The Orsini are the newest great house of Rome: the kin of Celestine III, who died in January 1198, set up by his grants in the hill castles of the Aniene valley above Tivoli and seated in the Parione district of the city.
Their patron is dead and the new pope is a Conti, so they stand against the pope's kin: they already quarrel with the Scotti and the Oddolina over an inheritance, a feud that becomes street war in 1202. Two Bobone cardinals (Ugo of SS. Silvestro e Martino, archpriest of St Peter's, and Gregorio of S. Angelo) keep them close to the curia.
Who he is
- Name
- Giovanni Gaetano (Giangaetano) Orsini, Celestine III's kinsman, with his sons Napoleone and Matteo Rosso [head of house that winter not pinned]
- Title
- Roman barons, lords of Vicovaro, Licenza and Roccagiovine
- Since
- 1191 (purchase of Licenza and the neighbouring fiefs with Celestine III's leave)
- Born
- Not pinned
- Family
- Descended from Bobone, father of Pietro, father of Giacinto Bobone (Pope Celestine III, 1191-1198); the house takes its name 'de domo filiorum Ursi' from Orso
- Confidence
- medium
it.wikipedia (Orsini): in 1191 Celestine III allowed his cousin Giovanni, known as Giangaetano, to buy the fiefs of Licenza and others (the page lists Vicovaro and Roccagiovine, and also Nettuno, which is doubtful here), the first core of the family's lands; his sons Napoleone and Matteo Rosso raised the house. it.wikipedia (Vicovaro): 'in 1191 Celestine III gave Vicovaro to the Orsini', who fortified it. Gregorovius places them in the Parione district of Rome; Luchaire says they were enriched by Celestine's grants and are the Conti's chief rivals.
Overlord
The pope.
What it holds
- Vicovaro on the Via Valeria above Tivoli, given or sold by Celestine III in 1191 and fortified by the family
- Licenza and Roccagiovine in the Licenza valley (1191)
- Towers and houses in Rome in the Parione district, by the theatre of Pompey (Gregorovius); Monte Giordano and Campo de' Fiori are later seats
How it was acquired
Celestine III's grants and the purchase he allowed in 1191.
Allies and rivals
Allies: Celestine III's cardinals (Ugo and Gregorio Bobone; Niccolò of S. Maria in Cosmedin in one reckoning). Rivals: the Conti and their kin the Scotti and the Oddolina; later the lords of Poli are their friends against Riccardo Conti (1203).
How things stand that morning
Hold their Aniene castles and their Roman towers. No open fighting is recorded in January 1200; the inheritance quarrel with the Scotti and Oddolina is live.
Wealth
The Via Valeria road and the Aniene valley; rents of their castles; Roman houses.
Military
Their own knights and the men of their castles; no numbers in the sources.
Threats
- The pope's kin in power
- The Scotti feud turning to violence
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- Autumn 1202 (beyond 1200)The Orsini drive the Scotti out of their houses while the pope is at Velletri; the senator Pandolfo sends both factions out of the city; in 1203 the Orsini kill Teobaldo, leader of the Scotti (Luchaire).Depends on: The inheritance quarrel unresolved. Stopped by: A papal settlement of the inheritance.
Places of note
- Vicovaro: Castle on the Via Valeria, Orsini since 1191
- Parione: The family's quarter in Rome by the theatre of Pompey
Where the sources disagree
- GM Part 4 calls the Bobone 'becoming the Orsini'. it.wikipedia makes Giangaetano Celestine III's cousin and the founder of the Orsini proper; the Bobone cardinals and the Orsini are the same kin group.
Evidence: The 1191 grant is in it.wikipedia (two pages, slightly different lists of castles); who leads the house on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.
On the map: Only the castles named for 1191 are drawn; Nettuno, listed on one page, is left out as doubtful.
Primary sources for Papal State
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Annals of Montecassino; Annals of Ceccano (Fossanova) (12th and early 13th centuries; Ceccano to 1217). Two sets of annals from either side of the papal and Sicilian frontier. Read online
- Chronicle of Richard of San Germano, Richard of San Germano (first version about 1216, enlarged to 1243). The fullest southern narrative of the Hohenstaufen kingdom, written by a notary on the border of the Terra di Lavoro. Read online
- Chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (about 1227 to 1241, at the Cistercian abbey of Trois-Fontaines in Champagne). The widest net of any Latin chronicle for 1200, compiled from dozens of sources, many now lost. Read online
- Chronicle of Andres, William of Andres (about 1220 to 1234). The chronicle and cartulary of a small abbey between Guines and Ardres, near the border of Flanders and Boulogne. Read online
- Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
- Chronicle of Robert of Auxerre, Robert of Auxerre (Robert of Saint-Marien) (about 1190 to 1211; continued at Saint-Marien to 1227). A universal chronicle whose last twenty years are contemporary and well informed from Burgundy and the Auxerrois. Read online
- Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
- Chronicle of Sicard, bishop of Cremona, Sicard of Cremona (about 1210 to 1213). A universal chronicle whose last part is a well-placed eyewitness account by a Lombard bishop who served emperors and popes. Read online
12 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.
Sources and studies
- Orsini (it.wikipedia)
- Vicovaro (it.wikipedia)
- A. Luchaire, Innocent III: Rome et l'Italie (PDF)
- F. Gregorovius, Storia della città di Roma nel medio evo, vol. 5
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.