Overview

Today, the Ludovisi district is one of Rome’s most luxurious neighborhoods, home to famous restaurants and some of the most expensive shops in the city. But it was once private property, part of an eighty-six-acre villa owned by the Boncompagni Ludovisis, an ancient noble family with close ties to the papacy. The story of how the palazzo fell out of the family's hands reveals the tremendous social upheavals that Italy underwent following its mid-nineteenth-century unification.   First privately published in 1921, The Twilight of Rome's Papal Nobility provides an intimate look at a family who grew up accustomed to almost unimaginable wealth, power, and glamour. A descendant of two popes, Ugo Boncompagni Ludovisi recounts the life story of his mother Agnese, who was raised in a palace full of priceless artwork, including pieces by Caravaggio and Michelangelo. We get a window into Agnese's private life-her girlhood, marriage, and raising of several children-as her public life becomes increasingly tumultuous amid the family’s struggles to retain its property. A tender elegy to a bygone era, Boncompagni Ludovisi's story provides a unique perspective on Italian history and Rome’s urban redevelopment.

Full Product Details

Author:   Ugo Boncompagni Ludovisi (1856–1935) ,  Carol Cofone ,  T. Corey Brennan ,  Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi
Publisher:   Rutgers University Press
Imprint:   Rutgers University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 12.70cm , Height: 2.60cm , Length: 20.30cm
Weight:   0.426kg
ISBN:  

9781978840867

ISBN 10:   1978840861
Pages:   334
Publication Date:   11 March 2025
Recommended Age:   From 16 to 99 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

"Contents  Forewords by HSH Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi, T. Corey Brennan Translator’s Note by Carol Cofone INTRODUCTION To My Few Readers CHAPTER I Casa Borghese My Grandfather’s Wedding—My Mother is Born The Death of my Grandmother, Guendalina My Mother Always Remembers This Death My Grandfather’s Second Marriage My Mother Up To the Age of Twelve The Revolution of 1848 Pius IX Departs from Rome From My Mother’s “Journal:” Pius IX and the Borghese in Gaeta The Borghese in Naples The Miracle of San Gennaro The Devotion to the Sacred Heart—The Doria The News from Rome The de Ligne The Taking of Rome Pius IX in Portici and the Borghese in Vico Two Small Volumes of Memories Her Mother Her Father The “Journal” of Her mother The Borghese Return—My Mother’s Education is Completed CHAPTER II “L’entrée dans le monde” of My Mother...My Mother’s Entry into the World The Engagement and a Misunderstanding with the Porter The Marriage Letters of My Grandfather Borghese Travel to Paris and England My Birth Other Letters from My Grandfather Borghese My Brother Luigi is Born A First Excursion Aunt Princess Doria Dies My Sister Guendalina Political Events—Francesco II in Rome Don Bosco and Francesco II at Villa Ludovisi Letters of Francesco II One of My Audiences with Francesco II Family Relations—Some Names My Sister Maddalena and My Brother Giuseppe are Born My First Communion A Warning That is Almost a Prophecy Three Trips to Paris In Mentone, in Switzerland, in Bavaria We Do Not “diamo del tu” Anymore In Belgium, in Cologne, and Again in Paris I Get Lost in the Garden of the Exposition Return to Rome and Meetings with the Countess Pianell, Monsignor di Canossa and the Garibaldini A Trip to Mentana and the De Charette La Quiete The Institute of the Blind The Charity Bazaar My Mother’s Serious Illness—My Sister Maria is Born My Uncle and Aunt Venosa at La Quiete The Faith of My Mother Une Matriarche Her Faith and Affection for the Roman Pontificate Gregory XVI Pius IX Leo XIII Pius X Benedict XV The Political Philosophy of My Mother, The Division in Roman Society I Fall Sick A Deficiency in the Education of My Mother A Faithful Cook Providential Care of the Staff The 20th of September, 1870 My Mother, the Pontifical Prisoners and Two Courtly Officers of the Bersaglieri The 20th of September and Several Years Spent at La Quiete A Few Among the Visitors of La Quiete in Those Years Don Bosco The Chapel of La Quiete and the Sacred Heart Other Visitors at La Quiete—Abbott Lisi and Abbott Ancaiani A True Tridentine Patriot A Train Accident—Aunt and Uncle Bomarzo at La Quiete CHAPTER III Vittoria Patrizi A Thought about Marriage My Marriage The Death of Princess Adele Borghese The Wedding of My Sister Guendalina My Little Guendalina and My Mother Alton Towers Castle in the Past The Religious Vocation of My Sister Maddalena and My Mother The Departure, the Investiture of My Sister in the Letters of Monsignor Czaski and My Mother Isabella Rondinelli Marries My Brother Luigi La Quiete, Its Visitors Cardinal Pecci and Cardinal Nina Two Oratorians Sacred to La Quiete: Monsignor Fabiani, Father Agostino da Montefeltro The Death of My Vittoria, My Sorrow, the Affection of My Mother My Mother and San Francesco San Francesco—His Shrines—Franciscan Festivals My Grandfather Piombino Dies Laura Altieri At Palazzo Piombino in Piazza Colonna A Great Sorrow: the Death of Her Father My Mother’s Thoughts on Maternal Authority A Very Small Book Where She Wrote Down Her Memories About Her Children Little Political Newspapers October 20, 1886, a Very Happy Day for My Parents My Father on the Verge of Death and Guido Baccelli Arduina di San Martino Marries My Brother Giuseppe The Palazzo in Via Veneto and My Mother My Mother and the Memories of Casa Boncompagni My Laura Dies—My Mother and Extreme Unction Our Serious Financial Difficulties; Charity, the Fortitude of My Mother’s Soul A Look at Her Affection for My Father That Manifested Itself More in The Days of Suffering The Sorrow of My Mother Over the Death of Princess Teresa Borghese My First Mass and The Long-Standing Prayer of My Mother in Loreto Three Great Sorrows, Three Perished...My Brother-In-Law Cattaneo Dies My Grandmother Piombino Dies My Son-In-Law Malvezzi Dies The Last Party At La Quiete—The Wedding of My Guglielmina It Is the Hostess Who Makes the Salon The Golden Wedding Anniversary The Canon Don Andrea Muzzarelli A Good Friend, Today Bishop of Noto My Francesco Marries Nicoletta Prinetti. Their First Child My Mother and Her Affection for Her Husband in His Last Years The Death of Our Father; The Great Sorrow of Mammà CHAPTER IV Her Vision; The Painful Privations That It Imposed Conversation Is a Welcome Relief The Loss of a Beloved Sister and Two Dear Brothers The Grandmother and Her Affection for Her Grandchildren The Heart of My Mother, And My Son My Daughter Guendalina, Her Grandmother and Her Social Work My Mother’s Thoughts About the Work of Women The Congregation of San Vincenzo in Foligno A Son Respected for His Love for His Mother Activities Aimed at Spiritual Improvement Belfiore and the Children of The Workers The Turchine and Some of Her Ways of Carrying Out Charity The First Communions—The Last Hundred Lire My Mother Gave Mons. Faloci and the Charity of My Mother Going Back to My Mother’s Characteristic Qualities My Mother and Culture—The Book Another Loss—Her Last Sorrow She No Longer Goes To La Quiete Mother Savina Petrilli and The Last Summer Seasons The Last Summer Seasons in Her Letters The “Sisters Of The Poor”— The Dear One Of My Mother —“Leonetta"" Gleaning Among the Reading Done “With Pen in Hand” Charity and Manual Work What Those Who Knew Her Write Maddalena Patrizi Father Martens Carlo Santucci The Count of Linange Raffaella Conestabile Monsignor Di Somma Matilde Fiorilli Return To Rome! Her Life in The Last Months Everything Is in Order My Sisters Tell Me Always Full of Life ... But Life Is Near Its End! Last Days—The Sacraments—Memories—Goodbyes Last Hours—The Prayers of The Dying I’m Standing in That Room! She Breathes Her Last! ... It’s Five Minutes to Midnight. Notes on Contributors Appendix: Who’s Who"

Reviews

""An intimate memorial to Agnese, who became wife, mother, and matriarch of a Roman aristocratic family in the tumultuous decades between the mid-nineteenth and the early twentieth century. From memoir to wider family history, Ugo's account intertwines the fate of the Boncompagni Ludovisi with the making of a new unified Italy. Cofone's translation captures the spirit of the now vanishing world of Roman aristocratic culture.""--Caroline Castiglione ""author of Accounting for Affection: Mothering and Politics in Early Modern Rome"" ""Cofone's translation offers an extraordinary glimpse into the lives and mental world of the nineteenth-century Roman aristocracy--intensely Catholic but increasingly international and, from a social position of certainty that would prove mistaken, intellectually curious. The economic ups and downs of the Boncompagni Ludovisi family, an astoundingly rich papal family which would topple from its great height by the end of the century, are the backdrop for marital alliances and travels, and the life of Agnese Borghese Boncompagni Ludovisi as written by her son was, in its own way, a gigantic adventure in which we can now participate.""--Anthony Majanlahti ""author of The Families who Made Rome: A History and a Guide"" ""The Twilight of Rome's Papal Nobility filters Agnese Borghese Boncompagni Ludovisi's life through the eyes of her son and biographer, Ugo. The exceptional encounters both she and the family at large had with elite members of the religious and secular establishment are combined with touching episodes of everyday life events. The biography exists at the crossroads of Italy's remarkable history, including Ugo's musings on the Risorgimento and the expropriation of his family's Villa Ludovisi, making Cofone's translation a truly fascinating read."" --Pierette Kulpa ""associate professor of art history at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania""

Author Information

UGO BONCOMPAGNI LUDOVISI (1856–1935) was the eldest son of Rodolfo Boncompagni Ludovisi and Agnese Borghese Boncompagni Ludovisi. A twice-widowed husband and father of five children, he was the founder of the Scacciadiavoli winery and progenitor of the current Boncompagni Ludovisi dynasty. Following the death of his second wife, he joined the priesthood and ultimately held the influential position of Vice Camerlengo at the Vatican. CAROL COFONE is a translator and assistant director of the digital humanities project Archivio Digitale Boncompagni Ludovisi.

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