Black nobility

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 Savoy family-led army of
the Kingdom of Italy entered Rome on 20 September 1870,
overthrew the Pope and the Papal States, and took over the Quirinal
Palace, and any nobles subsequently ennobled by the Pope prior to
the 1929 Lateran Treaty.

For the next 59 years, the Pope confined himself to Vatican City
and claimed to be a prisoner in the Vatican to avoid the appearance Coat of arms of the Colonna family and the Orsini
of accepting the authority of the new Italian government and state. family, respectively. Both families were black nobility
Aristocrats who had been ennobled by the Pope and were formerly descended from Medieval and Renaissance Popes.
subjects of the Papal states, including the senior members of the
Papal Court, kept the doors of their palaces in Rome closed to
mourn the Pope's confinement, which led to their being called the "black nobility".

Contents
History
See also
References
Bibliography

History
Despite the relatively recent name, the Black Nobility had existed for
centuries, originating in the Baronal 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-
Pius IX funeral escorted by the noble guard
Ludovisi. Major extinct papal families include the Savelli, Caetani,
the Aldobrandini family 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; andProspero Colonna, mayor of Rome.

Following the conclusion of the Lateran Treaty in 1929, the Black Nobility were given dual citizenship in Italy and Vatican City.
Under the provisions of the treaty, noble titles granted by the pope were recognized in the Kingdom of Italy. Many of these families
were members of the largely ceremonial Papal Noble Guard; others were foreigners affiliated with the Holy See in various ways. In
1931, Pope Pius XI denied the request of Alfonso XIII of Spain to open the Noble Guard further to nobles from all Catholic
countries. In World War II, the Papal Noble Guard guarded the Pope alongside theSwiss Guard.[1]

Pope Paul VI abolished many Vatican City positions with the apostolic letter motu proprio Pontificalis Domus (English: The Papal
Household) in 1968. As well as changing the name of the group from Papal Court to Papal Household, many of the positions
occupied by the Black Nobility were abolished. According to the motu proprio: "Many of the offices entrusted to members of the
Papal Household were deprived of their function, continuing to exist as purely honorary positions, without much correspondence to
concrete needs of the times."[2] Many of these positions and the Papal Court itself were still set up for administering the Papal States,
which had been lost in 1870. The Black Nobility's perks, such as Vatican City licence plates, were also withdrawn. Some Black
Nobles resented these changes. According to diplomat and author Roger Peyrefitte, it was members of the Black Nobility who first
told him of the Pope's alleged association with an actor, which eventually led to Peyreffiti's public statements and subsequent
scandal.[3] In May 1977, some members of the Black Nobility, led by Princess Elvina Pallavicini, started courting traditional
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

See also
Papal nobility
Papal household
Prince Assistants to the Papal Throne
Pontificalis Domus
Roman Question
Law of Guarantees
Prisoner in the Vatican
Ernesto Pacelli
Arnaldo De Rosette, Bishop of Asti

References
1. David Alvarez, The Pope's Soldiers: A Military History of the Modern atican
V (Lawrence, KS: University Press of
Kansas, 2011), pp. 337
2. Pontificalis Domus, Introduction.
3. Leyland, Winston Gay Sunshine Interviews: Volume 2, Gay Sunshine Press 1982, p155

Bibliography
Alvarez, David. The Pope's Soldiers: A Military History of the Modern atican
V (Lawrence, KS: University Press of
Kansas, 2011)
Coulombe, Charles A. (2003).Vicars of Christ : a history of the popes. New York: Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-2370-
0. p. 415
Arlington, Paul I. Murphy with R. René (1983).La popessa (1. print. ed.). New York: Warner. ISBN 0-446-51258-3.
p. 41
Article on the pre-1968 reform Papal Court, including hereditary of
ficers
Text of the apostolic letterPontificalis Domus (in Latin)

Fiction using the term

Greeley, Andrew M. (1997). White smoke : a novel about the next papal enclave(1st mass market ed.). New York:
Forge. ISBN 0-8125-9055-4. p. 64.
Segal, Erich. 1993. Acts of Faith. Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-56070-0. p. 315.

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