Olimpia Giustiniani (18 May 1641 – 27 December 1729) was an Italian noblewoman of the houses of

Giustiniani The House of Giustiniani is the name of a prominent Italy, Italian family which originally belonged to Venice, but also established itself in Genoa, and at various times had representatives in Naples, Corsica and in the islands of the Aegean Sea, A ...

and

Barberini The House of Barberini are a family of the Italian nobility that rose to prominence in 17th century Rome. Their influence peaked with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623, as Pope Urban VIII. Their urban palace ...

. She was the granddaughter of

Olimpia Maidalchini Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphilj (26 May 1591 – 27 September 1657), (also spelled Pamphili and known as Olimpia Pamphili), was the sister-in-law of Pope Innocent X (Pamphili). She was perceived by her contemporaries as having influence regarding pap ...

, grand-niece of

Pope Innocent X Pope Innocent X ( la, Innocentius X; it, Innocenzo 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 ...

and wife of

Maffeo Barberini Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano 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 po ...

, Prince of

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''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 Pren ...

Biography

Giustiniani was born on 18 May 18, 1641 at the

Palazzo Pamphili :''See also Palazzo Doria Pamphilj Palazzo Pamphilj, also spelled Palazzo Pamphili, is a palace facing onto the Piazza Navona in Rome, Italy. It was built between 1644 and 1650. Since 1920, the palace has housed the Brazilian Embassy in Italy. In ...

to Andrea Giustiniani and Anna Maria Flaminia Pamphili, of the powerful

and

Pamphili The House of Pamphili (often with the final ''long i'' orthography, Pamphilj) was one of the papal families deeply entrenched in Catholic Church, Roman and Italian politics of the 16th and 17th centuries. Later, the Pamphili family line merged w ...

families. Her great-uncle,

(Giovanni Battista Pamphili of the

family), was the brother-in-law of her maternal grandmother, papal power-broker

Marriage

Olimpia Giustiniani was married in 1653 to

, son of

Taddeo Barberini Taddeo Barberini (1603–1647) was an Italian nobleman of the House of Barberini who became Prince of Palestrina and Gonfalonier of the Church; commander of the Papal Army. He was a nephew of Pope Urban VIII and brother of Cardinals Frances ...

(who died in exile in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

), future Prince of Palestrina and heir to the

estate. The marriage, which reconciled the

and

families, was engineered by Guistiniani's maternal grandmother,

, and Barberini's uncle, Cardinal

Antonio Barberini Antonio Barberini (5 August 1607 – 3 August 1671) was an Italian people, Italian Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims, Archbishop of Reims, military leader, patron of the arts an ...

, several years after the Barberini were forced into exile by an investigation instigated by

following 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 w ...

. 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 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 ...

. 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

consummate In many traditions and statutes of civil or religious law, the consummation of a marriage, often called simply ''consummation'', is the first (or first officially credited) act of sexual intercourse between two people, following their marriage to ...

d. 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 The Palazzo Barberini ( en, Barberini Palace) is a 17th-century palace in Rome, facing the Piazza Barberini in Rione Trevi. Today, it houses the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, the main national collection of older paintings in Rome. History T ...

and a new life as a daughter of the Barberini.''Mistress of the Vatican'' by Eleanor Herman (HarperCollins, 2008 - ) By marriage, Olimpia became sister-in-law to both Cardinal

Carlo Barberini Carlo Barberini (1 June 1630 – 2 October 1704) was an Italian Catholic cardinal and member of the Barberini family. He was the grand-nephew of Maffeo Barberini ( Pope Urban VIII) and son of Taddeo Barberini ( Prince of Palestrina). Early life ...

and

Lucrezia Barberini Lucrezia Barberini (24 October 1628 – 24 August 1699) was an Italian nobility, Italian noblewoman and, by marriage, Duchess of Modena. Born into the Barberini family, she was the last wife of Francesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena. Biography ...

, who subsequently 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 The pestilence of 1630–16 ...

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 Urbano Barberini Riario Sforza Colonna di Sciarra (born 18 September 1961), best known as Urbano Barberini or sometimes Urbano Barberini Sforza, is an Italian actor. He is also a translator, theater producer and artistic director. He is fluent ...

(1664–1722), who would inherit the titles of his father in 1685 *Taddeo Barberini (1666–1702), married Maria Teresa Muti in 1701 but died childless.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giustiniani, Olimpia 1641 births 1729 deaths 17th-century Italian nobility 17th-century Italian women 18th-century Italian women Olimpia Barberini family Pamphili family