200px, Coat of arms of the House of Torlonia. The House of Torlonia is the name of an Italian princely family from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, which acquired a huge fortune in the 18th and 19th centuries through administering the finances of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

. The first influential member of the Torlonia family was

Marino Torlonia Marino, Mariño or Maryino may refer to: Places * Marino, Lazio, a town in the province of Rome, Italy * Marino, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide ** Marino Conservation Park ** Marino Rocks Greenway, a cycling route ** Marino Rocks railway ...

(Tourlonias; 1725 – 21 March 1785), who rose from humble origins in the

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...

region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

to become a very rich businessman and banker in Rome. Marino was born with the French name of Marin Torlonias, the son of Antoine Torlonias, a merchant and laborer. Marin's great-uncle was the parish priest of Augerolles, who procured for him a position as aide to an influential

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

. Marin eventually settled in Rome, where he became a cloth merchant and money lender near the Piazza of the

Trinità dei Monti The church of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti, often called merely the Trinità dei Monti ( French: ''La Trinité-des-Monts''), is a Roman Catholic late Renaissance titular church in Rome, central Italy. It is best known for its position above ...

. This became the foundation of the family bank established by his son, Giovanni Torlonia. Giovanni, in return for his able administration of the Vatican finances, was created

duke of Bracciano The Duchy of Bracciano was a fief of the Papal States, centred on lago di Bracciano and the town of Bracciano itself and ruled by a branch of the Orsini family with the title of Lord (from 1417) and Duke (1560–1696). History The Orsini rul ...

and count of Pisciarelli by Pope Pius VI in 1794. In 1803,

Pius VII Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...

made him marquess of Romavecchia e Turrita and the first prince of Civitella Cesi. He was made, among other titles, a

Roman Patrician The patricians (from la, patricius, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Republic, but its relevance waned after ...

in 1809, with confirmation from the Pope on 19 January 1813, and the

duke of Poli e Guadagnolo Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

in 1820. He was the builder of the Villa Torlonia in Rome, among other

Palazzo Torlonia __NOTOC__ Palazzo Torlonia (also known as the Palazzo Giraud, Giraud-Torlonia or Castellesi) is a 16th-century Renaissance town house in Via della Conciliazione, Rome, Italy. Built for Cardinal Adriano Castellesi da Corneto from 1496, the archit ...

villas. He married Anna Maria Chiaveri ''née'' Schultheiss, a widow who came from a family of southern German merchants from the city of Donaueschingen.

Leopoldo Torlonia Leopoldo Torlonia (25 July 1853—23 October 1918) was an Italian nobleman and politician, who was Mayor of Rome from May 1882 to May 1887. He was the third duke of Poli and of Guadagnolo. He was dismissed from office in 1887 by then Prime ...

, a grandson of Giovanni, was the

Mayor of Rome The mayor of Rome ( it, sindaco di Roma) is an elected politician who, along with the Rome City Council ( it, Assemblea Capitolina) of 48 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Rome. As Rome is a '' comune speciale'' since 2009 ...

from May 1882 to May 1887. His great-grandson,

succeeded to the title as 4th prínce of Civitella-Cesi, a title he inherited from Augusto, his older brother, in 1926. The title had been passed to Augusto from their paternal great-uncle, Alessandro, younger brother of Augusto's and Marino's grandfather, Giulio. Marino married the rich American heiress

Mary Elsie Moore Mary Elsie Moore, Princess di Civitella-Cesi (October 22, 1889 – December 21, 1941), was an American railroad equipment heiress who married and divorced Italian Prince Don Marino Torlonia, 4th Prince of Civitella-Cesi. Early life Mary Elsie Moo ...

; they were the parents of

Don Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON * Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a vi ...

, who married the

Infanta Beatriz of Spain Infanta Beatriz of Spain, Princess of Civitella-Cesi (''Beatriz Isabel Federica Alfonsa Eugénie Cristina Maria Teresia Bienvenida Ladislàa de Borbón y Battenberg''; 22 June 1909 – 22 November 2002) was a daughter of King Alfonso XIII of Spain ...

, the daughter of King Alfonso XIII - one of their grandchildren is Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg; and of Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi, the wife of American tennis player

Francis Xavier Shields Francis Xavier Alexander Shields Sr. (November 18, 1909 – August 19, 1975) was an American amateur tennis player of the 1920s and 1930s, and an actor known for ''Hoosier Schoolboy'' (1937). Tennis career Between 1928 and 1945 he was ranked e ...

and grandmother of the American actress Brooke Shields. In Rome, the Torlonia properties comprise: Palazzo Torlonia-Giraud in

Via della Conciliazione Via della Conciliazione (Road of the Conciliation) is a street in the Rione of Borgo within Rome, Italy. Roughly in length, it connects Saint Peter's Square to the Castel Sant'Angelo on the western bank of the Tiber River. The road was constru ...

(

rione A (; plural: ) is a neighbourhood in several Italian cities. A is a territorial subdivision. The larger administrative subdivisions in Rome are the , with the being used only in the historic centre. The word derives from the Latin , the 14 su ...

of Borgo),

Palazzo Núñez-Torlonia Palazzo Núñez-Torlonia is a palace in Rome, central Italy, the current home of the Torlonia family. About The palace was built in 1660 by Giovanni Antonio De Rossi for the Marquess, marquis Francisco Nuñez–Sánchez. In 1806 the palace was a ...

Via Condotti Via dei Condotti (named always ''Via Condotti'') is a busy and fashionable street of Rome, Italy. In Roman times it was one of the streets that crossed the ancient Via Flaminia and enabled people who transversed the Tiber to reach the Pincio hi ...

, near the

Spanish Steps The Spanish Steps ( it, Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti) in Rome, Italy, climb a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church, at the top. The monumental stairwa ...

, Palazzo Torlonia in Via della Lungara (

of Trastevere) and Villa Torlonia (

Villa Albani The Villa Albani (later Villa Albani-Torlonia) is a villa in Rome, built on the Via Salaria for Cardinal Alessandro Albani. It was built between 1747 and 1767 by the architect Carlo Marchionni in a project heavily influenced by otherssuch as G ...

) outside

Porta Salaria Porta Salaria was a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. Constructed between 271 AD and 275 AD, it was finally demolished in 1921. History Porta Salaria was part of the Aurelian Walls built by emperor Aurelian in the 3rd century, includ ...

. They also owned the now demolished Palazzo Torlonia-Bolognetti near

Piazza Venezia Piazza Venezia () is a central hub of Rome, Italy, in which several thoroughfares intersect, including the Via dei Fori Imperiali and the Via del Corso. It takes its name from the Palazzo Venezia, built by the Venetian Cardinal, Pietro Barbo (l ...

. The Torlonia family were one of the few Italian aristocratic families to have survived the reconstruction of the

Papal Court The papal household or pontifical household (usually not capitalized in the media and other nonofficial use, ), called until 1968 the Papal Court (''Aula Pontificia''), consists of dignitaries who assist the pope in carrying out particular ceremoni ...

in 1969 by the

motu proprio In law, ''motu proprio'' (Latin for "on his own impulse") describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term ''sua sponte'' for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a ...

Pontificalis Domus ''Pontificalis Domus'' ( en, The Papal Household) was a ''motu proprio'' document issued by Pope Paul VI on 28 March 1968, in the fifth year of his pontificate. It reorganized the Papal Household, which had been known until then as the Papal C ...

''. Until recently the only hereditary honours still in use at the Vatican are that of hereditary Prince Assistants to the Papal Throne. This honour was until recently held by Prince Alessandro Torlonia, Prince of Fucino, and Prince Marcantonio

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 politic ...

, Prince and Duke of Paliano. The Torlonia family was appointed in 1958 (its title dates from 1854 also), in succession to Prince Filippo

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 ...

, whose family had held the position since 1735. A poem quoted by Ignazio Silone in his novel "Fontamara" (1930), at the height of their power translates as: :The head of everything is God, the Lord of heaven :After Him comes Prince Torlonia, lord of the earth :Then comes Prince Torlonia's armed guards :Then comes Prince Torlonia's armed guards dogs :Then comes nothing at all. Then comes nothing at all. :Then comes nothing at all. :Then come the peasants. And that's all.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Almanach de la Cour - The Hereditary Officers of the Papal Court
{{Commons category, House of Torlonia Banking families