The House of Orsini del Balzo was an Italian noble family from the 13th and 14th centuries.
The dynasty was founded with the marriage between Roberto from the Orsini family and Sveve del Balzo from the House of Baux. The family produced a Queen of Naples and held the principal title of Count of Soleto before it was confiscated by Pope Boniface IX. [1] [2] [3]
| Raimondo "Raimondello" Orsini del Balzo * 1350-1355 circa † 1406 Prince of Taranto married in 1384 Maria d'Enghien | ||||||||
| Giovanni Antonio "Giannantonio" * 1401 † 1463 Prince of Taranto married nel 1419 Anna Colonna | Maria * ? † ? Duchess consort of Atri married Antonio Acquaviva | Caterina * ? † ? Countess of Copertino married Tristan of Clermont | Gabriele * ? † 1453 Duke of Venosa married Giovanna Caracciolo | |||||
| Maria Donata * ? † 1485 Princess consort of Altamura married Pirro del Balzo | Raimondina * ? † 1490 circa Princess consort of Salerno married Roberto Sanseverino | |||||||
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). In addition, the family included 34 cardinals, numerous condottieri, and other significant political and religious figures.
Ladislaus the Magnanimous was King of Naples from 1386 until his death and an unsuccessful claimant to the kingdoms of Hungary and Croatia. Ladislaus was a skilled political and military leader, protector and controller of Pope Innocent VII; however, he earned a bad reputation concerning his personal life. He profited from disorder throughout Italy to greatly expand his kingdom and his power, appropriating much of the Papal States to his own use. He was the last male of the Capetian House of Anjou.
Soleto is a small Griko-speaking city located in the province of Lecce in Apulia, Italy. The town has a total population of 5,542 and is one of the nine towns of Grecìa Salentina where the greek dialect Griko is spoken.
Isabella of Clermont, also known as Isabella of Taranto, was queen of Naples as the first wife of King Ferdinand I of Naples, and a feudatory of the kingdom as the holder and ruling Princess of the Principality of Taranto in 1463–1465.
Giovanni Antonio (Giannantonio) Orsini del Balzo was a southern Italian nobleman and military leader; he was Prince of Taranto, Duke of Bari, Count of Lecce, Acerra, Soleto and Conversano, as well as Count of Matera (1433–63) and of Ugento (1453–63).
Mary of Enghien, also known as Maria d'Enghien, was Countess of Lecce from 1384 to 1446 and Queen of Naples and titular Queen of Sicily, Jerusalem and Hungary from 1406 to 1414 by marriage to Ladislaus of Naples.
The Principality of Taranto was a state in southern Italy created in 1088 for Bohemond I, eldest son of Robert Guiscard, as part of the peace between him and his younger brother Roger Borsa after a dispute over the succession to the Duchy of Apulia.
Raimondo Orsini del Balzo was a nobleman from the Kingdom of Naples. He was Count of Soleto (1382), Prince of Taranto (1399–1406), Duke of Bari, Grand Constable of the Kingdom of Naples, Gonfalonier of the Holy Roman Church. He was a member of the influential Orsini family of Rome. Although he is considered one of the most important people in the history of southern Italy, relatively little is known about his life.
Catherine of Taranto was the daughter of Mary of Enghien and Raimondo Orsini del Balzo di Nola and sister of Giovanni Antonio Orsini del Balzo.
Bartholomew "Tristan" de Clermont-Lodève, Count of Copertino, was a French-born knight who married Catherine Orsini del Balzo, youngest daughter of Mary of Enghien and Raimondo Orsini del Balzo, Prince of Taranto. He was the father of Isabella of Clermont, Princess of Taranto, the first consort of King Ferdinand I of Naples.
Venosa is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, in the Vulture area. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Ginestra, Lavello, Maschito, Montemilone, Palazzo San Gervasio, Rapolla and Spinazzola.
The House of Baux is a French noble family from the south of France. It was one of the richest and most powerful families of Medieval Provence, known as the 'Race d’Aiglon'. They were independent Lords as castellans of Les Baux and Arles and wielded very considerable authority at local level. They held important fiefs and vast lands, including the principality of Orange.
The County of Lecce was a semi-independent Italo-Norman entity in Apulia, in south-eastern Italy, which existed from 1055 until 1463. Its capital was at the city of Lecce, and it was bounded by the territories of Brindisi to the north, Oria and Nardò to the west, and Soleto and Otranto to the south.
Giulio Antonio Acquaviva was an Italian nobleman and condottiere. He was 7th Duke of Atri and 1st of Teramo, Count of Conversano and San Flaviano and Lord of Padula and Roseto.
Balzo may refer to:
Anastasia de Montfort, Countess of Nola, was an Italian noblewoman and a wealthy heiress. She was the eldest daughter of Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola, himself the son of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. She held the title suo jure Countess of Nola after her father's death in 1291. She also held the titles of suo jureDame de Chailly and suo jureDame de Longjumeau. She was the wife of Romano Orsini, Senator of Rome.
Roberto Sanseverino was an Italian nobleman and admiral of the Kingdom of Naples. He was the first prince of Salerno from 1463, as well as the count of Marsica and Sanseverino, baron of Cilento and lord of Agropoli and Castellabate.
Francis of Baux was the first Duke of Andria, Count of Montescaglioso and Squillace, and Lord of Berre, Mison, and Tiano. He was the son of Bertrand III of Baux, Count of Andria and Montescaglioso and his second wife, Marguerite d'Aulnay. Francis's father was a Senator of Rome, Captain General of Tuscany, and Justiciar of Naples. The half-royal Baux family was one of the greatest families of the kingdom after the Duke's marriage to Marguerite of Taranto in 1348.
Pirro Del Balzo was a southern Italian nobleman, a protagonist of resistance against the House of Trastámara kings of Naples and Sicily.
Francesco II Del Balzo, Duke of Andria, was a southern Italian nobleman.
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