Orsini family

For other persons named Orsini, see Orsini (surname).
Orsini
Black noble family
Original arms of the family
Parent familyBobone/Orsini
Country Papal States
County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos
Despotate of Epirus
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
 Two Sicilies
 Kingdom of Italy
Current region Italy
Foundedc. 600 A.D.
FounderCajo Orso Orsini
Current headDomenico Napoleone Orsini, Duke of Gravina
Titles
MottoSenza rimproveri
(Italian for 'Without reproach')
Palazzo Orsini in Fara Sabina, northern Lazio, central Italy. The Orsini were amongst the main feudatories in Italy from the Middle Ages onwards, holding a great numbers of fiefs and lordships in Lazio and in the Kingdom of Naples.

The House of Orsini is an Italian noble family that was one of the most influential princely families in medieval Italy and Renaissance Rome. Members of the Orsini family include five popes:[1] Stephen II (752–757), Paul I (757–767), Celestine III (1191–1198), Nicholas III (1277–1280),[2] and Benedict XIII (1724–1730). The family also included 34 cardinals, numerous condottieri, and other significant political and religious figures.[3] The Orsini are part of the Black nobility who were Roman aristocratic families who supported the Popes in the governance of the Papal States.

  1. ^ George L. Williams, Papal Genealogy (London 2004).
  2. ^ Richard Sternfeld, Der Kardinal Johann Gaëtan Orsini (Papst Nikolaus III.) (Berlin 1905).
  3. ^ "ORSINI". Enciclopedia Italiana. Retrieved 1 April 2021.