The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-02-05
~ ON FABRIZIo CoLoNNA. hither-
D TO known as.Prlnce d'hvellu. q
- man Of siNty-four, succeeds


| to known us.Prlnce d'hvella. a
IL man Of sixty-four, succeeds.
h,o through tho death OF his elder
to the chieftnlnship OF the historic
house OF Colonna. and to the principal
temporal dignity of the court OF the
throne.
This office dates back to the reign of
.hSs pon upon ao ,h %'s chefs Hee' Of tn, he
Colonnas and Of the Orsinis of the
day, with the object OF putting ali
end to the wars which had until that
Years By those two rival families
against ono another. From the elev-
enth TO the sixteenth century tho
Crsinis constantly caused blood To
How In the streets of Rome. At length,
when an OrsIni and a Colonna had so
imperlous and mastcrful Pope Sixtus
V. as to draw their swords upon ono
another when in his presence, he.
dered one of them to take up his pu-
sition on the right of the papal throne.
and the other on the left. and subso-
Iucntly, on the express understanding
that peace between the two families
should from thenceforth be- maintain
60. converted into hereditary dign!--
to the left of the throne, the Orsinis
and the Colonnas taking It In turns to
nave the place on the right.
have overtoKen the ae orsin ias'eT WHOSE soss
chief has been deprived by the Ital-
ian courts OF the control OF his prop
erty as spendthrift, at the instance
Colonnas who is now alone to fulfil
the duties of Prince "Stator proxl-
mus a solo Pontlncis Maximi" AS
such. no, has TO attend every core
mony at which the pontin appears.
standing Immediately to the right OF
the Holy Father on the dlas beside tho
throne, On such occasions he Is ar
rayed In sixteenth century costuin"
OF black silk, with slashed doublet
and hose, black silk, stockings. sill,
lace sleeves. rhpier with a steel hilt,
etc. 1t is to him that arc given the
palms and the candles to present to
1870. when the Popes were still 40
customed to drive about Rome, II was
the PRINCE assistant who preceded on
the Pope himself went on horseback
1t was the prince assistant who held
the stirrup for His Holiness TO mount,
and who led the horse.
Tha house OF Colonna, through a
Junior branch OF which-the Stigllano
iine.thc daughter OF Mrs. John w.
Mackay belongs by maria Ee-has fur
the Catholic Church. including Marcel,
who reigned In 30t. and Martin ",
who occupied the chair of 81. Peter
family owes It's name TO the posses.
sion of what is alleged to be pof-
ton OF the column to which Christ
was tied when scourged on the eve
OF His crucihxion, and which IL still
preserved as n sacred heirloom. hay
Ing been brought from Jerusalem in
the first century of the Christian era
1t Is the principal treasure, OF course.
of the grand old Colonna Palace.
which was built away back in the
fourteenth century, on the Square OF
the Apostles. at Rome, and which has
had among It's occupants Popes Mar
tin V. and julius H.. as we'll as that
celebrated cardinal, Borromeo. subse-
quently canonized as Saint Charles.
The late Don Marc Antonio Colon
ma was principal chamberla!n of tho
now widowed queen Marguerite. when
the death of his father caused him
TO resign that post. and to entirely
sever his connection with the court OF
the Qurinal. In order to take up the
hereditary office OF prince assistant to
the pontiflcal throne. This latter dig
nifty now passes, In default of male
issue, to his next brother, Don
F'abrizio. who will be likewise obliged
to eschew the court of the Quirinol.
where he has until now been n popu-
lar figure. TO sacrifice his long stand
ing friendship with Victor Emmanuel