Captain General of the Church

The captain general of the Church () was the de facto commander-in-chief of the Papal States' armed forces (generally, the Papal Army and the Papal Navy) from the Middle Ages into the early modern period. The post was usually conferred on an Italian or other noble with a professional military reputation or (later) a relative of the pope.

The parallel office of gonfalonier was more a formal and ceremonial honor than the responsibility of a tactical military leader.Chambers, 2006, p. 28. The office was at times made subordinate to temporary offices.Chambers, 2006, p. 28.

For example, Pope Callixtus III appointed Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI) as the chief and general commissary of the Papal Army. A number of such offices under many titles were used as ministers of war by popes, the captain general operated as a field commander under these offices. Pope Innocent XII removed both ranks and replaced them with the position of Flag-bearer of the Holy Roman Church (), which later became hereditary in the Naro Patrizi.Levillain, Philippe. The Papacy: An Encyclopedia. "Heraldry." Accessed 5 June 2010.

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 NotesCharlemagne*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 DurandMartin 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 AragonBoniface VIII(1294–1303)Gonfalonier, Admiral, and Captain General of the Church; compelled to wage war against his own brother (cf. Sicilian Vespers)Michele Amari, Francis Egerton Ellesmere. 1850. History of the War of the Sicilian Vespers. R. Bentley. p. 64.Philip VI of FranceBenedict XII (1334–1342)Circa August 1336Jonathan Simon Christopher Riley-Smith, Jonathan Riley-Smith. 2005. The Crusades: A History. Continuum International Publishing Group. . p. 267.Louis I of HungaryInnocent VI (1352–1362)"Louis was appointed captain of the Church, with the duty of helping its armies against Francesco Ordelaffi and the other rebels in Romagna, when requested to do so by the pope or his legate."Juan Fernández de HerediaInnocent VI (1352–1362)H. J. A. Sire. 1994. The Knights of Malta. Yale University Press. . p. 42.Daniele del CarrettoGregory XI (1370–1378)Paul R. Thibault. 1987. Pope Gregory XI: The Failure of Tradition. University Press of America. . p. 64.Carlo I MalatestaBoniface IX(1389–1404)"temporary vicar and captain-general of the church"Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911. "Rome". p. 681.Braccio da MontoneGregory 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. . p. 45.Ranuccio Farnese il VecchioEugene IV(1431–1447)Appointed 1435; grandfather of Pope Paul IIIChambers, 2006, p. 162.Niccolò PiccininoAppointed 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. . p. 195.Jacques CœurNicholas V (1447–1455)Died as Captain GeneralMacMillan's Magazine. "A King's Treasurer". p. 320.Ludovico TrevisanCallixtus 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.Giovanni I Ventimiglia, Marquess of Geraci (1445 and 1455)Pedro Luis de BorjaAlso Prefect of Rome,Maria Bellonci. 1939. The Life and Times of Lucrezia Borgia. Harcourt, Brace. p. 15. not to be confused with Pedro Luis de Borja Lanzol de RomaníAntonio PiccolominiPius 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 RiarioSixtus 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 CyboInnocent VIII (1484–1492)Illegitimate son of Innocent VIIIJohn William Bradley. 1888. A Dictionary of Miniaturists, Illuminators, Calligraphers, and Copyists. B. Quaritch. p. 291.Roberto EustachioFormer 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)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 BorgiaAlexander VI(1492–1503)Son; also Duke of Gandia and Gonfalonier; assassinated by an unknown perpetrator, most likely his political enemies.Cesare BorgiaSon; former cardinal-nephew, also Gonfalonier; often directly or indirectly accused of Giovanni's assassination,Eliakim Littell, Making of America Project, Robert S. Littell. 1888. The Living Age. Living Age Co. p. 70.Chambers's Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge. "Borgia". 1901. J.B. Lippincott Company. p. 329. but unlikely to have been the actual culprit. Julius II, the "Warrior Pope", refused to confirm Cesare upon his election.The New Encyclopædia Britannica. 1983. p. 42.Francesco Maria I della RovereJulius 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.Giuliano di Lorenzo de' MediciLeo X(1513–1521)Giuliano's cousin Giulio (future Pope Clement VII) was papal legate to the armyChambers, 2006, p. 137.Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of UrbinoAppointed after the death of Giuliano in 1516; initially commanded the Papal Army in the War of Urbino (1517)[Apostolo Zeno, Piercaterino Zeno] (1721) Giornale de' letterati d'Italia, Tomo trentesimoterzo, parte I (volume 33, part 1). In Venezia MDCCXXI: Appresso Gio. Gabbriello Hertz. Con licenza de' superiori, e privilegio anche di N.S Clemente XI. (in Italian) p. 246. Accessed May 2013.Bernardo DoviziAppointed after the wounding of Lorenzo; commanded the Papal Army in the War of Urbino (1517)Federico II, Duke of MantuaSon of Isabella d'Este; also Gonfalonier; 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.Adrian VI (1522–1523)Francesco Maria I della RovereClement VII(1523–1535)Reappointed by Clement VII after his dukedom had been stripped by Leo X and then reinstated by Adrian VIChambers, 2006, p. 148.Pier Luigi FarnesePaul III(1534–1549)Appointed February 2, 1537l; son of Paul III and former Gonfaloniere (appointed January 1535); held both titles simultaneouslyChambers, 2006, p. 153.Giambattista del MonteJulius III(1550–1555)Nephew of Julius IIIChambers, 2006, p. 163.Guidobaldo II della RovereGiovanni CarafaPaul 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. . p. 643.Marcantonio ColonnaGregory XIII (1572–1585)Led the papal fleet during the Battle of Lepanto (1571)Hugh Bicheno. 2004. Crescent and Cross: The Battle of Lepanto 1571. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. . p. 159.Taddeo BarberiniUrban VIII(1623–1644)Brother of cardinal-nephew Antonio BarberiniChambers, 2006, p. 176.

Gaspare Altieri (c.1670) nephew of Pope Clement X, later Prince of Oriolo. Engraving by Abraham Brueghel and Nicolas Guerard of the "Wine of St. Martin: dedicated to Gaspare Altierti, Generale di Santa Chiesa.Livio OdescalchiInnocent XI (1676–1689)Nephew of Innocent XI; also GonfalonierAntonio OttoboniAlexander VIII (1689–1691)Edward J. Olszewski. 2004. Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667–1740) and the Vatican Tomb of Pope Alexander VIII. DIANE Publishing. . p. 111.

Captain General of the Church

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