Marchione de Grillo/Grillis
Onofrio, Marquis de Grillo, 17th Century Roman nobleman, infamous for
his caprices.
Torre del Grillo (In Italian)
http://www.romaspqr.it/ROMA/Torre-grillo.htm
"Eretta nel secolo XII dalla famiglia Carboni sui resti di murature
riferibili a epoca traianea, la Torre del Grillo, in muratura,
appartenne dapprima ai Colonna, quindi ai Conti, che in tal modo
ampliarono il perimetro del loro castello, rendendolo inespugnabile.
Nel sec. XVII, i Grillo acquistarono la torre da Baldassarre dei Conti
e la collegarono al loro palazzo gentilizio (ora Nicolis di Robilant).
La torre è coronata da un alto fregio in stucco del secolo XVII, che
presenta la scritta Ex Marchione de Grillis. I Grillo erano oriundi di
Gubbio e si stabilirono a Roma nel sec. XVII. Il più famoso Grillo
rimane Onofrio, spirito bizzarro e buontempone, a cui si attribuirono
gesta burlesche più o meno leggendarie, in realtà pertinenti a vari
personaggi. Le vicende di questo aristocratico birbone le conoscono
forse un po' tutti, ma va almeno ricordato quello che era il suo svago
preferito (e anche il più oltraggioso): esso consisteva nel tirare
sassi dall'alto della nostra torre in testa agli ebrei che vi
passavano sotto. Gli ebrei andarono una volta a reclamare dal papa,
che fece chiamare il Marchese. Alle rimostranze del papa il Marchese
rispose: "Ma so' giudij e io quanno li vedo passa', nun posso fa a
meno de tiraje quarche cosa". Il papa non volle sentire ragioni e il
marchese promise di ubbidire. Però volle una grazia: la libertà di
poter tirare agli ebrei almeno un frutto. Tutti sanno come andò a
finire: quando gli ebrei passavano sotto la torre, lui gli tirava sì
un frutto, …ma di pino!"
The gist of the above being that the house was built in the 12th C. by
the Colonna family (a famous power in Rome), and that the tower was
added in the 17th. The Marchione (also 17th C.) was a nasty piece of
work who was infamous for molesting Jews who passed by the tower.
There is a Dominican convent at the top of the hill leading past the
house. I am told by a Roman friend that the malevolent Marchione was
used as a precedent by the Fascists to justify the passage of
anti-Semitic laws before WWII.
Grillo means "cricket" in Italian.
Period (by Vasi) and modern pictures of the Palazzo Grillo and its
environs
S. Maria Annunziata
http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi150.html
The Rione Monti Quarter
Rione Monti one of the most authentic old neighborhoods in the Eternal
City by Roberto Berni
http://www.hotellinks.com/smallhotels/articleview.cfm?ArticleID=264
"Rione Monti, situated in close vicinity of such well-known sites as
the Colosseum, the ancient Roman forums, and Piazza Venezia, is the
oldest of the 6 Rioni and 14 Quartieri that form the neighborhoods of
Rome.
Rione Monti is the oldest of the 6 Rioni and 14 Quartieri that form
the neighborhoods of Rome. Situated in close vicinity of such
well-known sites as the Colosseum, the ancient Roman forums, and
Piazza Venezia, it has been one of the largest and the most populated
one of the neighborhood districts for a very long time. Beginning with
the ancient Roman era and up to recent times, Rione Monti has gone
through many changes, which all contributed to creating the complex
structure that this district presents today. Monti is one of the most
authentic old neighborhoods in the Eternal City. The Rione hosts many
churches, several palaces built by the Roman nobility, and many
ancient Roman archeological sites. Among the most characteristic
landmarks of this neighborhood are its towers: Torre del Grillo, Torre
dei Graziani, Torre dei Capocci, and Torre delle Milizie.
The Torre del Grillo (on the right, next to the entrance of the Hotel
Nerva, one of the small hotels in Discover Italy) is located on the
Salita del Grillo, and it is the building from which, in the 17th
century, the Marchese del Grillo thought it great fun to throw stones
at the Jews passing by. After numerous complaints from the Rabbi, the
Pope finally had to take action: the Marchese was asked to refrain
from such behavior, or, at least, not to throw stones…. fruit would be
OK. And so, after that, pinecones and chestnuts were used instead of
stones!"
More about the Marchione's "eccentricities"
Useful Tips About Rome
http://www.seekitaly.com/useful_tips2.html.
"Marchese del Grillo: the Marquis of Grillo, Onofrio, was a Roman
noble of the XVIII century, and a very popular uneasy, irreverent,
witty, spiteful and funny personage. One of his preferred spites was
of throwing stones and other objects on the Hebrews' heads who passed
below the windows of his palace. These spites lasted for a long time
so the chief Rabbi went and complained with the Pope. The Pontiff
reproached the marquis, which in turn insisted that he did not want to
abandon that "joke." But in front of the Pope' s order , he promised
that would have thrown fruit only, and no more stones and other
objects on the Jews' heads. The Pontiff was satisfied, but not the
Hebrews, because pine-cones and chestnuts "rained" on their poor
heads. Also, the Marquis of Grillo was popular for another of his
eccentricities. One day, he refused of paying an account to a Jewish
merchant, then he did of everything for being called at court of law:
he won the suit, after of having corrupted the judges. Later, he
diffused the news of the Pope's death, so all the bells of Rome
knelled for much time. Called to justify himself in front of the
Pontiff, Onofrio replied that the bells rang in that way because he
had ascertained that in Rome the justice was died. Not far from the
Roman Forum, there is the Palazzo del Grillo, historical residence of
the Marquis of Grillo, next to the homonym tower. A beautiful comic
movie, "Il Marchese del Grillo", concerning Onofrio's popular
adventures and jokes was interpreted by the famous Roman actor Alberto
Sordi..."
More about the neighborhood of the Palazzo Grillo
TEOLOGÍA A DISTANCIA PARA TODOS (In Spanish)
http://www.virgendelpilarcatolica.com/teologia_a_distancia_para_todos.htm
«Salita», en italiano, significa subida. La «Salita de Grillo» es la
cuesta que conduce al Angelicum, el Centro de estudios superiores que
tenían en Roma de Dominicos.
Salita", in Italian, means ascent. The "Salita de Grillo" is the hill
that leads to the Angelicum, the superior Training center that had in
Rome de Dominicos.
From the Order of Preachers (Dominican) web site:
http://www.op.org/angelicum/
Development
Pontficia Università San Tommaso
Largo Angelicum 1
00184 Roma ITALIA
Map, pictures, directions to the Angelicum.
http://www.op.org/angelicum/map.htm
"The Angelicum is in the center of this map, which is also the center
of ancient Rome, adjacent to the Forum and Column of Trajan. In fact,
behind the Column, there is a public stairway leading up to a busy
triangle (Largo Magnanapoli) where the big Via Nazionale meets the
narrow Via Panisperna. The Venti Quattro Maggio and Quatro Novembre
also branch off from the same triangle. Largo Angelicum is there at
the beginning of the Via Panisperna. One sees a few cars parked near
the front of our gate. The gate is locked at night."
History
http://www.op.org/angelicum/history.htm
"It was at San Sisto Vecchio that Saint Dominic performed several
miracles that amazed the Romans. During the reconstruction of the
convent, for instance, a wall collapsed due to cavities below the
foundation. The architect was fatally buried in the rubble. After
extricating his body, the friars appealed to the prior, and at his
prayers, the crushed man recovered. On another occasion, a local widow
had left her only child gravely ill at home, while she attended the
sermon of Saint Dominic at Saint Mark's Church. (It is situated just
below the present Angelicum in the Piazza Venezia.)"
[...]
"San Sisto Vecchio, being at the foot of the Coelian Hill and the
lesser Aventine, had become a swamp over the centuries. Between
1568-69, therefore, Pope Saint Pius V built the Convento Santi
Domenico e Sisto for the nuns on higher ground overlooking the ruins
of ancient Rome a few paces away. This is the present location of the
Angelicum."
[...]
"The Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas is the descendent
of the medieval studium of the Dominican Order in Rome and of the New
College of Saint Thomas which Juan Solano, former bishop of Cuzco,
Peru, founded in 1577, at the Priory of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The
school moved several times to accommodate its growth, but it was not
until the 19th century when it moved into the old Monastery of Saints
Dominic and Sixtus built by Pius V."
From the web site of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas:
PUSTIntro
Historical notes
http://www.angelicum.org/intro/en/historicalnotes.html
"By the Apostolic Letter of November 8, 1908, signed by the Supreme
Pontiff on November 17, the new Pontifical College Angelicum was
erected on the site of the College of St. Thomas, with headquarters in
Via San Vitale. This were transferred in 1932 to the appropriately
expanded buildings of the ancient Dominican monastery of SS. Domenico
and Sisto."
PUSTgen
Public relations
http://www.angelicum.org/gen/pubblicerelaz.html
Pubbliche relazione - Public Relations
Indirizzo - Address:
Largo Angelicum 1, IT–00185 Roma
tel: (++39) 06 6702 247
e mail: angpr@pust,urbe.it
Addetto di Relazione Pubbliche -- Attaché for Public
Relations:
P. Gregorio Bednarz, OP
The October Horse and the Subura
On the ides, October 15, were held the Games of Capitoline Jove, or
Jupiter Optimus et Maximus (Best and Greatest). The primary feature of
the games was the horse race in the Campus Martius from which the
“October Horse” was selected. The right hand horse of the winning team
was speared and sacrificed. The tail was cut from the body and
carried, still bleeding, to the Regia, where the blood was collected
by the Vestals and preserved until the Parilia (April 21), when it was
used in the fumigations of that feast. The head of the horse became
itself an object of sport. A garland of wheaten loaves was hung around
the neck of the head, and a tug-of-war ensued between men of two
districts of the city, those of the Subura and of the Sacred Way, the
winners earning the privilege of nailing the head to a wall. A wall of
the Regia was used by those of the Sacred Way, and a wall of the
Mamilian Tower served those of the Subura. (The tower was named for
Octavius Mamilius, a nobleman of Tusculum, who had married the
daughter of Tarquinius Superbus, some indication of the antiquity of
the ritual.)
Search terms:
"De Grillis" Roma
"De Grillo" Roma
Grillo tower Rome
October Horse
An Overlooked Key to Polybios' Views on Rome by Craige Champion
http://www.dur.ac.uk/Classics/histos/2000/champion.html
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