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Giacomo Boncompagni

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Giacomo Boncompagni
Born8 May 1548
Died18 August 1612(1612-08-18) (aged 64)
SpouseCostanza Sforza
Parent(s)Pope Gregory XIII
Maddalena Fulchini

Don Giacomo I Boncompagni (also Jacopo Boncompagni; 8 May 1548 – 18 August 1612) was an Italian feudal lord of the 16th century, the illegitimate son of Pope Gregory XIII (Ugo Boncompagni).[1] He was also Duke of Sora, Aquino, Arce and Arpino, and Marquess of Vignola.[2]

A member of the Boncompagni family, he was a patron of arts and culture. Pierluigi da Palestrina dedicated to him the first book of Madrigals. He was also a friend of another composer, Vincenzo Ruffo. He was also a lover of the theatre and of chess.

Early years

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Giacomo Boncompagni was born in Bologna, the son of Ugo Boncompagni and his mistress from Carpi, Maddalena Fulchini. His father was in that city to participate in the Council of Trent during the period in which had been moved there. He was legitimated on 5 July 1548 and entrusted to the Jesuits for education.

When his father was elected pope in March 1572, Giacomo moved to Rome where, two months later, was appointed castellan of Castel Sant'Angelo. He had an illegitimate child with Beatrice de Garze, a Spaniard, who was baptized as Gironomo on 27 February 1573 in Rome and whose godparents were Ferdinando I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, then a Cardinal, and his sister Isabella de Medici. Later his father named him also Gonfalonier of the Church (leader of the Papal Army), and he moved first to Ancona and then Ferrara, remaining in the latter until 1574. The following year Philip II of Spain named him Capitano Generale delle genti in armi (commander-in-chief) of the Spanish-controlled Duchy of Milan.

During the second Desmond rebellion in Ireland, led by James FitzMaurice FitzGerald, against the Protestant regime of Elizabeth I, Giacomo was proposed as King of Ireland if the Catholic faith were restored to dominance there.

In 1576, Gregory XIII named him governor of Fermo. In the same year on 5 February Giacomo married Costanza Sforza of Santa Fiora, who gave him fourteen children. In 1581, together with Latino Orsini, he received the task to counter the banditism movement in the Papal States.

Duke of Sora

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Giacomo's father, Pope Gregory XIII.

Despite all the political and military charges he had been able to assign to his son, Gregory aimed to carve out for him a true state. After a failed attempt of acquisition of the Marquisate of Saluzzo in 1577, in the same year the pope paid 70,000 gold scudi for the small Marquisate of Vignola to Alfonso II d'Este. Two years later it was the turn of the larger Duchy of Sora and Arce, for which the pope and Giacomo paid 100,000 gold scudi to Francesco Maria II of Urbino.

In 1583, in exchange for another 243,000 gold scudi, Giacomo acquired also the large Duchy of Aquino and Arpino in the Kingdom of Naples, bought from the D'Avalos family. When Gregory died, Boncompagni was the most powerful man in central Italy, in command of 2,000 infantry and some light cavalry, and took on the task of pacifying the situation during the sede vacante period. However, following the election of Sixtus V, he was stripped of all his offices in the Papal States.

Philip II forced Boncompagni also to remain in Milan, while his family moved to Isola di Sora, near Sora, where his wife administered the Duchy. He was able to leave Milan only in 1612: but he was already ill, and died at Sora in the following August, at the age of 64.

His son Gregorio succeeded him in Sora.

Children

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By his marriage he had:

  • Donna Scholastica Boncompagni (1577 - 9 March 1647), a nun
  • Don Giovanni Boncompagni, d. young
  • Donna Veronica Boncompagni (1584 - 28 November 1609), a nun
  • Donna Giulia Boncompagni (1586 - 4 April 1622), married in 1605 Don Giovanni di Guevara, Duke of Bovino
  • Don Ugo Boncompagni (22 January 1587 - 19 April 1602), 2nd Marquess of Vignola
  • Donna Cornelia Boncompagni (d. 1588)
  • Don Sforza Boncompagni (d. 1589)
  • Don Gregorio I Boncompagni (8 March 1590 - 13 October 1628), 2nd Duke of Sora, Aquino, Arce and Arpino, 3rd Marquess of Vignola, married on 9 December 1607 Eleonora Zappi, daughter of Giovanni Zappi, and had:
    • Don Giacomo II Boncompagni (21 March 1613 - 18 April 1636), 3rd Duke of Sora, Aquino, Arce and Arpino, 4th Marquess of Vignola, unmarried and without issue
    • Don Ugo I Boncompagni (9 July 1614 - 28 October 1676), 4th Duke of Sora, Aquino, Arce and Arpino, 5th Marquess of Vignola, married on 11 February 1641 Donna Maria Ruffo di Bagnara (29 November 1620 - 5 March 1705), daughter of Don Francesco Ruffo, Duke of Bagnara, and had:
      • Don Gregorio II Boncompagni (7 July 1642 - 1 January 1707), 5th Duke of Sora, Aquino, Arce and Arpino, 6th Marquess of Vignola, Prince Consort of Piombino, etc, married firstly in 1666 Giustina Gallio di Como (29 October 1644 - 21 July 1679), daughter of Tolomeo Gallio di Como, Duca di Alvito, and had issue, and married secondly on 19 October 1681 Ippolita Ludovisi (24 December 1663 - 29 December 1733), Princess of Piombino, etc, daughter of Niccolò Ludovisi, Prince of Piombino, etc, and third wife Costanza Pamphili, and had issue
      • Donna Eleonora Boncompagni (7 July 1642 - 29 September 1695), married in 1658 Giambattista Borghese (1639 - 1712), Prince of Sulmona
      • Don Francesco Boncompagni (14 July 1643 - 27 September 1690), unmarried and without issue
      • Donna Jumara Boncompagni (21 August 1644 - 20 February 1716), a nun
      • Donna Costanza Boncompagni (21 August 1646 - 1718), a nun
      • Donna Giulia Boncompagni (30 July 1647 - 17 August 1715), a nun
      • Donna Giovanna Boncompagni, a nun
      • Donna Anna Boncompagni (25 February 1651 - 12 April 1707), a nun
      • Don Giacomo Boncompagni (5 March 1653 - 21 March 1721), Archbishop of Bologna, Cardinal
      • Donna Antonia Boncompagni (21 September 1654 - 20 March 1714), a nun
      • Donna Agnese Boncompagni, d. young
      • Don Antonio I Boncompagni-Ludovisi (10 April 1658 - 28 January 1731), 6th Duke of Sora, Aquino, Arce and Arpino, 7th Marquess of Vignola, Prince Consort of Piombino, etc, married on 29 March 1702 his paternal niece Donna Maria Eleonora I Boncompagni-Ludovisi (10 April 1686 - 5 January 1745), Princess of Piombino, etc, and had issue
      • Don Filippo Boncompagni (10 April 1658 - 19 December 1679), Cardinal
    • Donna Costanza Boncompagni (7 March 1616 - 1648), married in 1640 Don Carlo Ruffo, Duca di Bagnara (18 August 1616 - 18 May 1690)
    • Don Michele Boncompagni (3 February 1618 - 22 August 1639), unmarried and without issue
    • Donna Caterina Boncompagni (3 February 1619 - 29 October 1699), a nun
    • Donna Maria Boncompagni (1620 - 2 December 1648), a nun
    • Don Girolamo Boncompagni (23 March 1622 - 24 January 1684), Archbishop of Bologna, Cardinal
    • Donna Cecilia Boncompagni (22 March 1624 - 25 September 1699), a nun
    • Don Giambattista Boncompagni, d. young
  • Donna Camilla Boncompagni (1591 - 15 January 1631), a nun
  • Don Francesco Boncompagni (21 January 1592 - 9 December 1641), Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal
  • Don Sforza Boncompagni (27 December 1592 - 9 January 1659), unmarried and without issue
  • Don Giovanni Boncompagni (28 September 1594 - 13 March 1634), unmarried and without issue

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Dizionario biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Alberto Maria Ghisalberti, Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana. Roma. 1960–2020. pp. 689–692. ISBN 978-88-12-00032-6. OCLC 883370.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ^ McCuaig, William (2014-07-14). Carlo Sigonio: The Changing World of the Late Renaissance. Princeton University Press. pp. 73, 94. ISBN 978-1-4008-6035-7.
Italian nobility
Preceded by Duke of Sora
1579–1612 		Succeeded by
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