Ascanio della Corgna condottiero italiano

Coat of arms of the house of Della Corgna

Ascanio della Corgna (1516 – 3 December 1571) was an Italian

condottiere ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europe ...

from

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

. He rose to become Marchese di

Castiglione del Lago Castiglione del Lago is a town in the province of Perugia of Umbria (central Italy), on the southwest corner of Lake Trasimeno. Orvieto is south, Chiusi is to the south west, Arezzo is to the north west, Cortona is to the north and Perugi ...

, in part due to his family connections to a Pope.

Biography

Ascanio as a young man had followed his uncle to Rome, but his unbridled and violent temperament, disgusted his uncle, and he returned to Perugia. Ascanio was the brother of Cardinal

Fulvio Giulio della Corgna Fulvio Giulio della Corgna (also Della Cornia, Della Corgnia) (19 November 1517 – 2 March 1583) was a Tuscan Catholic bishop and cardinal. Biography Fulvio Giulio della Corgna was born in Perugia on 19 November 1517, the son of Francia della ...

, and both were nephews of

Julius III Pope Julius III ( la, Iulius PP. III; it, Giulio III; 10 September 1487 – 23 March 1555), born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 February 1550 to his death in March 155 ...

, pope from 1550 to 1555. Ascanio is described as having a peripatetic career as a professional soldier for hire, battling during his lifetime Lutherans in Germany and Turks in Malta. He began as a young man when he joined the French army with the siege of Mirandola as a squire for Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, il Cagnino. He later showed marked foolhardy bravery in the siege of Genoa in 1536, receiving wounds. He then participated in the siege of

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrat hills. Beyond the river lies the v ...

, where he was blinded in one eye. He allied himself with

Piero Strozzi Piero (or Pietro) Strozzi (c. 1510 – 21 June 1558) was an Italian military leader. He was a member of the rich Florentine family of the Strozzi. Biography left, Portrait of Piero Strozzi Born in Florence, Piero Strozzi was the son of Filipp ...

in his ill-fated rebellion against the Medici in Florence. He was victorious in a famous personal duel outside of Bologna. He was then recruited by the infantry-deficient

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

to battle the rebel Ariadeno Barbarossa and assault

Castelnuovo di Cattaro Herceg Novi ( cyrl, Херцег Нови, ) is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the Western entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 in ...

. He then returned to

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

where he led a series of near-rebellions of Umbrian communes against the rule of

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, 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 ...

, which reached some reconciliation around 1540. In 1563, he was made Marchese by

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...

, but later jailed for conspiring with foreign powers. These powers, led by García Álvarez de Toledo, however lobbied for his freedom and he was released to participate in the battles against the Turks in the

Great Siege of Malta The Great Siege of Malta ( Maltese: ''L-Assedju l-Kbir'') occurred in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer the island of Malta, then held by the Knights Hospitaller. The siege lasted nearly four months, from 18 May to 13 September ...

and provided substantial leadership in the Lepanto. He died in Rome and was conducted to a hero's funeral in Umbria. Ascanio had commissioned the Palazzo della Corgna built at Castiglione del Lago. Ascanio had no direct heirs, and his title and property passed on to his nephew,

Diomede della Corgna Diomede (; Ancient Greek: Διομήδη ''Diomēdē'') is the name of four women in Greek mythology: * Diomede, daughter of Xuthus. She married Deioneus, king of Phocis, and was the mother of Cephalus, Actor, Aenetus, Phylacus and Asterodia.(In ...

. Both Ascanio and his heirs frescoed the interiors with mythologic and historic scenes, some depicting the feats of Ascanio. His offspring did not match his stature, and they were deposed from their estates in the mid-17th-century.Biografie dei Capitani Venturieri dell'Umbria
Volume 4, by Ariodante Fabretti (1846); page 215-266.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Della Corgna, Ascanio 1516 births 1571 deaths People from Perugia 16th-century condottieri