Captain General of the Church

The Captain General of the Church () was the de facto commander-in-chief of the papal armed forces during the Middle Ages. The post was usually conferred on an Italian noble with a professional military reputation or (later) a relative of the pope. The parallel office of Gonfaloniere (literally: "banner-bearer") of the Church, was more a formal and ceremonial honor than the responsibility of a tactical military leader.Chambers, 2006, p. 28.
It was traditional for the Captain General to carry a baton of command, blessed by the pope.Chambers, 2006, p. 142.
==List of Captains General==
Captain General 	Portrait	Appointing Pope 	Notes
Charlemagne* 	 	Leo III(798-816) 	"It is safest to conclude that the pope desired that the royal patrician should regard himself as captain-general of the church, and that he should in that capacity be entitled to the military services of its subjects, when called on by the church to interfere for the protection of her temporary rights."The Historians' History of the World. 1909. p. 662.
Guillaume Durand 	 	Martin IV (1281-1285) 	Ronny O. Bodine and Thomas W. Spalding. 1995. The Ancestry of Dorothea Poyntz, Wife of Reverend John Owsley: Generations 1-12. R.O. Bodine & T.W. Spalding, Jr. p. 140.
James II of Aragon 	 	Boniface VIII(1294-1303) 	Gonfaloniere, Admiral, and Captain General of the Church; compelled to wage war against his own brother (c.f. Sicilian Vespers)Michele Amari, Francis Egerton Ellesmere. 1850. History of the War of the Sicilian Vespers. R. Bentley. p. 64.
Philip VI of France 	 	Benedict XII (1334-1342) 	Circa August 1336Jonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith, Jonathan Riley-Smith. 2005. The Crusades: A History. Continuum International
Publishing Group. ISBN 0826472702. p. 267.
Juan Fernández de Heredia 	 	Innocent VI (1352-1362) 	H. J. A. Sire. 1994. The Knights of Malta. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300068859. p. 42.
Daniele del Carretto 	 	Gregory XI (1370-1378) 	Paul R. Thibault. 1987. Pope Gregory XI: The Failure of Tradition. University Press of America. ISBN 0819154628. p. 64.
Carlo I Malatesta 	 	Boniface IX(1389-1404) 	"temporary vicar and captain-general of the church"Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1911. "Rome". p. 681.
Braccio da Montone 	 	Gregory XII (1406-1415) 	Appointed in 1414; "Used the army nominally belonging to the Pope to conquer Perugia for himself"June Osborne, Joe Cornish. 2002. Urbino: The Story of a Renaissance City. Frances Lincoln Ltd. ISBN 0711220867. p. 45.
Ranuccio Farnese il Vecchio 	 	Eugene IV(1431-1447) 	Appointed 1435; grandfather of Pope Paul IIIChambers, 2006, p. 162.
Niccolò Piccinino 	 	Eugene IV(1431-1447) 	Appointed June 6, 1442; Condottiero; also the commander of the Duke of Milan's forces and thus "one of the first concrete indications" of the alliance between the pope and MilanJoachim W. Stieber. 1978. Pope Eugenius IV, the Council of Basel and the Secular and Ecclesiastical Authorities in the Empire. BRILL. ISBN 9004052402. p. 195.
Jacques Cœur 	70px 	Nicholas V (1447-1455) 	Died as Captain GeneralMacMillan's Magazine. "A King's Treasurer". p. 320.
Lodovico Trevisan 	 	Callixtus III (1455-1458) 	Trevisan played an important role in organizing the naval campaign against the Ottomans in December 1455, both responsible for the construction of the papal navy and appointed "apostolic legate, governor general, captain and general condottiere" in charge of it.Chambers, 2006, p. 49.
Pedro Luis de Borja 	 	Callixtus III (1455-1458) 	Also Prefect of RomeMaria Bellonci. 1939. The Life and Times of Lucrezia Borgia. Harcourt, Brace. p. 15. Not to be confused with Pedro Luis de Borja Lanzol de Romaní
Antonio Piccolomini 	 	Pius II(1458-1464) 	Son of the sister of Pius II; lay relative; salary of 2000 ducats a year and castellan of Castel Sant'Angelo; hereditary principate as Duke of Amalfi, conferred through King Ferrante, an office held by later papal relatives as wellChambers, 2006, p. 59.
Girolamo Riario 	 	Sixtus IV(1471-1484) 	Pazzi conspirator; brother of cardinal-nephew Pietro Riario; New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia. 1911. Funk and Wagnalls Company. p. 446. title later removedLevillain, Philippe. 2002. The Papacy: An Encyclopedia. p. 799.
Franceschetto Cybo 	 	Innocent VIII (1484-1492) 	Illegitimate son of Innocent VIIIJohn William Bradley. 1888. A Dictionary of Miniaturists, Illuminators, Calligraphers, and Copyists. B. Quaritch. p. 291.
Roberto Eustachio 	 	Innocent VIII (1484-1492) 	Former condottiero for Milan; led the campaign against Alfonso of Calabria; later returned to the service of the Republic of VeniceJulia Mary Cartwright Ady. 1920. Beatrice D'Este, Duchess of Milan, 1475-1497: A Study of the Renaissance. E. P. Dutton & co. p. 43.
Niccolò di Pitigliano (Orsini) 	 	Innocent VIII (1484-1492) 	Appointed June 27, 1489, in the midst of a conflict with FerrantePastor, Ludwig. 1902. The History of the Popes. 
K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd. p. 276.
Giovanni Borgia 	 	Alexander VI(1492-1503) 	Son; also Duke of Gandia; assassinated, perhaps by his brother CesareSpinosa, La saga dei Borgia.
Cesare Borgia 	 	Alexander VI(1492-1503) 	Son; former cardinal-nephew; often accused of Giovanni's assassination,Eliakim Littell, Making of America Project, Robert S. Littell. 1888. The Living Age. Living Age Co. p. 70. either directly or indirectly.Chambers's Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge. "Borgia". 1901. J.B. Lippincott Company. p. 329. Julius II, the "Warrior Pope", refused to confirm Cesare upon his election.The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1983. p. 42.
Francesco Maria I della Rovere 	 	Julius II(1503-1513) 	Son of Julius II's brother, Giovanni, and the adopted heir of Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino;Chambers, 2006, pp. 14-15. retained for one year after Julius II's death, paid 13,844 ducats plus a 30,000 ducat allowance for his company of 200 men-at-arms and 100 light cavalryJames Dennistoun. 1851. Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. 340.
Giovanni Rucellai 	 	Leo X(1513-1521) 	Cousin of Leo XAlexander Chalmers. 1816. The General Biographical Dictionary. Nichols. p. 443.
Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici 	 	Leo X(1513-1521) 	Giuliono's son Giulio (future Pope Clement VII) was papal legate to the armyChambers, 2006, p. 137.
Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino	 	Leo X(1513-1521) 	Appointed after the death of Giuliano in 1516; initially commanded the papal army in the War of Urbino (1517)
Bernardo Dovizi 	 	Leo X(1513-1521) 	Appointed after the wounding of Lorenzo; commanded the papal army in the War of Urbino (1517)
Federico II, Duke of Mantua 	 	Leo X(1513-1521) 	Son of Isabella d'Este; did not intervene in the Sack of Rome (1527)Christopher Hare, Marian Andrews, Baldassarre Castiglione. 1908. Courts & camps of the Italian renaissance. C. Scribner's Sons. p. 131.
Federico II, Duke of Mantua 	 	Adrian VI (1522-1523) 	Son of Isabella d'Este; did not intervene in the Sack of Rome (1527)Christopher Hare, Marian Andrews, Baldassarre Castiglione. 1908. Courts & camps of the Italian renaissance. C. Scribner's Sons. p. 131.
Francesco Maria I della Rovere 	 	Clement VII(1523-1535) 	Reappointed by Clement VII after his Dukedom had been stripped by Leo X and then reinstated by Adrian IVChambers, 2006, p. 148.
Pier Luigi Farnese 	 	Paul III(1534-1549) 	Appinted February 2, 1537l; son of Paul III and former Gonfaloniere (appointed January 1535); held both titles simultaneouslyChambers, 2006, p. 153.
Giambattista del Monte 	 	Julius III(1550-1555) 	Nephew of Julius IIIChambers, 2006, p. 163.
Guidobaldo II della Rovere 	 	 	
Giovanni Carafa 	 	Paul IV (1555-1559) 	Appointed after the resignation of Guidobaldo; nephew of Paul IV; allegedly "affable and incompetent"Setton, Kenneth M. 1984. The Papacy and the Levant: 1204 - 1571. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 0871691620. p. 643.
Marcantonio Colonna 	 	Gregory XIII (1572-1585) 	Lead the papal fleet during the Battle of Lepanto (1571)Hugh Bicheno. 2004. Crescent and Cross: The Battle of Lepanto 1571. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 1842127535. p. 159.
Taddeo Barberini 	 	Urban VIII(1623-1644) 	Brother of cardinal-nephew Antonio BarberiniChambers, 2006, p. 176.
Antonio Ottoboni 	 	Alexander VIII (1689-1691)	Edward J. Olszewski. 2004. Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667-1740) and the Vatican Tomb of Pope Alexander VIII. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 087169252X. p. 111.
==See also==
*Captain General, for similarly named ranks
*Condottieri
*Papal States
==Notes==
==References==
*Chambers, D.S. 2006. Popes, Cardinals & War: The Military Church in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe. I.B. Taurus. ISBN 1-84511-178-8.
Category:Papal States
Category:Military organization
Category:Roman Catholic Church history
id:Kapten Jenderal Gereja
it:Capitano Generale della Chiesa
lt:Bažnyčios generolas kapitonas
pt:Capitão-geral da Igreja