Giacomo Boncompagni

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Giacomo Boncompagni (also Jacopo Boncompagni; May 8, 1548 - August 18, 1612) was an Italian powerful feudatory of the 16th century, the illegitimate son of Pope Gregory XIII (Ugo Boncompagni). He was also Duke of Sora, Aquino, Arce and Arpino, and Marquess of Vignola.

Boncompagni was a patron of arts and culture. Pierluigi da Palestrina dedicated to him the first book of Madrigals. He was also a friend of another composer, Vincenzo Ruffo. He was also a fan of theatre and chess.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Early years
- 1.2 Duke of Sora
2 See also

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

Giacomo Boncompagni was born in Bologna, the son of Ugo Boncompagni and his mistress from Carpi, Maddalena Fulchini. His father was in that city to participate in the Council of Trento during the period in which had been moved there. He was legitimated on July 5, 1548 and entrusted to the Jesuits for education.

When his father was elected pope in March 1572, Giacomo moved to Rome where, two months later, was appointed prefect of Castel Sant'Angelo. Later his father named him also General Governor of the Papal Army, and he move first to Ancona and then Ferrara, remaining in the latter until 1574. The following year Philip II of Spain named him Capitano Generale delle genti in armi (commander-in-chief) of the Spanish-controlled Duchy of Milan.

In 1576 Gregory XIII named him governor of Fermo. In the same year Giacomo married Costanza Sforza of Santa Fiora, who gave him 14 children. In 1581, together with Latino Orsini, he received the task to counter the banditism movement in the Papal States.

[edit] Duke of Sora

Despite all the political and military charges he had been able to assign to his son, Gregory aimed to carve out for him a true state. After a failed attempt of acquisition of the Marquisate of Saluzzo in 1577, in the same year the pope paid 70,000 golden écus for the small Marquisate of Vignola to Alfonso II d'Este. Two years later it was the turn of the larger Duchy of Sora and Arce, for which the pope and Giacomo paid 100,000 golden écus to Francesco Maria II of Urbino.

In 1583, in reward of other 243,000 golden écus, Giacomo acquired also the large Duchy of Aquino and Arpino in the Kingdom of Naples, bought from the D'Avalos family. When Gregory died, Boncompagni was the most powerful man in central Italy, and, at the command of 2,000 infantry and some light cavalry, took the task to pacify the situation during the sede vacante period. However, at the election of Sixtus V he was stripped of all his charges in the Papal States.

Philip II forced Boncompagni also to remain in Milan, while his family moved to Isola di Sora, near Sora, where his wife administered the Duchy. He was able to leave Milan only in 1612: but he was already ill, and died at Sora in the following August, at the age of 64.

His son Gregorio succeeded him in Sora.