Virginio Orsini | |
Succession: | Duke of Bracciano |
Reign: | 1585–1615 |
Predecessor: | Paolo Giordano I Orsini |
Successor: | Paolo Giordano II Orsini |
Birth Date: | 11 September 1572 |
Death Place: | Rome |
Issue: | Paolo Giordano II Orsini Alessandro Orsini Maria Felicia Orsini |
Issue-Link: |
|
Issue-Pipe: | Among others |
House: | Orsini |
Father: | Paolo Giordano I Orsini |
Mother: | Isabella de' Medici |
Virginio Orsini (11 September 1572[1] – 9 September 1615) was the second Duke of Bracciano, member of the Orsini family and knight of the order of the Golden Fleece.
He was the son of Paolo Giordano I Orsini and Isabella de' Medici, and inherited his father's titles and fiefs after his death in 1585. In 1589 he married Flavia Peretti, a niece of Pope Sixtus V, by whom he had 12 children.[2] His son Paolo Giordano became a prince of the Holy Roman Empire through his marriage with Isabella Appiani, princess of Piombino.
Virginio Orsini was a supporter of the Earl of Essex and visited the English court for the Christmas revels in December 1600.[3] He was entertained by Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and the play opens with the character of Duke Orsino saying the famous line "If music be the food of love, play on."[4] Queen Elizabeth danced a galliard for him to show the "vigour of her old age".[5] [6]
He died in Rome in 1615.
By his wife, Flavia Damasceni Peretti, he had twelve children, eight sons and four daughters:[7]