Giacomo or Jacopo Colonna (1250 – 14 August 1318) was a member of a powerful noble

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

in Rome, and an Italian

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Life

Giacomo Colonna was the second son of Oddone and Margherita

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 ...

Colonna, and as such, a member of two of the most powerful and influential families in Rome. He was an older brother of Blessed Margherita Colonna. His father died when he was still a boy. His mother, a pious woman, was sister to

Matteo Rosso Orsini Matteo Rosso Orsini (1178–1246), called the Great, was an Italian politician, the father of Pope Nicholas III. He was named ''senatore'' of the City of Rome by Pope Gregory IX in 1241: in this capacity he took a firm stand against the ventur ...

. When she died, about 1570, Giacomo and his older brother, Giovanni, looked after their younger sister. Colonna studied law at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

. When Margherita reached her late teens there was talk of arranging an appropriate marriage for her. However, she preferred to retire to religious life. She was initially opposed by her brother Giovanni, but supported by Giacomo, a Franciscan friar. At the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistory ...

of 12 March 1278, his first cousin,

Pope Nicholas III Pope Nicholas III ( la, Nicolaus III; c. 1225 – 22 August 1280), born Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 November 1277 to his death on 22 August 1280. He was a Roman nobleman who ...

created him a

, naming him cardinal deacon of

Santa Maria in Via Lata Santa Maria in Via Lata is a church on the Via del Corso (the ancient Via Lata), in Rome, Italy. It stands diagonal from the church of San Marcello al Corso. It is the Station days for Tuesday, the fifth week of lent. History The first Christi ...

. In 1288,

Pope Nicholas IV Pope Nicholas IV ( la, Nicolaus IV; 30 September 1227 – 4 April 1292), born Girolamo Masci, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1288 to his death on 4 April 1292. He was the first Franciscan to be ele ...

named Giovanni's son, Pietro Colonna, a cardinal. Giacomo and Pietro opposed the election of Benedetto Caetani as

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, Caetani family was of b ...

on the grounds that they disputed the legality 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 ...

's resignation.

Conflict with Boniface

In 1297 a conflict broke out between Pope Boniface VIII and the Colonna family. Cardinal Giacomo disinherited his brothers Ottone, Matteo, and Landolfo of their lands. They appealed to Pope Boniface, who ordered Giacomo to return the land, and furthermore hand over the family's strongholds of

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 politica ...

, Palestrina, and other towns to the Papacy. Giacomo refused; in May, Boniface removed him from the College of Cardinals and excommunicated him and his supporters. The Colonna family (aside from the three brothers allied with the Pope) declared that Boniface had been elected illegally following the unprecedented abdication of Pope Celestine V. The dispute led to open warfare, and in September, Boniface appointed Landolfo to the command of his army, to put down the revolt of Landolfo's own Colonna relatives. By the end of 1298, Landolfo had captured Colonna, Palestrina and other towns, and razed them to the ground. The family's lands were distributed among Landolfo and his loyal brothers; the rest of the family fled to France.

Reinstatement

After the death of Boniface VIII, Pietro and Giacomo were excluded from participation in the election of a successor due to the excommunications that were imposed on them. The then elected

Pope Benedict XI Pope Benedict XI ( la, Benedictus PP. XI; 1240 – 7 July 1304), born Nicola Boccasini (Niccolò of Treviso), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 October 1303 to his death in 7 July 1304. Boccasini entered the ...

withdrew the imposed church penalties, but for full rehabilitation they had to wait until the election of

Pope Clement V Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...

in 1305. Giacomo set about repairing the family's reputation and fortunes. He died 14 August 1318 at Avignon.

San Giacomo degli Incurabili The hospital of ''San Giacomo in Augusta'' (Saint James in Augusta), also known as San Giacomo degli Incurabili (Saint James of the Incurables) was a historic hospital located in Rome. History The Hospital was built for the first time in 1349 by ...

was established in 1349 by the Colonna family according to the terms of the will of Cardinal Pietro Colonna in honor of his uncle Giacomo.Bonella, Lia and Bernardini, Franca Fedeli. ''L'ospedale dei pazzi di Roma dai papi al '900''. Volume II, Bari, Edizioni Dedalo, 1994 p. 366

References

External links

* {{Cite web , title=Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek , url=https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&cqlMode=true&query=nid=119511630 , access-date=2022-07-12 , website=portal.dnb.de 1250 births 1318 deaths