Editing Colonna family (section)

===Origins===
According to tradition, the Colonna family is a branch of the [[Counts of Tusculum]] — by Peter (1099–1151) son of [[Gregory III, Count of Tusculum|Gregory III]], called Peter "de Columna" from his property the Columna Castle in [[Colonna, Lazio|Colonna]], in the [[Alban Hills]]. Further back, they trace their lineage past the Counts of Tusculum via [[Lombards|Lombard]] and Italo-Roman nobles, merchants, and clergy through the [[Early Middle Ages]] — ultimately claiming origins from the [[Julio-Claudian dynasty]] and the [[Julia gens|gens Julia]] whose origin is lost in the mists of time but which entered the annals for the first time in 489 BC with the [[Roman consul|consulship]] of [[Gaius Julius Iulus (consul 489 BC)|Gaius Julius Iulus]].

The first [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]] from the family was appointed in 1206, when [[Giovanni Colonna di Carbognano]] was made [[Cardinal Deacon]] of SS. Cosma e Damiano.<ref>Werner Maleczek, ''Papst und Kardinalskolleg von 1191 bis 1216'', Vienna 1984, p. 154-155</ref> For many years, Cardinal [[Giovanni di San Paolo]] (elevated in 1193) was identified as a member of the Colonna family and therefore its first representative in the [[College of Cardinals]], but modern scholars have established that this was based on false information from the beginning of the 16th century.<ref>Helene Tillmann, "Ricerche sull'origine dei membri del collegio cardinalizio nel XII secolo. II/2. Identificazione dei cardinali del secolo XII di provenienza Romana", Rivista di Storia della Chiesa in Italia, 1975, p. 401-402</ref>

Giovanni Colonna (born {{circa|1206}})<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AIFCN2Smn9cC|title=Fra Giovanni Colonna|last=Stefano|first=Antonio N. Di|date=1995-01-01|publisher=Edizioni Studio Domenicano|isbn=9788870941920|language=it}}</ref> nephew of Cardinal Giovanni Colonna di Carbognano, made his solemn vows as a [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] around 1228  and received his theological and philosophical training at the Roman ''studium'' of [[Santa Sabina]], the forerunner of the [[Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas|Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'']].  He served as the Provincial of the Roman province of the [[Dominican Order]] and led the provincial chapter of 1248 at Anagni.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bM6wwPZorcAC|title=Monumenta et antiquitates veteris disciplinae Ordinis Praedicatorum ab anno 1216 ad 1348 praesertim in romana provincia praefectorumque qui eandem rexerunt biographica chronotaxis... opera et studio p. fr. Pii-Thomae Masetti...|date=1864-01-01|publisher=ex Typographia Rev. Cam. Apostolicae|language=la}}</ref> Colonna was appointed as Archbishop of [[Messina]] in 1255.<ref>{{cite book|title=Fra Giovanni Colonna |author= Antonio N. Di Stefano |year=1995 |pages=30–31|publisher= Edizioni Studio Domenicano |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=AIFCN2Smn9cC&pg=PA31 |access-date= February 24, 2013|isbn= 9788870941920}}</ref>

[[Margherita Colonna]] (died 1248) was a member of the Franciscan Order. She was beatified by Pope [[Pius IX]] in 1848.
[[File:Coat of arms of the house of Orsini (3).svg|thumb|Princely arms of the Gravina line of the house of Orsini]]
At this time, a rivalry began with the pro-papal Orsini family, leaders of the [[Guelphs and Ghibellines|Guelph]] faction. This reinforced the pro-Emperor [[Guelphs and Ghibellines|Ghibelline]] course that the Colonna family followed throughout the period of conflict between the Papacy and the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Ironically according to their own family legend, the Orsini are also descended from the [[Julio-Claudian dynasty]] of [[ancient Rome]].