Pompeo Colonna

Pompeo Colonna
Portrait by Sebastiano del Piombo, Galleria Colonna, Rome
Diocese	Archbishop of Monreale
Elected	14 December 1530
In office	28 June 1532
Orders
Created cardinal	1 July 1517 by Leo X
Rank	Cardinal Priest of San Lorenzo in Damaso (1524–1532)
Personal details
Born	12 May 1479[1] Rome
Died	28 June 1532(1532-06-28) (aged 53)[2] Naples
Parents	Girolamo Colonna, Vittoria dei Conti di Pola

Pompeo Colonna (12 May 1479 – 28 June 1532) was an Italian noble, condottiero, politician, and cardinal. At the culmination of his career he was Viceroy of the Kingdom of Naples (1530–1532) for the Emperor Charles V. Born in Rome, he was the son of Girolamo Colonna, whose father Antonio was second Prince of Salerno; and Vittoria Conti, of the Conti de Poli. His family belonged to the highest rank of nobility both of the City of Rome and of the Kingdom of Naples. Pompeo and his family were hereditary supporters of the Holy Roman Empire (Ghibbelines), and they spent their careers fighting their hereditary enemies, the Orsini family, and defending and expanding their family territories and interests. He played a significant, if sometimes disruptive, role in the Conclaves of 1521 and 1523 on behalf of the Imperial interest. His family commitments and his conclave activities brought Pompeo into conflict with the second Medici pope, Clement VII, whose election he vigorously opposed, and made him a leading figure in the attempted overthrow of Pope Clement and the Sack of Rome in 1527.