As there are for many of the ancient Italian families there are several lines. I am able to trace my roots to the start of the Orsini line to my 33 Great Grandfather.
Here is the link to the start of the Orsini Line.
My line then picks up here with the Pigliatano line
This link will take you to all the Orsini lines.
Orsini Family, one of the oldest, most illustrious, and for centuries most powerful of the Roman princely families. Their origins, when stripped of legend, can be traced back to a certain Ursus de Paro, recorded at Rome in 998. They first became important in the late 12th century with the election of Giacinto Orsini as Pope Celestine III (1191–98), whose generosity to his nephews founded the territorial fortunes of the family. During the next 100 years, allegiance to the papacy developed into a firm, if profitable, tradition in the house of Orsini; they assumed leadership of pro-papal Guelf interest against the pro-imperial Ghibelline Colonna family, and for centuries afterward the savage rivalry of these two magnate families dominated the politics of Rome and its territory.
In 1241, as senator of Rome, Matteo Orsini (d. 1246) saved the city from capture by the Holy Roman emperor Frederick II and the Colonna. As the 13th century advanced, the Orsini acquired increasing influence in church policy and administration; four of the family were chosen cardinals, and one of them, Giovanni, also became pope, as Nicholas III, in 1277. Their Guelf allegiance also brought them land and lordships in the Angevin kingdom of Naples, where several long-lived lines of the family took root among the nobility. At the end of the 13th century, the Orsini were among the principal supporters of Pope Boniface VIII in his attacks on the Colonna family and were rewarded for their services with the grant of Nepi in fee. Not all of them, however, were partisans of Boniface. Napoleone Cardinal Orsini, partly for family reasons, sided with the Colonna and the French, and it was he who promoted in 1305 the election of a French pope, Clement V, the first of the “popes of Avignon.”
From this time on, apart from the brief interval of Borgia rule (late 15th and early 16th centuries) when the Orsini were dispossessed of their castles and three of them were put to death, the Orsini retained their dominant place among the Roman aristocracy, providing soldiers, statesmen, and prelates to the church. In 1629 they were created princes of the Holy Roman Empire, and in 1718 they were raised to the princely dignity at Rome. In 1724 Pietro Francesco Orsini was elected pope as Benedict XIII.
The family survived in the Orsini dukes of Gravina, descended from Napoleone Orsini, son of the 13th-century senator, Matteo. Their principal fiefs were Bracciano (near Rome), acquired in the 14th century, and Gravina (near Bari), acquired in the 15th century. They received the ducal title from Pius IV in 1560 and held Bracciano into the 17th century and Gravina to 1807. From the 16th century it became regular for an Orsini to hold the office of prince assistant to the pontifical throne.
The Orsini family was very prominent in the RC church. This the list of Popes and Cardinals.
Orsini popes
- Pope Stephen II(Stepfanus Orsinus)
- Pope Paul I(Paulus Orsinus)
- Pope Celestine III(Giacinto Bobone, created cardinal in 1144)
- Pope Nicholas III(Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, created cardinal in 1244)
- Pope Benedict XIII(Pietro Francesco Orsini, created cardinal in 1672)
Orsini cardinals
- Pietro Orsini(1181)
- Matteo Rubeo Orsini(1262)
- Latino Malabranca OrsiniO.P.(1278)
- Giordano Orsini(1278)
- Napoleone Orsini(1288)
- Francesco Napoleone Orsini(1295)
- Matteo OrsiniO.P. (1327)
- Rinaldo Orsini(1350)
- Giacomo Orsini(1371)
- Poncello Orsini(1378)
- Tommaso Orsini(1382/1385)
- Giordano Orsini(1405)
- Latino di Carlo Orsini(1448)
- Cosma OrsiniO.S.B. (1480)
Gerolama Duchess of Parma my 13th GG.
Born in Rome, she was the daughter of Lodovico Orsini and Giulia Conti. In 1513 an engagement contract between Orsini and Pier Luigi Farnesewas drawn up, and in 1519 the wedding celebrated at Valentano.[1]Her husband was the illegitimate son of Pope Paul IIIand Silvia Ruffino. The couple had five children three of which would have further progeny. Despite a loveless marriage, Gerolama remained a faithful, devoted wife, tolerating Pier Luigi’s excesses, brutality, and extravagances with dignity.[1]
When Cardinal Alessandro Farnese became Pope Paul IIIin 1534 he made his son Pier Luigi captain-general of the Church and in 1537 duke of Castro and finally in 1545 Duke of Parma and Piacenza. He was murdered in 1547, and Gerolama outlived him by 43 years, dying at the Palazzo FarnesePiacenzain 1590.[1]She was buried at the Farnese crypt at the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Steccata, Parma.
Pope Nicholas III 23rd Great Grand Uncle
The lands under direct Papal rule were threatened by surrounding powers. In the second quarter of the 13th century, they were threatened by the expansionist policies of the Emperor Frederick II, who aimed to unite his inheritance in the south (Sicily and southern Italy) with his acquisition of the German Empire in northern Italy. He spent a great deal of time and energy attempting to gain control over Lombardy and Tuscany, which brought him into direct conflict with the Papacy. Frederick was repeatedly excommunicated by one pope after another. In order to drive off the Hohenstaufen, the Papacy contrived a deal with the brother of Louis IX of France, Charles of Anjou, Count of Provence, who was invited to Italy to assume the crown of Sicily and be a counterweight against the Empire. He was too successful, however, and the Papacy found itself in the deadly embrace of the Angevins. Nicholas’ prime goal was to loosen Charles I’s grip on the Papacy, Rome, and the lands of the Church.
Nicholas’ pontificate, though brief, was marked by several important events. He greatly strengthened the papal position in Italy. On 1 October 1273, Rudolph Iof Habsburg, the godson of Frederick II, had been elected King of Germany and King of the Romans. Pope Gregory X had recognized him as King, after some hard negotiation, but the imperial title and coronation were withheld. Pope Nicholas was willing to negotiate, but he refused to crown Rudolf as Emperor until Rudolph had acknowledged all the claims of the Church, including many that were quite dubious. The concordatwith Rudolph I of Habsburgwas concluded in May 1278. In it the city of Bologna, the Romagna, and the exarchateof Ravennawere guaranteed to the papacy.[34]According to the chronographer Bartholomew of Lucca(Ptolemy of Lucca), he discussed with Rudolph, in general terms at least, the splitting the German empire into four separate kingdoms – Lombardy, Burgundy, Tusciaand Germany– where Rudolph’s kingdom would be made hereditary and he himself would be recognized as Holy Roman Emperor.
Nicholas III was even able to persuade King Charles I of Naples and Sicily to give up his position as Roman Senator in 1278, at the conclusion of ten years of tenure,[35]as well as the position of Papal Vicar for Tuscany.[36]In July 1278, Nicholas III issued an epoch-making constitution for the government of Rome, Fundamenta militantis[37]which forbade foreigners from taking civil office. It depends for its justification not only on the biblical phrase, “Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam” (Matthew16:18), but also on the forged Donations of Constantine.
Pope Celestine III 27th Great Grand Uncle
Celestine crowned the Holy Roman EmperorHenry VIon the day after his electionin 1191 with a ceremony symbolizing his absolute supremacy, as described by Roger of Hoveden, after Henry VI promised to cede Tusculum. In 1192 he threatened to excommunicateKing Tancred of Sicily, forcing him to release his aunt Empress Constance, who was wife of Henry VI and a contender of Sicilian crown, captured by Tancred in 1191, to Rome to exchange for his recognition of Tancred while also put pressure on Henry, but Constance was released by German soldiers on borders of the Papal States before reaching Rome the following summer. He subsequently nearly excommunicatedthe same Henry VI for wrongfully keeping King Richard I of Englandin prison.[5]He placed Pisaunder an interdict, which was lifted by his successor Innocent IIIin 1198.[6]He condemned King Alfonso IX of Leónfor his marriage to Theresa of Portugalon the grounds of consanguinity. Then, in 1196, he excommunicated him for allying with the Almohad Caliphatewhile making war on Castile.[7]Following his marriage with Berengaria of Castile, Celestine excommunicated Alfonso and placed an interdict over León.[8]
In 1198, Celestine confirmed the statutes of the Teutonic Knightsas a military order.[9]
