Girolamo I Angeli (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Hieronymus

Angelus FIle:Jean-François Millet (II) 001.jpg, ''The Angelus (painting), The Angelus'' (1857–1859) by Jean-François Millet The Angelus (; Latin for "angel") is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation (Christianity), Incarnation of Jesus ...

''; 1505–1591) was a joint, or rival, Grand Master of the Constantinian Order of Saint George from 1570 to 1591, together with, or against, his brother

Andrea Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

and then his nephew

Pietro Pietro is an Italian language, Italian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: People * Pietro I Candiano (c. 842–887), briefly the 16th Doge of Venice * Pietro Tribuno (died 912), 17th Doge of Venice, from 887 to his dea ...

. Girolamo's family, the

Angelo Flavio Comneno The Angelo Flavio Comneno or Angeli () were a Venetian noble family of Albanians, Albanian descent who claimed descent from the Angelos dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. In the 16th century, the family founded the Sacred Military Constantinian Order ...

, claimed descent from the

Angelos The House of Angelos (; pl. Angeloi; , pl. ) was a Byzantine Greek noble family that produced several Emperors and other prominent nobles during the middle and late Byzantine Empire. The family rose to prominence through the marriage of its foun ...

dynasty of

Byzantine emperors The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

, and Girolamo also claimed the title "Prince of

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

Biography

Girolamo was born in 1505, as the son of the Albanian noble Pjetër Engjëlli. Giovanni Demetrio's family, the

, claimed descent from the

dynasty of

. In the mid-15th century, Girolamo's older brothers

and Paolo were officially acknowledged as descendants of the Angelos emperors by Pope

Paul III Pope Paul III (; ; born Alessandro Farnese; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era follo ...

(1534–1549) and founded the

Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (; ), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order of Saint George and the Order of the Constantinian Angelic Knights of Saint George, is a dynastic order of knighthood ...

, a

chivalric order An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is a society, fellowship and college of knights, typically founded during or inspired by the original Catholic military orders of the Crusades ( 1099–1291) and pai ...

with invented Byzantine connections. Girolamo was a rival claimant to the position of Grand Master, challenging Andrea, and managed to at one point secure recognition of the papacy, given that at least one surviving papal document refers to Girolamo as the Grand Master. Though Girolamo eventually accepted the principle of primogeniture, accepting the accession of his nephew Pietro Angeli in 1580, Girolamo remains recognized as a Grand Master, concurrent with Andrea and Pietro, in modern records of the Constantinian Order. Upon Giovanni Andrea I's death in 1634, Girolamo's branch of the family inherited the position of Grand Master as Giovanni Andrea was childless. Girolamo had five children together with Ursula Bini: the sons Michele, Leone, Pietro and Andrea, and the daughter Ursula. Michele, the eldest son, was born on 22 February 1557. All of the children, except for Andrea, born on 29 June 1578, were technically illegitimate, given that they were born when Ursula was still married to her first husband, but Girolamo and Ursula did eventually marry, on 8 February 1575. Girolamo's at first adulterous relationship with Ursula Bini led to later issues concerning the Angeli succession, as the claims of Michele's children to the position of grand master would be challenged by Andrea.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Angeli, Girolamo I 1505 births 1591 deaths Byzantine pretenders after 1453

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography