Sciarra Colonna

Giacomo Colonna (1270-1329), more commonly known by his bynames Sciarrillo or Sciarra, was a member of the powerful Colonna family. He is most famous for attacking Pope Boniface VIII and for crowning Louis IV of Germany as Holy Roman Emperor.

The feud between the Colonna and Pope Boniface VIII

The Colonna were a powerful family in papal Rome and constant - but unusuccesful - contenders in papal elections. The stalemate between the Colonna and the Orsini led to the election of Pope Celestine V, who quickly abdicated, and then Pope Boniface VIII in 1294. The new pope, who hailed from the relatively obscure Caetani family, looked for opportunities to enlarge his family's power base, and found one in a dispute among the Colonna family: when Cardinal Giacomo Colonna - Sciarra's uncle - disinherited his brothers Ottone, Matteo, and Landolfo in 1297, the three appealed to the Pope, who ordered Giacomo to return the land, and furthermore hand over the family strongholds Palestrina and other towns to the Papacy. When Giacomo refused, Boniface removed him from the College of Cardinals and excommunicated him and his followers. In turn, the Colonna disputed the legitimacy of Boniface's election and declared Celestine the rightful pope. Eventually, Palestrina was stormed by papal forces.