,
Rome. The family, who held the lordship of
Palombara Sabina, took their name from the
rocca (castle) of Sabellum, near
Albano, which had belonged to the
counts of Tusculum before it passed to the Savelli. Early modern genealogies of the Savelli, such as the unpublished manuscript "eulogistic treatise" compiled by
Onofrio Panvinio, drew connections to
Pope Benedict II, a possible but undocumentable connection, and even to the
cognomen Sabellius of Antiquity. They provided at least two popes: Cencio Savelli,
Pope Honorius III (1216–1227) and Giacomo Savelli,
Honorius IV (1285–1287). His father,
Luca Savelli, was a Roman senator and sacked the
Lateran in 1234. Luca's decision to side with Emperor
Frederick II against Honorius III's successor, Gregory, brought various material benefits to the family, including some fiefs in the
Sabina region. Honorius' brother,
Pandolfo Savelli, was the
podestà of
Viterbo in 1275. Later members include the
condottieri Silvio and
Antonello Savelli. Savelli Cardinals include
Giovanni Battista Savelli (1471
in pectore, 1480); Giacomo Savelli (1539); Silvio Savelli (1596); Giulio Savelli (1615);
Fabrizio Savelli (1647); Paolo Savelli (1664); and Domenico Savelli (1853). The last member of the family left in Rome was Giulio Savelli, who died in 1712. By the 17th century, the Savelli had fallen on lean times.
Castel Gandolfo had been relinquished under terms of
Pope Clement VIII's "bull of the barons" to the
Papal treasury in return for a mere 150,000 scudi in 1596, and in 1650
Albano, with its princely title, was turned over to the Savalli family. A collateral branch, the Giannuzzi Savelli ('Giannuzzi' adopted later on) represents descendants of Antonio Savelli of Rignano who moved to the Kingdom of Naples in 1421 to fight as a condottiero. During the 20th century, this line of the Princes of Cerenzia extinguished in the
House of Paternò who assumed its titles. The second line, of the Barons of Pietramala and Patricians of Cosenza is still flourishing today. == Popes ==