Giacomo Colonna (1270-1329), more commonly known by his bynames Sciarrillo or Sciarra, was a member of the powerful

Colonna family The House of Colonna, also known as ''Sciarrillo'' or ''Sciarra'', is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope ( Martin V) and many other church and politi ...

. He is most famous for attacking

Pope Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani family was of baronial ...

and for crowning Louis IV of Germany as

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

The feud between the Colonna and Pope Boniface VIII

The

Colonna The House of Colonna, also known as ''Sciarrillo'' or ''Sciarra'', is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Martin V) and many other church and pol ...

were a powerful family in papal Rome and constant - but unsuccessful - contenders in papal elections. The stalemate between the Colonna and the

Orsini Orsini is a surname of Italian origin, originally derived from Latin ''ursinus'' ("bearlike") and originating as an epithet or sobriquet describing the name-bearer's purported strength. Notable people with the surname include the following: *Angel ...

led to the election of

Pope Celestine V Pope Celestine V ( la, Caelestinus V; 1215 – 19 May 1296), born Pietro Angelerio (according to some sources ''Angelario'', ''Angelieri'', ''Angelliero'', or ''Angeleri''), also known as Pietro da Morrone, Peter of Morrone, and Peter Celes ...

, who quickly abdicated, and then

in 1294. The new pope, who hailed from the relatively obscure

Caetani The House of Caetani, or Gaetani, is the name of an Italian noble family, originally from the city of Gaeta, connected by some to the lineage of the lords of the Duchy of Gaeta, as well as to the patrician Gaetani of the Republic of Pisa. It play ...

family, looked for opportunities to enlarge his family's power base, and found one in a dispute among the Colonna family: when Cardinal Giacomo Colonna - Sciarra's uncle - disinherited his brothers Ottone, Matteo, and Landolfo in 1297, the three appealed to the Pope, who ordered Giacomo to return the land, and furthermore hand over the family strongholds

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pre ...

and other towns to the Papacy. When Giacomo refused, Boniface removed him from the

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals, or more formally the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. its current membership is , of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Cardinals are app ...

and excommunicated him and his followers. In turn, the Colonna disputed the legitimacy of Boniface's election and declared Celestine the rightful pope. Eventually,

was stormed by papal forces.

The outrage of Anagni

The Colonna allied with the Pope's other great enemy,

Philip IV of France Philip IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called Philip the Fair (french: Philippe le Bel), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Philip I from ...

. In September 1303, Sciarra and Philip's advisor, Guillaume de Nogaret, led a small force into

Anagni Anagni () is an ancient town and '' comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Latium, central Italy, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical and artistic center of the Latin Valley. Geography Overview Anagni still maintains the appea ...

to arrest Boniface VIII and bring him to France, where he was to stand trial. While the two managed to apprehend the Pope, Sciarra reportedly slapped the pope in the face in the process, which was accordingly dubbed the " Outrage of Anagni". The attempt eventually failed after a few days, when locals freed the Pope. However, Boniface VIII died on 11 October, allowing France to dominate his weaker successors during the

Avignon papacy The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon – at the time within the Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire; now part of France – rather than in Rome. The situation a ...

Later years

The Colonna remained powerful in the papal states, especially during successive popes' absence. In 1328, Louis IV of Germany marched into Italy for his coronation as

. As

Pope John XXII Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected b ...

was residing in Avignon and had publicly declared that he would not crown Louis, the King decided to be crowned by a member of the Roman aristocracy, who proposed Sciarra Colonna. In honor of this event, the Colonna family was granted the privilege of using the imperial pointed crown on top of their coat of arms. One year later, Sciarra Colonna died in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

in 1329.

Literature

* Fiorella Simoni Balis-Crema: "Colonna, Giacomo". In: '' Lexicon of the Middle Ages'' (LexMA). Volume 3, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1986, , Sp. 55. * Daniel Waley: Colonna, "Giacomo, detto Sciarra". In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (ed.): ''

Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani The ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' ( en, Biographical Dictionary of the Italians) is a biographical dictionary published by the Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, started in 1925 and completed in 2020. It includes about 40,000 biograp ...

'' (DBI). Volume 27: ''Collenuccio-Confortini''. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1982, pp. 314–316.

References

External links

* http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/colonna-giacomo-detto-sciarra_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Colonna, Giacomo 1270 births 1329 deaths People excommunicated by the Catholic Church Sciarrillo 14th-century Italian nobility