Virginio Orsini
Encyclopedia
Gentile Virginio Orsini (c. 1434 – 8 January 1497) was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 condottiero and vassal of the papal throne and the Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...

, mainly remembered as the powerful head of the Orsini family
Orsini family
Orsini: the origin of learning.We love Mrs. Orsini forever! ~8F Social Studies 2011The Orsini family is an Italian noble family; it was one of the most influential princely families in medieval Italy and renaissance Rome...

 during its feud with Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI , born Roderic Llançol i Borja was Pope from 1492 until his death on 18 August 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his Italianized surname—Borgia—became a byword for the debased standards of the Papacy of that era, most notoriously the Banquet...

 (Rodrigo Borgia). Though best known as Lord of Bracciano
Bracciano
Bracciano is a small town in the Italian region of Lazio, 30 km northwest of Rome. The town is famous for its volcanic lake and for a particularly well-preserved medieval castle Castello Orsini-Odescalchi...

, during his lifetime he bore many titles, among which Count of Tagliacozzo
Tagliacozzo
-History:Near the modern city was fought the Battle of Tagliacozzo between Conradin of Hohenstaufen and Charles I of Anjou.-Main sights:*The Palazzo Ducale , built by Roberto Orsini....

, Vicovaro
Vicovaro
Vicovaro is a comune in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about 45 km northeast of Rome....

 and Anguillara
Anguillara
Anguillara were a baronal family of Latium, especially powerful in Rome and in the current province of Viterbo during the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance....

, Lord of Cerveteri
Cerveteri
Cerveteri is a town and comune of the northern Lazio, in the province of Rome. Originally known as Caere , it is famous for a number of Etruscan necropolis that include some of the best Etruscan tombs anywhere....

, Knight of the Order of Emellino (1463), Constable of the Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...

 and Gonfalonier of the Roman Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

. The aforesaid feuds were all confiscated in favor of the Colonna or the Borgia
Borgia
The Borgias, also known as the Borjas, Borjia, were a European Papal family of Italian and Spanish origin with the name stemming from the familial fief seat of Borja belonging to their Aragonese Lords; they became prominent during the Renaissance. The Borgias were patrons of the arts, and their...

 family during Virginio's conflict with Naples and the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

.

Genealogy and military career

Gentile Virginio was the son of Napoleone II
Napoleone Orsini
Napoleone Orsini was an Italian condottiero.The son of Orso Orsini of Bracciano, he fought for Pope Eugene IV against Francesco Sforza in 1443. Later, in the 1450s, he flanked Ferdinand of Aragon in the struggle between the Kingdom of Naples and the Duchy of Milan...

 and Francesca Orsini. On the death of his uncle Carlo (1485), he obtained the reins of his prominent house, at the time an enemy to the King of Naples and an ally of the pontiff. Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. His accomplishments as Pope included the establishment of the Sistine Chapel; the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age,...

 appointed him general of his forces, which Virginio led to a victory over the Neapolitan army at the Battle of Campo Morto (1482). Almighty due to pontifical benefices, Virginio took advantage of the disorder which followed Sixtus’s death (1484) in order to exterminate the Roman house of Colonna, something he didn’t manage completely due to the Sacred College’s restoring the order. During the reign of Innocent VIII (1484–1492), the Orsini family reached the peak of its power and held significant influence over the Roman Curia
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...

 through Virginio's cousin, Cardinal Gianbattista Orsini of Monterotondo
Monterotondo
-History:According to some historians, Monterotondo is the heir of ancient Sabine town of Eretum, although the modern settlement appeared in the 10th-11th centuries in a different location...

. The ascension of Alexander VI to the papal throne (August 1492) changed the status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...

 in the Roman politics.

Conflict with the Pope and Naples

Afraid of the new Pope’s intentions to curb the power of his audacious barons, Virginio approached King Ferdinand I of Naples
Ferdinand I of Naples
Ferdinand I , also called Don Ferrante, was the King of Naples from 1458 to 1494. He was the natural son of Alfonso V of Aragon by Giraldona Carlino.-Biography:...

, who was suspicious of Alexander’s relations to King Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...

, his formal overlord. It was with Neapolitan financial help that Virginio bought the Roman castles of Cerveteri
Cerveteri
Cerveteri is a town and comune of the northern Lazio, in the province of Rome. Originally known as Caere , it is famous for a number of Etruscan necropolis that include some of the best Etruscan tombs anywhere....

 and Anguillara
Anguillara
Anguillara were a baronal family of Latium, especially powerful in Rome and in the current province of Viterbo during the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance....

 from Franceschetto Cybo
Franceschetto Cybo
Franceschetto Cybo was an Italian nobleman, the illegitimate son of Pope Innocent VIII ....

, the son of Pope Innocent VIII. It seems that Alexander VI had already reached an agreement with Cybo over the two fortresses and their unexpected purchase by his chief vassal with Neapolitan money (40,000 ducats) was considered by the Pope as an act of treason. Nevertheless, Alexander and Ferdinand were reconciled in the summer of 1493.

When Charles VIII of France
Charles VIII of France
Charles VIII, called the Affable, , was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. Charles was a member of the House of Valois...

 seized Rome in the December 1494, demanding from the Pope to crown him monarch of Naples, the Orsini family hosted his troops in its fortresses and clamored for Alexander VI's deposition together with the Colonna family and most of the Cardinals. Thus Virginio, who had also been named Constable of Naples, betrayed both the Pope and the Aragonese dynasty of Naples. Hoping to gain benefits for his house by the French king, Virginio followed the French on their campaign in Naples. After the defeat of the French in the Battle of Fornovo
Battle of Fornovo
The Battle of Fornovo took place 30 km southwest of the city of Parma on 6 July 1495. The League of Venice was able to temporarily expel the French from the Italian Peninsula. It was the first major battle of the Italian Wars.-Antecedents:...

 (6 June 1495) and the restoration of the Aragonese in Naples the same month, Virginio was arrested and imprisoned by Ferdinand II of Naples
Ferdinand II of Naples
Ferdinand II or Ferrante II of Naples , sometimes known as Ferrandino, was King of Naples from 1495 to 1496...

, the new Neapolitan king, with the consent of the Pope. He died probably of poison in the Castel dell'Ovo
Castel dell'Ovo
Castel dell'Ovo is a castle located on the former island of Megaride, now a peninsula, on the gulf of Naples...

, in Naples (8 January 1497), while Alexander VI was confiscating the Orsini strongholds in the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...

 in favor of the Borgia family
Borgia
The Borgias, also known as the Borjas, Borjia, were a European Papal family of Italian and Spanish origin with the name stemming from the familial fief seat of Borja belonging to their Aragonese Lords; they became prominent during the Renaissance. The Borgias were patrons of the arts, and their...

.

Posterity

Virginio Orsini had two sons, Gian Giordano Orsini, later Prince Assistant to the Papal Throne, by his wife Isabella Orsini (of the Salerno line), and Carlo Orsini, an illegitimate.

See also

  • Orsini family
    Orsini family
    Orsini: the origin of learning.We love Mrs. Orsini forever! ~8F Social Studies 2011The Orsini family is an Italian noble family; it was one of the most influential princely families in medieval Italy and renaissance Rome...

  • Alexander VI
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