Giovanni Carafa (died 5 March 1561),

Duke of Paliano The title Duke and Prince of Paliano is borne by the head of the elder line of the Colonna family, Colonna family. At times the honour has been borne by several members at once. The Princes also bear many other titles and honorifics. The Princes ...

, was a papal nephew and minor

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

prince. The son of Giovanni Alfonso Carafa, Count of Montorio, and Caterina Cantelma, Giovanni came to prominence along with his brothers Carlo and Antonio when their uncle,

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Giovanni Pietro Carafa, was elected

Pope Paul IV Pope Paul IV (; ; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559), born Gian Pietro Carafa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death, in August 1559. While serving as papal nuncio in Spain, he developed ...

in May 1555. Carlo became the most powerful of the three as the Pope's

Cardinal-nephew A cardinal-nephew (; ; ; ; )Signorotto and Visceglia, 2002, p. 114. Modern French scholarly literature uses the term "cardinal-neveu'". was a Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal elevated by a pope who was that cardinal's relative. The practice of c ...

, while Giovanni was put in command of the papal armies as

Captain General of the Church The captain general of the Church () was the ''de facto'' commander-in-chief of the Papal States' armed forces (generally, the Papal Army and the Papal Navy) from the Middle Ages into the early modern period. The post was usually conferred on ...

. He was made Duke of

Paliano Paliano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, in the Lazio region of central Italy. History Paliano was the seat of a branch of the powerful Colonna family whose head was Lord, then Duke, then Prince of Paliano. Their fortres ...

after papal forces drove the pro-

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Colonna from that town in 1556. After the Spanish recovered Paliano in 1558, Carlo unsuccessfully sued on Giovanni's behalf to

King Philip II of Spain King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

for the Duchy of Bari. The Carafa nephews were notorious for their corrupt and venal lifestyles. In one colourful incident, recorded by Venetian diplomats, the Duke was sent by his uncle to intercept two courtesans who had fled

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in December 1558. Giovanni made it known that he had no personal interest in this mission: the women were favourites of his brothers, not him. After the failure of the Pope's war with Spain in 1558, their notoriety became a liability, and they were banished from Rome on 27 January 1559. Paul IV died in August of that year, and Giovanni and Carlo were put on trial by the new Pope,

Pius IV Pope Pius 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 itself a b ...

, in July 1560. The trial's proceedings were concluded in March 1561 when, under sealed orders of the Pope, the brothers were executed in Rome. Carlo, as a cardinal, was strangled in the Castel San Angelo, while, two days later, Giovanni was beheaded at the Tor di Nona prison along with two companions. The sentence was overturned under the next pope,

Pius V Pope Pius V, OP (; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an ...

, in 1567, after a petition by their surviving brother, and their prosecutor was executed for having deceived Pius IV. The Duke was married to Violante Díaz-Garlón, an aristocrat of Spanish descent. He had her murdered on 28 August 1559 on suspicion of infidelity. The affair is retold in Stendhal's novella, ''The Duchess of Palliano''. The murder of his wife was one of the charges brought against the Duke at his trial, as well as crimes against supporters of the Colonna. His son, along with a cousin, was held hostage at the court of King Henry II of France as surety in diplomatic negotiations with Paul IV.Carman

Notes

Sources

James M. Boyden, ''The Courtier and the King: Ruy Gómez De Silva, Philip II, and the Court of Spain''. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995)

* ttp://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc09/htm/ii.cxiii.htm “Pius IV”, ''The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'' (1914), Vol. IX.
John Addington Symonds, ''Renaissance in Italy: the Catholic Reaction.'' (New York: Henry Holt & Co, 1887).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carafa, Giovanni, Duke of Paliano 1561 deaths Persecution by Christians Giovanni Executed Italian people Princes in Italy Papal family members People executed by the Papal States by decapitation Year of birth unknown Captains General of the Church Executed nobility