmonte Sabino, Count of Falcino, Marquess and Count Braschi-Onesti, Grandee of Spain 1st Class, 1st Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, was a nephew of Pope Pius VI, who granted him his Dukedom, Marquessdom and Countdom.
Taddeo Barberini (1603–1647) was an Italian nobleman of the House of Barberini who became Prince of Palestrina and Gonfalonier of the Church; commander of the Papal Army. He was a nephew of Pope Urban VIII and brother of Cardinals Francesco Barberini and Antonio Barberini. Thanks to their uncle's famous nepotism, the brothers shaped 17th-century Italian politics, religion, art, music and architecture.
Francesco Pacelli, Noble of Acquapendente and Noble of Sant'Angelo in Vado, was an Italian lawyer and the elder brother of Eugenio Pacelli, who would later become Pope Pius XII. He became a lay canon lawyer and the legal advisor to Pope Pius XI, acted as a legal advisor to Pope Pius XI; in this capacity, he assisted Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri in the negotiation of the Lateran Treaty in 1929 with Benito Mussolini, which established the independence of Vatican City, bringing an end to the Roman Question.
The Banner of the Holy Roman Church was the battle standard of the Papal States during the Renaissance and a symbol of the Catholic Church. The office of the Gonfalonier of the Church was originally intended to function as its bearer of the Holy See.
The House of Altieri was an ancient noble family of Rome, present in the history of the city since the Middle Ages, yet now extinct in the noble line. In addition to the title of Prince granted by the Pontiffs, branches of the Altieri were also part of the aristocracy of Genoa and of Venice. The family consolidated its position in the ranks of the great senatorial and cardinal aristocracy thanks to dynastic marriages with families like the Colonna, Paluzzi, Chigi, Odescalchi, Doria-Pamphili, Ruspoli, Barberini, Borghese and in more recent times the di Napoli Rampolla, relatives of the famous Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro, Secretary of State of Pope Leo XIII, not to mention a multitude of princely families of Europe. Their fiefs consisted of the principality of Oriolo Romano and Vejano and the duchy of Monterano in the Alto Lazio. The Altieri were among the protagonists of the history of the city from the earlier Middle Ages until the second half of the twentieth century, reaching the apogee of their power with Emilio Bonaventura Altieri, elected pope in 1670 under the name of Clement X.
The House of Rospigliosi is an ancient noble Italian family from Pistoia. Attested since the Middle Ages, it became wealthy through agriculture, trade and industry, reaching the apogee of its power and the high nobility status in Rome thanks to Giulio Rospigliosi, elected pope in 1667 with the name of Clement IX.
The papal nobility are the aristocracy of the Holy See, composed of persons holding titles bestowed by the Pope. From the Middle Ages into the nineteenth century, the papacy held direct temporal power in the Papal States, and many titles of papal nobility were derived from fiefs with territorial privileges attached. During this time, the Pope also bestowed ancient civic titles such as patrician. Today, the Pope still exercises authority to grant titles with territorial designations, although these are purely nominal and the privileges enjoyed by the holders pertain to styles of address and heraldry. Additionally, the Pope grants personal and familial titles that carry no territorial designation. Their titles being merely honorific, the modern papal nobility includes descendants of ancient Roman families as well as notable Catholics from many countries. All pontifical noble titles are within the personal gift of the pontiff, and are not recorded in the Official Acts of the Holy See.
Don Francesco Antonio Maria, Prince Boncompagni-Ludovisi, Prince of Piombino, Duke of Sora, etc, was an Italian politician.
Don Antonio II Boncompagni-Ludovisi, then Prince Boncompagni-Ludovisi, was the 8th Duke of Sora, Aquino, Arce and Arpino and 9th Marquess of Vignola and the Prince of Piombino, Marquis of Populonia, Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, Lord di Scarlino, Populonia, Vignale, Abbadia del Fango, Suvereto, Buriano, Cerboli e Palmaiolan, and Lord prince of the Tuscan Archipelago including the islands of Elba, Montecristo, Pianosa, Gorgona, Capraia, and Isola del Giglio, from 1733 until he ceded the duchy in 1796 and was deposed in the principality on 21 March 1801 and in the marquessate during the Napoleonic Wars.
