Fabio Orsini



Fabio Orsini was a member of the Orsini family and was a cousin of Bartolomeo d'Alviano during the Italian Renaissance. When Rome fell, he set parts of the city on fire. He is first met on Tiber Island where he is wearing Papal armour, because his family has been pressed into Cesare Borgia's service, but nevertheless expresses a hope to be free. Fablio just had to bid his time until the Borgia family started to crumble. After the death of Rodrigo Borgia and the election of Giuliano della Rovere (Pope Julius II), Orsini leads papal troops to arrest the now-disfavored Cesare for his crimes.

Database Entry
Fabio Orsini

Date of Birth: 1476 or 1477.

Profession: Condottiero

A condottiero from the fierce Orsini family, Fabio was already fighting by the age of eighteen, entering Montepulciano to help the Sienese. In 1498, he partnered with Bartolomeo d'Alviano against the Savelli, a rival family and joined the dark side, marrying Jeronima Borgia, a cousin of Lucrezia. At first, Fabio seems to help his new in-laws, but then, in 1499, while Cesare is in Romagna, he frees a friend imprisoned in the Tor di Nona, suggesting his allegiance to the Borgia may have been wavering.

Once his father Paolo was killed by Cesare, he "fled for prudence" then attacked Micheletto's army and lost, becoming an outlaw raiding the countryside. His notoriety put him on a list of bandits published by the Pope.

He continued to wage war for the rest of his short life, dying of a head wound after the battle of Garigliano in 1504.