Della Rovere

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Coat of arms of the Della Rovere

The della Rovere are an Italian noble family of the Renaissance . Popes Sixtus IV and Julius II descended from the family . Both practiced nepotism and appointed numerous relatives as cardinals.

In 1508 the Della Rovere inherited the sovereign duchy of Urbino from the Montefeltro family , which they ruled until they died out in the male line in 1631.

Papal coat of arms of Julius II on the Palazzo della Cancelleria

origin

The della Rovere come from a respected but poor family from Savona , Liguria . The first family member known by name is Leonardo (or Beltramo) della Rovere († around 1430 in Savona), married to Luchina Monteleoni. He was of humble origin and lived for a long time in Albisola , later in Savona, where he was a member of the community's council of elders. Their son Francesco della Rovere (later Pope Sixtus IV.) Claimed a relationship to the Turin family della Rovere, Counts of Vinovo , who had already appointed a governor of Turin with Ermondo around 700 and whose coat of arms he adopted. (His relative, Cardinal Domenico della Rovere , later had a palace built in Vinovo, which still exists.) The word Rovere is Italian for sessile oak . Sixtus IV as well as his nephew Julius II (and all later family members) made use of the coat of arms with the oak with 12 golden acorns on a blue background.

Promotion with Sixtus IV.

Pope Sixtus IV.

Francesco entered the Franciscan Order at a young age , and he was elected Minister General as a respected theologian in 1464. The surprising election of Francesco as Pope Sixtus IV in 1471 completely changed the fate of the family. Sixtus IV practiced nepotism on an enormous scale. In the year of his election he appointed two of his nephews, Pietro Riario and Giuliano della Rovere , the later Pope Julius II, as cardinals and another, Girolamo Riario, as general captain of the Church , contrary to the agreements of the electoral capitulations . 1477 followed a cardinal nor the son of a sister Girolamo, Raffaele Sansoni-Riario and later the relatives Girolamo Basso della Rovere , Cristoforo della Rovere and Domenico della Rovere , among other religious and secular positions within the Curia and the Papal States , which were awarded to relatives .

In order to permanently consolidate the rise of the family, Sixtus IV tried to provide his nephews with secular dominions: his nephew (or possibly illegitimate son) Girolamo Riario became lord of Imola and Forlì , Leonardo della Rovere duke of Sora. His brother Giovanni della Rovere became Signore of Senigallia and married to Giovanna da Montefeltro , heiress of the Duchy of Urbino . After the death of Sixtus IV, another Ligurian was elected Pope, Innocent VIII , under whom Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, who later became Pope Julius II, determined papal policy.

Crisis and resurgence with Julius II.

Pope Julius II (1443–1513), by Raphael

In 1492 Rodrigo Borgia was named Alexander VI. Pope. Giuliano della Rovere was his opponent in the election, then head of the opposition. He left Rome and moved to the home of his family, Savona in Liguria, and later to Paris. The Borgia tried to create their own state from the areas of the Della Rovere and other families, so the Pope's son Cesare Borgia drove out the Riario from Imola and Forlì, who had risen to the Rovere and closely related , the widow Giovanni della Roveres from Senigallia and his brother-in-law Guidobaldo da Montefeltro from Urbino (1502–1506). After the death of Alexander VI. and the election of Giuliano della Roveres as Pope Julius II , Cesare Borgia, although he had supported the election with his troops and his diplomatic relations with France, was ousted by Julius II. The many expelled city lords of Romagna returned. But since Julius didn't like his cousin Girolamo Riario, the Riario never got their two cities back.

Julius II pursued the ambitious goal of uniting the Italian peninsula under papal leadership, but did not succeed. He became famous for his building work: he commissioned Donato Bramante with the new construction of St. Peter's Basilica , Michelangelo with the Julius tomb and the painting of the vaulted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel , and Raphael with the rooms in the private apartments of the Apostolic Palace .

The subsequent Pope, Leo X. , gave the Duchy of Urbino briefly (1516-1519) to his nephew Lorenzo di Piero de 'Medici , but from 1521 the family della Rovere established with Francesco Maria I. della Rovere there as dukes, as Heirs to the Montefeltro.

Dukes of Urbino and end of the dynasty

Francesco Maria I. della Rovere (1536–38), by Titian

In 1508 Francesco Maria I della Rovere inherited the Duchy of Urbino from his mother's brother from the Da Montefeltro family . With the brief interruption of the Medici rule from 1516 to 1521, his successors ruled in male line with Francesco Maria II della Rovere until the dynasty died out in 1631. As early as 1623, the last Duke had handed Urbino over to the Papal States. The last of the family was his granddaughter Vittoria della Rovere , Grand Duchess of Tuscany. Her husband Ferdinando II. De 'Medici again expressly renounced the Duchy of Urbino in 1644. She died in Florence in 1694 and left the rich art collections of her ancestors, the Della Rovere and the Montefeltro, to the Uffizi .

Only Lucrezia della Rovere († February 18, 1652), daughter of the illegitimate son of Cardinal Giulio Feltrio della Rovere (younger son of Francesco Maria I della Rovere), continued the family line. Through her marriage to Marcantonio Lante , Duke of Bomarzo, she founded the Lante Montefeltro della Rovere family , which still exists today and appends the names of the two extinct royal houses to their own. The Princely House of Chigi , family of Pope Alexander VII , keeps two famous names alive - mediated by female descent - and is now called Chigi Albani della Rovere in a branch .

Tribe list

  • Leonardo (or Beltramo) from Savona († Savona c. 1430), ⚭ Luchina Monteleoni
    • Francesco della Rovere (1414–1484), Pope Sixtus IV (1471–1484)
    • Raffaele della Rovere, Senator of Rome, (* Savona 1423, † Rome 1477) ⚭ 1422 Teodora Manirolo († c. 1480)
    • Luchina della Rovere, sister of Sixtus IV, ⚭ Giovanni Basso
    • Bianca della Rovere, sister of Sixtus IV. ⚭ Paolo Riario († 1453/1459)
      • Violante Riario della Rovere (1441–1483) ⚭ Antonio Sansoni
      • Girolamo Riario (1443–1488), Lord of Imola and Forlì. It is possible that Girolamo was not a nephew, but a natural son of Pope Sixtus IV.
        • Ottaviano Riario, Lord of Imola and Forlì (1488–1499)
        • Cesare Riario (1485–1540), Archbishop of Pisa and Patriarch of Alexandria
        • Galeazzo Riario (1487–1557) ⚭ Maria Giovanna della Rovere (1482–1538), daughter of Giovanni della Rovere
      • Pietro Riario (1445–1474), cardinal of the Catholic Church

More people

Buildings

In Urbino the Della Rovere lived in the old ducal palace of the Montefeltro, the Palazzo Ducale with its rich art collection, which they expanded. They also build various palaces and fortresses in the duchy, for example in Senigallia , Mondavio and San Lorenzo in Campo .

The palace, known to this day as Palazzo Della Rovere in Savona (Liguria), was acquired and rebuilt by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (later Pope Julius II) in 1494, after he passed his rival Alexander VI. had fled Rome; he left it to the Church. The Palazzo Della Rovere in Rome, built in 1480–90, goes back to Cardinal Domenico della Rovere , a relative of Sixtus IV.

See also

Web links

Commons : House of della Rovere  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Giangiuseppe Origlia, Dizionario storico contienente quanto vi ha di più nella notabile ... , Vol.2, Napoli, 1757th