Greatest amongst the six brothers of this period was Stephen,
Petrarch's friend, an able man and good soldier who met prosperity and
adversity, poverty banishment and danger, throughout a long troubled
life, with the same calm resolution and intrepid courage. This Stephen
survived the last of his line--his two sons Stephen and Peter with two
grandsons being massacred after an unsuccessful skirmish against
Rienzo.
After Boniface's death, the Colonna came into their own again and
received one hundred thousand gold florins in compensation for their
losses, but Palestrina, which was later rebuilt, suffered again the
same fate and was torn down by order of Eugenius IV. within one
hundred and fifty years.
In the reign of Sixtus IV. Rome was again distracted by faction feuds.
The Pope, aided by the ever-ready Orsini, pursued the Colonna with
relentless hatred. Protonotary Lorenzo Colonna fell through treachery
into the hands of his enemy, and his friend Savelli was captured and
murdered on the spot for refusing to rejoice with the captors. Lorenzo
was tortured and beheaded, and the Orsini sacked and burnt all the
Colonna property in the town.
Other distinguished members of this distinguished family of a later
epoch were Vittoria Colonna, the poet-friend of Michael Angelo, and
Marc' Antonio, who commanded the papal fleet at Lepanto, and who was
given a triumphal entry into Rome after his victory.
Nothing is known of the origin of this famous race though it is
believed to have come originally from the banks of the Rhine. It first
appears in history in 1104, when the Lords of Colonna and Zagarolo
characteristically incurred the displeasure of Pope Paschal II. They
also owned part of Tusculum and were probably related to the Counts of
that place. Later, Palestrina became their principal stronghold and
they possessed Marino, Grotta Ferrata, Genazzano, and Paliano in the
Sabines, the last giving them their princely title. The family
produced many distinguished churchmen, but only one pope, Martin V.
Many daughters of the house took the veil, and in the year 1318 as
many as twelve had entered the convent of S. Silvestro in Capite,
which had been founded by the cardinal members of the family.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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