Ptolemy IIAlso Bartholomew, which means "son of Ptolemy." (also ''Ptolemæus'' or ''Tolomeo'') (died 1153) was the

count of Tusculum The counts of Tusculum or Tuscolo, also known as the Theophylacti, were a family of secular noblemen from Latium that maintained a powerful position in Rome between the 10th and 12th centuries. Several popes and antipopes during the 11th century ...

and

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

of the Romans (''consul Romanorum'') from 1126 to his death. He was the son and successor of

Ptolemy I Ptolemy I Soter (; , ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'', "Ptolemy the Savior"; 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian, and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to found the Ptolemaic Kingdom centered on Egypt. Pt ...

. The younger Ptolemy entered the political scene of central Italy for the first time in 1117, when he appears as joint count with his father and is given in marriage to Bertha, illegitimate daughter of

Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor Henry V (; probably 11 August 1081 or 1086 – 23 May 1125) was King of Germany (from 1099 to 1125) and Holy Roman Emperor (from 1111 to 1125), as the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He was made co-ruler by his father, Henry IV, i ...

. At this time, the counts of Tusculum first claimed descent through the ''gentes''

Julii The gens Julia was one of the most prominent patrician families of ancient Rome. From the early decades of the Republic, members of this gens served in the highest offices of the Roman state, beginning with Gaius Julius Iulus, consul in 489 ...

and

Octavii The gens Octavia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which was raised to patrician status by Caesar during the first century BC. The first member of the gens to achieve prominence was Gnaeus Octavius Rufus, quaestor about 230 BC. Over the follo ...

, a claim Ptolemy continued. The counts were also confirmed in their possession of all the territory of the Consul Gregory, Ptolemy I's grandfather. When the

Emperor Lothair II Lothair III, sometimes numbered Lothair II and also known as Lothair of Supplinburg ( June 1075 – 4 December 1137), was Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 until his death. He was appointed Duke of Saxony in 1106 and elected King of Germany in 1125 be ...

marched home from

Southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

in 1137, Ptolemy II met him at Tivoli. There, Lothair confirmed all of Ptolemy's possessions and his title of "Prince of Latium." In turn, Ptolemy gave his son Raino over to the emperor as a pledge of loyalty. On 8 April 1149,

Pope Eugene III Pope Eugene III (; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He was the first Cist ...

took refuge in Ptolemy's Tusculuan fortress. This was the first time in forty years that the count of Tusculum had acted as a true ally of the true pope. At that time,

Louis VII of France Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger or the Young () to differentiate him from his father Louis VI, was King of France from 1137 to 1180. His first marriage was to Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and ...

stopped in Tusculum on return from the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crus ...

. Though shocked by the pope's straits, the

king of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I, king of the Fra ...

did nothing to help the pontiff. On 7 November, Eugene left Tusculum. In Ptolemy's latter years, his house declined. In 1141, Bertha died and the tie to the old imperial family was broken. Ptolemy married a Pierleoni, a daughter of Petrus Leonis himself. He fell into debts which caused many properties in Tusculum itself to be lost or mortgaged. Many fell to the

Frangipani family The Frangipani family was a powerful Roman patrician clan in the Middle Ages. The family was firmly Guelph in sympathy. The name has many spellings, which include Frangipane, Freiapane, Fricapane and Fresapane. In his '' Trattatello in laud ...

and the old fortress even fell to Eugene III. Ptolemy died in 1153 and was succeeded by his elder son Jonathan of Tusculum. His second son, the aforementioned Raino, was joint count and then sole count: the last count of Tusculum. Ptolemy did leave another son, named Jordan, who settled in

Gavignano Gavignano is a town in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy. Gavignano is approximately 50 km south east of Rome, on a hill in the Lepini Mountains. The name of the town is believed to be d ...

in Volscia after the destruction of Tusculum in 1191.

Notes

Sources

* Gregorovius, Ferdinand. ''Rome in the Middle Ages Vol. IV Part 1''. 1905. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ptolemy 02 Of Tusculum 1153 deaths 12th-century Italian nobility Medieval Roman consuls Year of birth unknown Counts of Tusculum