View source for Torlonia

{{Short description|Italian princely family from Rome}}
{{Infobox family
|coat_of_arms         = Coat of arms of the House of Torlonia.svg
|country              = [[Italy]]
|origin               = [[France]]
|founder              = Marino Torlonia
|historic_seat       = [[Villa Torlonia (Rome)|Villa Torlonia]]
|estate               = {{plainlist|
* [[Palazzo Núñez-Torlonia]]
* [[Palazzo Torlonia]]
}}
}}
The '''House of Torlonia''', the [[Princes of Civitella-Cesi]], is the name of an [[Italian nobility|Italian princely family]] from [[Rome]], which acquired a huge fortune in the 18th and 19th centuries through administering the finances of the [[Holy See|Vatican]]. The first influential member of the Torlonia family was [[Marino Torlonia]] (Tourlonias;  1725 &ndash; 21 March 1785), who rose from humble origins in the [[Auvergne (province)|Auvergne]] region of [[France]] to become a very rich businessman and banker in Rome.

==History==
Marino was born with the French name of Marin Torlonias, the son of Antoine Torlonias, a merchant and laborer.<ref>Title unknown, ''[[L'intermédiaire des chercheurs et curieux]]'', 1886, volume 19, pp. 78-79</ref> Marin's great-uncle was the parish priest of [[Augerolles]], who procured for him a position as aide to an influential [[abbot]]. Marin eventually settled in Rome, where he became a cloth merchant and money lender near the Piazza of the [[Trinità dei Monti]]. This became the foundation of the family bank established by his son, [[Giovanni Torlonia, 1st Prince di Civitella-Cesi|Giovanni Torlonia]].

Giovanni, in return for his able administration of the Vatican finances, was created [[duke of Bracciano]]<ref>The title was originally created in 1560 for [[Paolo Giordano I Orsini|Paolo Giordano Orsini]], son-in-law of [[Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany]].</ref> and count of Pisciarelli by [[Pope Pius VI]] in 1794. In 1803, [[Pope Pius VII|Pius VII]] made him [[marquess of Romavecchia e Turrita]] and the first prince of [[Princes of Civitella-Cesi|Civitella Cesi]]. He was made, among other titles, a [[Patrician (post-Roman Europe)|Roman Patrician]] in 1809, with confirmation from the Pope on 19 January 1813, and the [[duke of Poli e Guadagnolo]] in 1820. He was the builder of the [[Villa Torlonia (Rome)|Villa Torlonia]] in Rome, among other [[Palazzo Torlonia]] villas. He married Anna Maria Chiaveri ''née'' [[Schultheiß|Schultheiss]], a widow who came from a family of southern German merchants in [[Donaueschingen]].

[[Leopoldo Torlonia]], a grandson of Giovanni, was the [[Mayor of Rome]] from May 1882 to May 1887.<ref>[http://jcrao.freeshell.org/Italy-1900 Secular Italy and Catholicism: 1848-1915] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070724135125/http://jcrao.freeshell.org/Italy-1900 |date=2007-07-24 }},   [[John Rao]]</ref>

His great-grandson, [[Marino Torlonia, 4th prince of Civitella-Cesi|Marino Torlonia]] succeeded to the title as 4th prínce of Civitella-Cesi, a title he inherited from Augusto, his older brother, in 1926. The title had been passed to Augusto from their paternal great-uncle, Alessandro, younger brother of Augusto's and Marino's grandfather, Giulio. Marino married the rich  American heiress [[Mary Elsie Moore]]; they were the parents of [[Don Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince di Civitella-Cesi]], who married the [[Infanta Beatriz of Spain]], the daughter of [[Alfonso XIII of Spain|King Alfonso XIII]] - one of their grandchildren is Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg; and of [[Donna Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi]], the wife of American tennis player [[Francis Xavier Shields]] and grandmother of the  American actress [[Brooke Shields]].

In Rome, the Torlonia properties comprise: [[Palazzo Torlonia-Giraud]] in [[Via della Conciliazione]] ([[rione]] of [[Borgo (rione of Rome)|Borgo]]), [[Palazzo Núñez-Torlonia]] in [[Via Condotti]], near the [[Spanish Steps]], Palazzo Torlonia in Via della Lungara ([[rione]] of [[Trastevere]]) and Villa Torlonia ([[Villa Albani]]) outside [[Porta Salaria]]. They also owned the  now demolished [[Palazzo Torlonia-Bolognetti]] near [[Piazza Venezia]].

The Torlonia family were one of the few Italian aristocratic families to have survived the reconstruction of the [[Papal Court]] in 1969 by the [[motu proprio]] ''[[Pontificalis Domus]]''. Until recently the only hereditary honours still in use at the Vatican are that of hereditary [[Prince Assistants to the Papal Throne]]. This honour was until recently held by Prince Alessandro Torlonia,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ilcentro.it/l-aquila/morto-a-92-anni-don-alessandro-torlonia-ultimo-principe-del-fucino-1.1794615|title = Morto a 92 anni don Alessandro Torlonia, ultimo principe del Fucino| date=2 January 2018 }}</ref> Prince of Fucino, and Prince Marcantonio [[Colonna family|Colonna]], Prince and Duke of Paliano. The Torlonia  family was appointed in 1958 (its title dates from 1854 also), in succession to Prince Filippo [[Orsini family|Orsini]], whose family had held the position since 1735.

A poem quoted by Ignazio Silone in his novel "Fontamara" (1930),{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} at the height of their power translates as:

:The head of everything is God, the Lord of heaven
:After Him comes Prince Torlonia, lord of the earth
:Then comes Prince Torlonia's armed guards
:Then comes Prince Torlonia's armed guards dogs
:Then comes nothing at all.  Then comes nothing at all.
:Then comes nothing at all.  
:Then come the peasants.  And that's all.

==Lineage==
{{Tree list}}
* Marino Torlonia (1725–1785)
** [[Giovanni Torlonia, 1st Prince of Civitella-Cesi]] (1755–1829)
*** Marino Torlonia (1796–1860)
**** Giulio Torlonia (1824–1871)
***** [[Leopoldo Torlonia]] (1853–1918)
***** [[Augusto Torlonia, 3rd Prince of Civitella Cesi]] (1855–1926)
***** [[Marino Torlonia, 4th Prince of Civitella-Cesi]] (1861–1933)
****** [[Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince of Civitella-Cesi]] (1911–1986)
******* [[Marco Torlonia, 6th Prince of Civitella-Cesi]] (1937–2014)
******** Giovanni Torlonia, 7th Prince of Civitella-Cesi (born 1962)
****** [[Marina Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi]] (1916–1960)
*** [[Alessandro Torlonia, 2nd Prince of Civitella-Cesi]] (1800–1886)
{{Tree list/end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|first= Henri|last= Ponchon|title=L'Incroyable Saga des Torlonia: des monts du Forez aux palais romains|location=[[Olliergues]]|publisher=Les Éditions de la Montmarie|year=2005|isbn=2-915841-08-X}}
*{{cite book|title=Paul Theroff's Online Gotha}}
*{{cite book|last=Rendina|first=Claudio|title=Le grandi famiglie di Roma|publisher=Newton Compton|location=Rome|year=2004}}

==External links==
*[http://www.chivalricorders.org/vatican/pplcourt.htm Almanach de la Cour - The Hereditary Officers of the Papal Court]

{{Commons category|House of Torlonia}}

[[Category:House of Torlonia| ]]
[[Category:Banking families]]