COLON'NA. A celebrated Italian family, prominent in the history of Rome from the twelfth century to the sixteenth. They were hereditary enemies of the Orsini (q.v.). and their numerous strongholds around home made them at all times formidable enemies to the Papacy. and on occasion its masters. To Rome, the Co lonnas gave a pope, thirty cardinals, and a great number of senators and military commanders. The name of the family was probably derived from Colonna, a small settlement near the fort ress of Palestrina; and Pietro of the Column, lord of Palestrina in 1100, is commonly regarded as the ancestor of all the princely branches of Colonna, comprising at present the houses of Colonna-Paliano, Colonna di Scia•ra. and Colon na-Stigliano.—Eomo COLONNA was born at Rome about 1247. He entered the Augustine Order and pursued the study of theology at Paris, where he was preceptor to Philip the Fair. He became general of the Order in 1292, and in 1290 was made Archbishop of Bourges. He was the author of a political treatise entitled Dc Regimiwe Principum, dedicated to Philip the Fair, and noteworthy for its systematic treatment of the art of war. lie died in Avignon in 1310 and was buried at Paris. Of his works, which are marked by a good deal of dull erudition, part have re mained unpublished.—LANDOLF0 COLONNA was a canon of Chartres in the first half of the four teenth century. There are attributed to him a manual of history from the creation to the ponti ficate of John XXII., a history of the Popes, and a Latin work, De Plata et Mutation° Romani Int perii.—SC1ARRA COLONNA was a bitter enemy of
Pope Boniface VIII. War broke out between the two in 1297 over the possession of Palestrina. Sciarra was excommunicated and deprived of all his honors, and after the destruction of Palestrina by the Papal forces in 1298 was compelled to flee to France. He gained the favor of Philip the Fair, and, returning in the company of the French Chancellor Nogaret in 1303, resumed hos tilities with the Pope. and on September 7th took the aged pontiff prisoner at Anagni. (See BONI FACE VI I ). Ile became Senator of Rome in 1313. He embraced the cause of Louis the Bava rian, whom he crowned Emperor in Saint Peter's in 1328. but on the latter's departure was forced to flee from Rome. He (lied in exile in 1329. STEFAISo COLONNA, brother of Sciarra, was made Governor of Bologna in 1289. Involved in the struggle against Boniface VIII., he fled to France at about the same thne as his brother. He re turned after the death of Boniface and assumed a leading part in Roman politics, acting in oppo sition to Rienzi (q.v.), who drove him from the city in 1347. Stefano was a friend of Petrarch, who speaks of him in the Trionfo della fama and in his sonnets.—OIOVANNI COLON NA led an in surrection against Boniface IX. in 1404• and after the election of Innocence VII. joined forces with Ladislaus of Naples. driving the Pope from the city in 1413. He was killed in 1417.—OTToxE or