Prospero Colonna.

Prospero Colonna (1452-1523), sometimes referred to as Prosper Colonna, was an Italian condottiero in the service of the Papal States and the Holy Roman Empire during the Italian Wars. Condottieri (singular condottiero, rarely condottiero) were Mercenary leaders employed by the Italian City-states from the Late Middle The Papal States, State(s of the Church or Pontifical States (in Italian Stato Ecclesiastico, Stato della Chiesa, Stati della Chiesa The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in

Biography

A member of the ancient noble family of the Colonna, he was born in Civita Lavinia, near Velletri (Lazio), in 1452. The Colonna family was a powerful noble family in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one Pope and many other leaders Lanuvio is a Comune (municipality in the Province of Rome in the Italian region Latium, located about 30 km southeast of Rome Velletri is a Comune in the Province of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in Lazio ( Latium) - Italy For the football club see SS Lazio Lazio ( Latium in Latin) is a regione of central He was a cousin of Fabrizio Colonna. Fabrizio Colonna (c 1450 &ndash March 18, 1520) was an Italian Condottiero, a member of the powerful Colonna family.

His first notable action as a military leader was in 1484, when he defended the family castle of Paliano against an assault by the rival Orsini and Riario families. Paliano is a town and commune in the Province of Frosinone, in the Lazio region of central Italy. The Orsini family was one of the most celebrated princely families in medieval Italy and Renaissance Rome, and which in former times had large possessions After some other battle deeds, Prospero, who had joined Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere's party, was imprisoned in Castel Sant'Angelo (Rome) by Pope Alexander VI. Pope Julius II (5 December 1443 &ndash 21 February 1513 born Giuliano Della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513 For the town with the same name see Castel Sant'Angelo (RI The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, is a towering Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Pope Alexander VI ( 1 January 1431 &ndash 18 August 1503) born Roderic Llançol, later Roderic de Borja i Borja ( Once freed, he was soon imprisoned again for his allegiance to Charles VIII of France during his invasion of Italy. Charles VIII, called the Affable (l'Affable 30 June 1470 &ndash 7 April 1498 was King of France from 1483 to his death In the end, the King of France was victorious against the Pope and entered Rome, backed by Prospero and Fabrizio Colonna, in 1495.

During the brief French rule over the Kingdom of Naples, Prospero obtained the duchy of Trasetto and the county of Forlì. The Kingdom of Naples was an informal name of the Polity officially known as the Kingdom of Sicily which existed on the mainland of the southern Italian Forlì ( Latin: Forum Livii) is a Comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy famed as the birthplace of the great painter Melozzo da Forlì However, when Charles returned beyond the Alps, Prospero helped King Ferdinand II of Naples to evict the French viceroy from Naples. Ferdinand II or Ferrante II of Naples ( 26 August, 1469 - September 7, 1496) sometimes known as Ferrandino, was King

The situation changed again with the new French invasion of Louis XII. Louis XII ( June 27, 1462 – January 1, 1515) called "the Father of the People" (Le Père du Peuple was the thirty-fifth king While the Neapolitan king Frederick IV fled to the island of Ischia, Fabrizio and Prospero Colonna tried to defend the kingdom. Frederick IV ( April 19, 1452 &ndash November 9, 1504) sometimes known as Frederick I or Federico d'Aragona, was the last For the comune see Ischia (comune. For the part of the human hip see Ischium Ischia is a Volcanic Island in the They were defeated and imprisoned in the Castel Nuovo of Naples. Castel Nuovo (Italian "New Castle" often called Maschio Angioino, is a castle in the city of Naples, southern Italy. Naples ( Napoli, Neapolitan: Nàpule) is a historic City in southern Italy, the Capital of the They were also excommunicated by Alexander VI, who took their castles in the Lazio. Eventually ransomed, both cousins then entered the service of Consalvo de Cordoba of Spain, viceroy of Naples. Don Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba Duke of Terranova and Santangelo, also known simply as Gonzalo de Córdoba ( Italian: Consalvo di Cordova

Prospero Colonna had an important role in the Spanish victory at Cerignola (1503), which gave Spain the keys to Naples. The Battle of Cerignola was fought on April 21 1503, between Spanish and French armies in Cerignola, next Bari, Southern After Alexander VI's death, he was also able to take back his territories in the Lazio. He commanded the light cavalry at the Battle of Garigliano. The Battle of Garigliano was fought on December 29, 1503 between a Spanish army under Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and a French

Prospero then added Itri, Sperlonga, Ceccano and Sonnino to his fiefs, becoming once again a great feudal lord in southern Italy. For the Turkish composer from the 17th century see Buhurizade Itri. Sperlonga is a coastal town in the Province of Latina, Italy, about half way between Rome and Naples. Ceccano is a town in the Province of Frosinone, Lazio, Italy. Sonnino is a town and commune in the Province of Latina, in the Lazio region of central Italy. He married Covella di Sanseverino, who gave him an heir, Vespasiano.

In 1515, he was commander of the forces of Pope Leo X in north-western Italy near Demonte when the army of Francis I, King of France, crossed the Alps from Embrun and forced his surrender without a fight. Pope Leo X, born Giovanni de' Medici (December 11 1475 – December 1 1521 was Pope from 1513 to his death Francis I may refer to Francis I Duke of Brittany (1414-1450 reigned 1442-1450 Francis I Duke of Lorraine (1517–1545 reigned Seeing that resistance was hopeless, he said "It is a country I have always wanted to visit. "

Continuing in the service of the Pope, Colonna gained a decisive victory against France in northern Italy in 1522 (Battle of Bicocca). The Battle of Bicocca, sometimes known as the Battle of La Bicocca, was fought on April 27, 1522, during the Italian War of 1521–26.

His health was declining, however, and he died in 1523 in l'Hôtel Clemenceau at Milan. Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy.