Black nobility
Roman aristocratic families who sided with the Papacy under Pope Pius IX
The black nobility or black aristocracy (Italian: nobiltà nera, aristocrazia nera) are Roman aristocratic families who sided with the Papacy under Pope Pius IX after the army of the Kingdom of Italy led by the House of Savoy entered Rome on 20 September 1870, overthrew the pope and the Papal States, and took over the Quirinal Palace. The black nobility also included anyone ennobled by the pope between 1870 and the 1929 Lateran Treaty.
For the 59 years between 1870 and 1929, the pope confined himself to Vatican City and claimed to be a prisoner in the Vatican to avoid the appearance of accepting the authority of the new Italian government and state. Aristocrats who had been ennobled by the pope and were formerly subjects of the Papal States, including the senior members of the papal court, kept the front doors of their palaces in Rome closed to mourn the pope's confinement, which led to their being called the "black nobility".
History
Despite the relatively recent name, the Black Nobility had existed for centuries, originating in the baronial class of Rome and in the powerful families who moved to Rome to benefit from a family connection to the Vatican. These supported the Popes in the governance of the Papal States and in the administration of the Holy See. Many of the members of Black Noble families also became high-ranking clergy and even Popes.
Black Nobility families, in this instance families whose ancestors included Popes, still in existence include notably the Colonna, Massimo, Orsini, Ruspoli, Pallavicini, Theodoli, Sacchetti, Borghese, Odescalchi, and Boncompagni-Ludovisi. Major extinct papal families include the Savelli, Caetani, the Aldobrandini and Conti.
Famous members of Black Nobility families include Arnaldo De Rosette, Bishop of Asti, who promulgated a Synod which provided some decrees to regulate and classify the clergy of Lombardy and Piedmont and its composition, with a particular emphasis on the Knights Hospitallers; Eugenio Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII; Ernesto Pacelli, an important financier; and Prospero Colonna, mayor of Rome.
The public source identifies “Black nobility” as roman aristocratic families who sided with the Papacy under Pope Pius IX. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Black, nobility and Roman.
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This entry incorporates text from “Black nobility” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.