Maffeo Barberini (19 August 1631 – 28 November 1685) was an Italian nobleman of the Barberini and '' Prince of Palestrina''. He was appointed Gonfalonier of the Church.

Family

Born in 1631, Barberini was one of the five children of Taddeo Barberini and Anna Colonna, daughter of Filippo I Colonna. His siblings included cardinal Carlo Barberini and Lucrezia Barberini who married

Francesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena Francesco I d'Este (6 September 1610 – 14 October 1658) was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1629 until his death. The eldest son of Alfonso III d'Este, he became reigning duke after his father's abdication. Biography Born on 6 September 1610 ...

. His great uncle (on his father's side) was Barberini

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

Wars of Castro

Between 1639 and 1649, the Barberini fought the

Wars of Castro The Wars of Castro were a series of conflicts during the mid-17th century revolving around the ancient city of Castro (located in present-day Lazio, Italy), which eventually resulted in the city's destruction on 2 September 1649. The conflict ...

alongside the Pamphili family. Maffeo's father, Taddeo, and Luigi Mattei led the papal armies loyal to

and the Barberini family. In 1644, after the first ''War of Castro'',

died and Pamphili family

Pope Innocent X Pope Innocent X (6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death, in January 1655. Born in Rome of a family fro ...

was elected in his place. Pope Innocent subsequently began an investigation into Antonio Barberini (Maffeo's uncle), prompting him to flee into exile with his two brothers,

Francesco Francesco, the Italian language, Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis (given name), Francis", is one of the List of most popular given names, most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name inclu ...

and Taddeo (Maffeo's father).

Marriage and titles

Taddeo Barberini died in exile in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

but the Barberini and Pamphili families were reconciled when, in 1653, his son Maffeo married Olimpia Giustiniani, grand-niece of

. The marriage had been engineered by Giustiniani's maternal grandmother, papal power-broker Olimpia Maidalchini, and Barberini's uncle, Cardinal Antonio Barberini. Maidalchini, realizing her influence over Pope Innocent was waning, arranged the marriage to facilitate a return of the Barberini to Rome in order to curry favor with a number of the Barberini family's cardinals. The Barberini, too, were keen to return to Rome and were enthusiastic about Maidalchini's plan to marry Pope Innocent's grand-niece, Guistiniani, into their family. Despite the fact that 12-year-old Guistiniani stubbornly refused to marry her 22-year-old suitor, surprising few, the two were married at a lavish ceremony celebrated by Pope Innocent himself. After the ceremony, however, the child refused to go home with her new groom to allow the marriage to be consummated. Her mother, who had barely been involved in her upbringing, appealed to her by telling her that other girls were forced to marry decrepit old men and that, by comparison, Barberini was a far better option. When the child still refused, Maidalchini forced her granddaughter into a carriage that took her to the Palazzo Barberini and a new life as a daughter of the Barberini. left, 250 px, Palestrina as it appeared in 1671 during Maffeo Barberini's administration. Barberini was later restored to his father's former title of ''Prince of Palestrina'' - nominal patriarch of the

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''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 Prenestina. It is built upon ...

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

owned by the Barberini family. He was likely also appointed Gonfalonier of the Church on the same basis. Barberini commissioned the construction of the ''Church of Santa Rosalia'' in Palestrina (opened in 1677) which includes a tribute to Maffeo's father Taddeo by Bernardino Cametti, commissioned by Maffeo's son Cardinal Francesco. In 1662, on the death of his uncle (his mother's brother), he applied to King

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV (, ; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered for his patronage of the ...

to acquire all

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

s and titles (within the King's dominion) which had belonged to the Colonna. The king agreed, despite potential claims from Colonna descendants, and gave Maffeo permission to take control of a series of comunes including and

Petrella Salto Petrella Salto () is a (municipality) in the Province of Rieti, in the Italian region of Latium. It is located about northeast of Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy ...

. Barberini was also given permission to take control of the comune of Torre Annunziata which had been owned by the

Orsini family The House of Orsini is an Nobility of Italy, Italian noble family that was one of the most influential princely families in Middle Ages, medieval Italy and Renaissance Rome. Members of the Orsini family include five popes: Pope Stephen II, Step ...

but had been seized by the Spanish Treasury several years earlier. After further negotiations, in 1664, Barberini officially purchased the Pacentro comune from the Colonna and added ''Count of Pacentro'' to his titles. Four years later he purchased the Gagliano comune and thus became ''Count of Gagliano''. In 1668 he was made a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Maffeo Barberini died on 28 November 1685 while he was in residence at the Villa Bagnaia. The villa constituted a part of the estate of Ippolito Lante Montefeltro della Rovere, Duke of Bomarzo and nephew of Cardinal Marcello Lante della Rovere; a contemporary and ally of Maffeo's uncles and father who had been Bishop of Palestrina.

Patron of the arts

Barberini continued the patronage of the arts started by his family members before him. He was, if only for the purpose of maintaining the wealth of the Barberini a collector of art and became the owner of the art collection previously owned by his uncle Antonio Barberini which included at least three paintings by

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

.The Cardsharps; provenance
- Kimball Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas Barberini also commissioned paintings by Niccolò Tornioli. In 1653, Barberini reopened the Teatro delle Quattro Fontane after it had been closed for more than 10 years while his uncles and father had been in exile. It continued to host

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic performances until it was damaged by fire and abandoned.

Issue

Maffeo Barberini and Olimpia Giustiniani had five children: * Costanza Barberini (1655–1687), married duke Francesco Caetani of Caserta in 1680. * Camilla Barberini (1657–1740), married count Carlo Borromeo-Arese in 1689. * Francesco Barberini (1662–1738), cardinal from 1690. * Urbano Barberini (1664–1722), who would inherit his father's titles in 1685. *Taddeo Barberini (1666–1702), married Maria Teresa Muti in 1701 but died childless.

References