COLONNA, a noble Roman family, second only to the Gaetani di Sermoneta in antiquity, and first of all the Roman houses in importance. The popes Marcellinus, Sixtus III., Stephen IV. and Adrian III. are said to have been members of it, but the authentic pedigree of the family begins with Pietro, lord of Col umna, Palestrina and Paliano (about iioo), probably a brother of Pope Benedict IX. His great grandson Giovanni had two sons, respectively the founders of the Colonna di Paliano and Colonna di Sciarra lines. The third, or Colonna-Romano line, is descended from Federigo Colonna (1223). In the I 2th century we find the Colonna as counts of Tusculum, and the family was then famous as one of the most powerful and turbulent of the great Roman clans; its feuds with the Orsini and the Gaetani are a character istic feature of mediaeval Rome and the Campagna; like the other great nobles of the Campagna, the Colonna plundered trav ellers and cities and did not even spare the pope himself if they felt themselves injured by him. Boniface VIII. ' attempted to break their power, excommunicated them in i 297, and confiscated their estates. He proclaimed a crusade against them and cap tured Palestrina, but they afterwards revenged themselves by be sieging him at Anagni, and Sciarra Colonna laid violent hands on His Holiness, being with difficulty restrained from actually murdering him 0303). In 1347 the Colonna, at that time almost an independent power, were defeated by Cola di Rienzi, but soon recovered. Pope Martin V. (1417-1431) was a Colonna, and con ferred immense estates on his family, including Marino, Frascati, Rocca di Papa, Nettuno, Palinao, etc., in the Campagna, and other fiefs in Romagna and Umbria. Their goods were frequently con fiscated and frequently given back, and the house was subject to many changes of fortune ; during the reign of Pope Alexander VI. they were again humbled ; but they always remained powerful and important, and members of the family rose to eminence as gener als, prelates and statesmen in the service of the Church or other powers. In the war of 1522 between France and Spain there were Colonna on both sides, and at the battle of Lepanto (1571) Marc Antonio Colonna, who commanded the papal contingent, greatly distinguished himself. A detailed record of the Colonna family would be a history of Rome. To-day there are three lines of Col onna : Colonna di Paliano, with two branches, the princes and dukes of Paliano, and the princes of Stigliano; (2) Colonna di Sciarra, with two branches, Colonna di Sciarra, princes of Car bagnano, and Barberini-Colonna, princes of Palestrina; and (3) Colonna-Romano. The Colonna palace, one of the finest in Rome, was begun by Martin V. and contains a valuable gallery.