The Colonna family was a powerful noble family in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one Pope and many other leaders. Their family is notable for their bitter feud with the Orsini family over influence in Rome until it was stopped by Papal Bull in 1511; in 1571 the Chiefs of both families married the nieces of Pope Sixtus V.

Oddone Colonna ended the Western Schism as Pope Martin V.

According to tradition, the Colonna are a branch of the Counts of Tusculum — by Peter (1099-1151) son of Gregory III, called Peter "de Columpna" from his property, the Columna Castle, in Colonna, Alban Hills.

The first cardinal from the family was appointed in 1192 when Giovanni Colonna was made Cardinal Priest of Santa Prisca.

In 1297, Cardinal Jacopo disinherited his brothers Ottone, Matteo, and Landolfo of their lands. The latter three appealed to Pope Boniface VIII, who ordered Jacopo to return the land, and furthermore hand over the family's strongholds of Colonna, Palestrina, and other towns to the Papacy. Jacopo refused; in May, Boniface removed him from the College of Cardinals and excommunicated him and his followers for four generations. The Colonna family (aside from the three brothers allied with the Pope) declared that Boniface had been elected illegally after the unprecedented abdication of Pope Celestine V three years previously. The dispute lead to open warfare, and in September Boniface appointed Landolfo to the command of his army, to put down the revolt of La...

noun: A niece or a nephew.
adjective: of or pertaining to a niece or nephew.

plural: niephews

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(adj.) Once a woman reaches middle age and her formerly remarkable and youthful good looks have completely lost their edge, she develops an air of such utter harmlessness that she is no longer attractive to men. A woman is described as "avuncular" when she stops looking like a sexual entity and starts looking like her Aunt Betty.

A viral social disease that causes an immediate desire to reproduce. This virus is transmitted by a variety of vectors, including exposure to children's playgrounds, visits by nieces and nephews, reality television, glossy magazines, nagging parents.

Signs and symptoms: cooing, wistful staring at small hats and gloves, reading books of names, aversion to latex...

A gender neutral slang term used to refer to one's nephews and nieces.

v. to be a lonely male with a boner, especially one that needs immediate attention. More than likely will be taken care of by Ms. Palm and her 5 little nieces.

Opinionated, strong-willed, fun-loving, social, sexy in an awkward way, and unusually devoted to her nieces and nephews. She can identify the colors of the monkeys in a barrel to their associated numbers. Quite the prodigy.