Marcantonio Colonna
Encyclopedia
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
general and admiral.
Biography
ColonnaColonna family
The Colonna family is an Italian noble family; it was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one Pope and many other Church and political leaders...
, born at Civita Lavinia, was a member of the famous noble family of the Lazio, then one of the most powerful fief holder of 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...
and the Kingdom of Sicily
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...
(under the rule of Spain).
In 1553-1554, during the war against Siena
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
, he was created commander of the Spanish cavalry.
At the Battle of Lepanto
Battle of Lepanto (1571)
The Battle of Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic maritime states, decisively defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire in five hours of fighting on the northern edge of the Gulf of Patras, off western Greece...
(October 7, 1571), his admiral ship was protagonist of the decisive victory of the Christian League against the Ottoman fleet. On his return to Rome, Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII , born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally-accepted civil calendar to this date.-Youth:He was born the son of Cristoforo Boncompagni and wife Angela...
confirmed him Captain General of the Church
Captain General of the Church
The Captain General of the Church was the de facto commander-in-chief of the papal armed forces during the Middle Ages. The post was usually conferred on an Italian noble with a professional military reputation or a relative of the pope...
.
Marcantonio Colonna was also seignor of Marino
Marino, Italy
Marino is an Italian city and comune in Lazio , on the Alban Hills, Italy, 21 km south east of Rome, with population of 37,684 and a territory of 26.10 km2...
, then a village some kilometers south of Rome: the population honoured him with a great feast which is held yearly still today, under the name of "Sagra dell'uva".
In 1577 King Philip II
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
named him Viceroy of Sicily.
Famous descendants
Queen Paola of BelgiumQueen Paola of Belgium
Paola, Queen of the Belgians , is the queen consort of Albert II of Belgium....
is a descendant of Admiral Colonna on 13th generation. Her great-great-grandfather Fulco Giordano Ruffo di Calabria married Maria Felice Alliata, whose paternal grand-mother is Felice Colonna, a descendant of the admiral and the Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna
Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna
Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna was an Italian nobleman of the Colonna family. He was the 8th Duke and Prince of Paliano and hereditary Grand Constable of the Kingdom of Naples. He was also a Knight of the Golden Fleece.-Biography:...
-Maria Mancini couple.