Borghese family

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Borghese
Italian noble family
Arms of the house of Borghese.svg
Arms of the Borghese family
Country Flag of Siena.svg Republic of Siena
Flag of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany with Great Coat of arms.svg Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Flag of the Papal States (1825-1870).svg  Papal States
Bandera de Napoles - Trastamara.svg  Kingdom of Naples
Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg  Kingdom of Italy
Current regionFlag of Italy.svg  Italy
Founded1238;784 years ago (1238)
FounderTiezzo da Monticiano
Current headH.E. Don Scipione II, Prince Borghese, 14th Prince of Sulmona, 15th Prince of Rossano (b. 1970)
Titles
Numerous titles
MottoIn Utroque Vigil

The House of Borghese is a princely family of Italian noble and papal background, originating as the Borghese or Borghesi in Siena, where they came to prominence in the 13th century and held offices under the commune . During the 16th century, the head of the family, Marcantonio, moved to Rome, where they rose in power and wealth following the election of his son Camillo as Pope Paul V in 1605. They were one of the leading families of the Black Nobility and maintain close ties to the Vatican.

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Borghese (Borghesi) of Siena

The family originated with Tiezzo da Monticiano, a 13th-century wool merchant in Siena, whose nephew Borghese gave his name to the family. Among the important Sienese Borghese are:

Borghese of Rome

The head of the family, Marcantonio, Patrician of Siena, moved to Rome in 1541 and this Sienese family rapidly gained access to the upper echelons of Roman society, culminating in the election of Marcantonio's son Camillo Borghese as Pope Paul V in 1605. Paul V was an unabashed nepotist, naming his brother Francesco (1556–1620) Duke of Rignano and general of the papal army, his other brother Giambattista (1554–1609) Governor of the Borgo and castellan of Castel Sant'Angelo, and his sister Ortensia's son Scipione Caffarelli (1577–1633), becoming Scipione Borghese on his adoption) a Cardinal and his adoptive son. Paul also bestowed on his nephew Scipione the title Prince of Vivero on (November 17, 1609). As an extended family, the Borghese became some of the largest landowners of the Roman Campagna, increasing their wealth by their strategic control of their properties and a concerted policy of assuming monopolies of milling grain and the rights to run inns.

Paul V Burghesius Romanus name on St. Peter's Basilica Burghesius.jpg
Paul V Burghesius Romanus name on St. Peter's Basilica

Thus the Borghese family rose still further in power and wealth. Many of Paul V's official inscriptions include ROMANUS after his name, to reinforce the family's new Roman connection. Scipione was a major patron of the arts, and the family art collection burgeoned under his guardianship (formerly housed at the family seat in Rome, Palazzo Borghese, it has since 1903 been established as the Galleria Borghese, located in the family's former property, Villa Borghese).

Marcantonio II (1598–1658), son of Giambattista, was named prince of Sulmona in 1610 (Grandee of Spain of 1st class), again through Paul V's influence, in this case with Philip III of Spain. In 1619 Marcantonio II married Camilla Orsini, becoming heir to both the Borghese and Orsini families. His son Paolo (1624–1646) married Olimpia Aldobrandini, princess of Rossano, and by this marriage enabled the Borghese to lay claim to the Aldobrandini family legacy as well, though this right was only recognised in 1769 after protracted court battles. Along with Paolo's titles, Olimpia passed the title of prince of Rossano to their grandson Marcantonio III (1660–1729), who also became viceroy of Naples.

His grandson Marcantonio IV (1730–1800), prince of Sulmona and of Rossano, was a senator of the Roman Republic. His son Camillo Filippo Ludovico (1775–1832) enlisted in the Napoleonic army and later became one of its generals. In 1803 he married Napoleon's sister, Pauline Bonaparte, the promiscuous widow of General Leclerc. Camillo was named duke of Guastalla in 1806, and governor of Piedmont (1807–1814). Camillo's sale of the Borghese collection of antiquities enriched the new Musée du Louvre. On Napoleon's fall, he separated from Pauline and retired to private life in Florence, dying without issue.

Marcantonio IV's second son, prince Francesco Borghese-Aldobrandini (1776–1839), was also a general in the Napoleonic army, and inherited all Camillo's property.

His great-grandson Prince Scipione Borghese (1871–1927) was an industrialist and sportsman, remembered for participating in the 1907 Peking to Paris Race with the journalist Luigi Barzini.

His nephew Junio Valerio Borghese (1906–1974) was a Navy official under the Fascist regime and awardee of the Gold Medal of Military Valour for his commando actions during World War II. In post-war Italy he became a prominent far-right politician; he fled to Spain in 1970 after being accused of plotting a coup d'état.

There are 4 present branches of the Borghese family:

Notable members of the family

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Paul V</span> Head of the Catholic Church from 1605 to 1621

Pope Paul V, born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a member of the Papal Accademia dei Lincei and supported his discoveries. In 1616, Pope Paul V instructed Cardinal Bellarmine to inform Galileo that the Copernican theory could not be taught as fact, but Bellarmine's certificate allowed Galileo to continue his studies in search for evidence and use the geocentric model as a theoretical device. That same year Paul V assured Galileo that he was safe from persecution so long as he, the Pope, should live. Bellarmine's certificate was used by Galileo for his defense at the trial of 1633.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galleria Borghese</span> Art gallery in Rome, Italy

The Galleria Borghese is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. At the outset, the gallery building was integrated with its gardens, but nowadays the Villa Borghese gardens are considered a separate tourist attraction. The Galleria Borghese houses a substantial part of the Borghese Collection of paintings, sculpture and antiquities, begun by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the nephew of Pope Paul V. The building was constructed by the architect Flaminio Ponzio, developing sketches by Scipione Borghese himself, who used it as a villa suburbana, a country villa at the edge of Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junio Valerio Borghese</span> Italian Navy commander (1906–1974)

Junio Valerio Scipione Ghezzo Marcantonio Maria Borghese, nicknamed The Black Prince, was an Italian Navy commander during the regime of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party and a prominent hard-line Fascist politician in post-war Italy. In 1970 he took part in the planning of a neo-fascist coup that was called off after the press discovered it; he subsequently fled to Spain and spent the last years of his life there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scipione Borghese</span> Italian Cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts

Scipione Borghese was an Italian Cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts. A member of the Borghese family, he was the patron of the painter Caravaggio and the artist Bernini. His legacy is the establishment of the art collection at the Villa Borghese in Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pauline Bonaparte</span> Princess of Guastalla

Paula Maria Bonaparte Leclerc Borghese, better known as Pauline Bonaparte, was an imperial French princess, the first sovereign Duchess of Guastalla, and the princess consort of Sulmona and Rossano. She was the sixth child of Letizia Ramolino and Carlo Buonaparte, Corsica's representative to the court of King Louis XVI of France. Her elder brother, Napoleon, was the first emperor of the French. She married Charles Leclerc, a French general, a union ended by his death in 1802. Later, she married Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona. Her only child, Dermide Leclerc, born from her first marriage, died in childhood. She was the only Bonaparte sibling to visit Napoleon in exile on his principality, Elba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doria Pamphilj Gallery</span> Art museum, Historic site in Rome, Italy

The Doria Pamphilj Gallery is a large art collection housed in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy, between Via del Corso and Via della Gatta. The principal entrance is on the Via del Corso. The palace façade on Via del Corso is adjacent to a church, Santa Maria in Via Lata. Like the palace, it is still privately owned by the princely Roman family Doria Pamphili. Tours of the state rooms often culminate in concerts of Baroque and Renaissance music, paying tribute to the setting and the masterpieces it contains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aldobrandini family</span> Italian noble family

The House of Aldobrandini is an Italian noble family originally from Florence, where in the Middle Ages they held the most important municipal offices. Now the Aldobrandini are resident in Rome, with close ties to the Vatican.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamphili family</span>

The House of Pamphili was one of the papal families deeply entrenched in Catholic Church, Roman and Italian politics of the 16th and 17th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chigi family</span>

The House of Chigi is an Italian princely family of Sienese origin descended from the counts of Ardenghesca, which possessed castles in the Maremma, southern Tuscany. Later, the family settled in Rome. The earliest authentic mention of them is in the 13th century, with one Alemanno, counsellor of the Republic of Siena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borghese Collection</span> Art collection owned by the Roman Borghese family

The Borghese Collection is a collection of Roman sculptures, old masters and modern art collected by the Roman Borghese family, especially Cardinal Scipione Borghese, from the 17th century on. It includes major collections of Caravaggio, Raphael, and Titian, and of ancient Roman art. Cardinal Scipione Borghese also bought widely from leading painters and sculptors of his time, and Scipione Borghese's commissions include two portrait busts by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Most of the collection remains intact and on display at the Galleria Borghese, although a significant sale of classical sculpture was made under duress to the Louvre in 1807.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona</span> Prince of Sulmona

Don Camillo Filippo Ludovico Borghese, Prince of Sulmona and of Rossano, Duke and Prince of Guastalla was a member of the Borghese family, best known for being a brother-in-law of Napoleon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olimpia Maidalchini</span> Italian noblewoman

Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphilj, , was the sister-in-law of Pope Innocent X (Pamphili). She was perceived by her contemporaries as having influence regarding papal appointments.

Marcantonio III Borghese, 5th Prince of Sulmona was the head of the Borghese family of Rome. Pro-Bonaparte in sympathies, he was the father of Camillo Filippo Ludovico Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona and Francesco, 7th Prince of Sulmona (1832–1839).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olimpia Aldobrandini</span> Member of the Aldobrandini family of Rome

Olimpia Aldobrandini was a member of the Aldobrandini family of Rome, and the sole heiress to the family fortune.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scipione Borghese, 10th Prince of Sulmona</span>

Prince Luigi Marcantonio Francesco Rodolfo Scipione Borghese, commonly known as Scipione Borghese, was an Italian aristocrat, industrialist, politician, explorer, mountain climber and racing driver belonging to the House of Borghese.

Prince Paolo Borghese, Duke of Bomarzo, Prince of Sant Angelo of San Paolo was an Italian nobleman of the Borghese family. He was born in Cafaggiolo. His father and mother were Marco Borghese, Duca di Bomarzo, and Isabel Fanny Louise Porges.

Paolo Borghese (1622/24–1646) was an Italian nobleman of the Borghese family. He was the son of Marcantonio II Borghese (1598–1658) and his wife Camilla Orsini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camillo Francesco Maria Pamphili</span> Italian Catholic cardinal and nobleman of the Pamphili family

Camillo Francesco Maria Pamphili was an Italian Catholic cardinal and nobleman of the Pamphili family. His name is often spelled with the final long i orthography; Pamphilj.

Princess Adelaide of Savoy-Genoa, was a daughter of Prince Thomas, Duke of Genoa and Princess Isabella of Bavaria.

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