Cesare Borgia (1503)

Giulio Vitelli became Bishop of Città di Castello in 1499.

In 1500 Vitellozzo Vitelli and the Orsini became condottieri of Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI.  In 1501, Vitellozzo advanced against Florence, moved as much by a desire to avenge his brother Paolo (see 15th century).  While Cesare was negotiating with the Florence, Vitellozzo seized Arezzo, but Cesare and the French made him give it up.

Vitellozzo joined the conspiracy of La Magione against Cesare Borgia.  This failed because of mutual distrust, failures of leadership, and fear of Cesare and the French.  Hoping to ingratiate themselves with Cesare once more, the rebels seized Senigallia in his name. Cesare tricked them into meeting him there, where they were arrested.  Vitellozzo and his fellow conspirator, Oliverotto da Fermo were strangled that same night (31st December 1502).

Giulio Vitelli  fled to Siena in January 1503 and Alexander VI formally deposed him in the following August.   he ultimately found refuge in Venice.

Pope Julius II (1503-13)

Antonio Maria Ciocchi del Monte (the uncle of the future Pope Julius III) was appointed as bishop in 1503 but was unable to take possession of this see because of the continuing popularity of Giulio Vitelli.

The newly-elected Pope Julius II ordered Giulio Vitelli to move to Urbino because he was a disruptive force in the city.  In 1505, he confirmed Bishop Ciocchi's appointment and threatened to place the city under a papal interdict unless it accepted his decision.  This had immediate effect, and Ciocchi held the post until his promotion to the see of Siponto (Manfredonia) in the following year.

Meanwhile, Giulio Vitelli entered into the service of Julius II.  He was castellan of Bologna when the French helped the Bentivoglio family to retake it from the papacy in 1511, and was forced to surrender.  He was ransomed and put in charge of the fortress of Ravenna.  The French took this city from the papacy in 1512 after one of the bloodiest wars that had ever been fought in Italy, and Giulio Vitelli witnessed the sack of the city from the besieged fortress.  He was once more forced to surrender, but managed to escape and then retook the fortress by deception.

Pope Leo X (1513-21)

Pope Leo X (Giovanni dei Medici) was a long-standing friend of the Vitelli family.  He appointed Giulio Vitelli as “commissario apostolico” of Gubbio in 1513.

Leo X seized Urbino in 1516 and gave it to his young nephew, Lorenzino de’ Medici, who appointed Giulio Vitelli as its governor.  Duke Francesco Maria I regained it briefly in 1517, but Leo X hired an army under Lorenzino de’ Medici to retake it.  Giulio Vitelli served in this army, which was initially unsuccessful.  However, Francesco Maria I ran out of money and was forced to negotiate with Leo X.  He was allowed to retire to Mantua with all his artillery and with some of his possessions from Urbino (including part of the library that he had inherited).   Lorenzino de’ Medici held Urbino until his death in 1519.

In 1518, Leo X gave the Vitelli feudal rights over Montone.

Pope Paul III (1534-49)

Cardinal Marino Grimano acted as Papal Governor in 1534-9.

Alessandro Vitelli

The fortunes of the Vitelli family revived under the condottiere Alessandro Vitelli, the illegitimate son of Paolo.  He married Angela de' Rossi (below) in 1530 and it was probably through her influence that he formed a strong relationship with Alessandro de’ Medici and, after the murder of the latter, with Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici. 

Alessandro Vitelli accepted a contract from Pope Paul III in 1538 and played a prominent role in the defeat of Perugia in the Salt War (1540).  He was an able military architect and seems to have participated in the design and construction of the Rocca Paolina there.

His epitaph in the Museo del Duomo records:

To Almighty God, Alessandro Vitelli,

Commander of the Infantry of Popes Clement VII, Paul III, Julius III,

leader of the armies of Emperor Charles V,

who ... died at the age of 57 years on 15th February 1554....

Placed here by his faithful wife and grieving children".

Angela Paola de' Rossi

Angela de' Rossi (the niece of Giovanni de’ Medici, the famous leader of the Bande Nere) married Vitellozzo, the son of Camillo Vitelli in 1522.  They had three children, one of whom, Portia, became a nun (sister Faustina) at Santa Chiara delle Murate.  After his death in 1528, Pope Clement VII granted a dispensation allowing her marriage to Vitello’s cousin, Alessandro Vitelli (below).  They had ten children, including Vitellozzo Vitelli (below) two daughters, Beatrice and Olimpia, who became nuns at the Monastero di Ognisanti.

Alessandro Vitelli embarked on the decoration of his new Palazzo Vitelli alla Cannoniera at about the time of his marriage.  However, Angela was apparently unhappy here, perhaps because of the presence of her husband’s mistress, the mysterious Laura.  She therefore moved to a new palace: Palazzo Vitella a Porta San Giacomo.

Angela’s son, Vitellozzo was Bishop of Città di Castello in 1554-60.  However, he spent much of this time in Rome, particularly after he became a cardinal in 1557.  He seems to have delegated his episcopal authority to his mother at this time, and she acquired a number of powerful enemies in the city.  Cardinal Vitelli managed to protect her from accusations of homicide, usury and fraud, but she was robbed of this protection when he died in 1568.  Pope Pius V imprisoned her in the Castel Sant’ Angelo in 1570 and she was found guilty of usury.  She suffered a huge fine, but was able to return to Città di Castello after her humiliation.  She died in Palazzo Vitella a Porta San Giacomo in 1573 and was buried in Santa Maria delle Grazie.

Cardinal Vitellozzo Vitelli (died 1568)   

Vitellozzo Vitelli was the son of Alessandro Vitelli and Angela de’ Rossi.  He studied law at the University of Padua and while still a young man became successively Chamberlain and then  Clerk of the Apostolic Chamber to Pope Julius III.  He became Bishop of Città del Castello in 1554 (aged 23) and Pope Paul IV made him a cardinal in 1557 (aged 26).  His spectacular career was cut short by his death only eleven years later.

Paolo II Vitelli

Vitelli palaces