ORSINI, or,i7416. A noble family of Rome, celebrated as the champions of the Guelphie cause against their hereditary enemy. the Colonna (q.v.). They trace their origin to the early cen turies of the Christian Era, but first appear prom inently toward the end of the twelfth century, when a member of the house was elected to the Papal throne as Celestine III. Their strife with the Colonna frequently plunged the city into tur moil, and their rule, like that of their rivals, pressed heavily on the inhabitants. The line of the Orsini divided into the seven branches of I'itigiiano, San Savino, Tagliacozzo, •nglu1l:tra, Oppido, Bracciano, and Mentana. The only sur viving branch is that founded in Naples by Fr:111 (212SC°, first Duke of Gravina. The members of the family who attained especial distinction were: GIOVANNI GAETANO ORSINI, who became Pope as Nicholas III. and PiEuto FRANCESCO DEGLI ORSINI, who ascended the Papal chair as Benediet X111.—P,vow ORSINI was a famous condottiere of the first half of the fifteenth cen tury, and fought against Ladislas of Naples and Francesco Sforza. VIRGINTO ORSINI (died 1497) fought for the Papacy under Sixtus 1V., and against it under Alexander VI. He made com mon cause with Charles VIII. of France in 1494, and was punished by imprisonment at Naples, where he died. RENzo DA Om (died 1536) was a general in the service of Francis I. of France,
and fought against the Emperor, Charles V. He eonduc•ted the defense of Rome against the im perialist troops in 1527, and after the storming of the city held out for some time in the Castle of Saint Angelo. PAOLO GIoRDANO ORSINI, Duke of Bracciano, was the husband of the un fo•tunate Virginia Aceoramboni (q.v.).—ANNE :MARIE DE LA TREMOUILLE (1635-1722 ) widow of Adrien Blaine de Talleyrand. Prince of Chablis, married, in 1675, Flavin Orsini. Duke of Braeeiano, and became an ardent and supporter of the French policy at the Papal c•otn•t. In 1701 she went with Philip V. to Spain in the official capacity of mistress of the Queen's household. but in reality as the young King's adviser. She sought to establish the Bour bon throne in Spain on a firm basis by creating a national party in support of the new King, and with the exception of a short period of disgrace• exercised alnnist absolute power at the Spanish Court till the death of Philip's Queen. After the marriage of Philip V. to Elizabeth Farnese she retired from Madrid. and lived in Holland. Genoa, and Rome. Consult : Litta, Pamiglie eelebri iluliulle, viii. (Milan, 1S19 et seq.) ; Combes, Lo prinresse des Ursins (Paris, 1858).