Orsini family in the context of "Fara Sabina"

Pope Stephen II (Latin: Stephanus II; 714 – 26 April 757) was born a Roman aristocrat and member of the Orsini family. Stephen was the bishop of Rome from 26 March 752 to his death on 26 April 757. Stephen II marks the historical delineation between the Byzantine Papacy and the Frankish Papacy. During Stephen's pontificate, Rome was facing invasion by the Lombards when Stephen II went to Paris to seek assistance from Pepin the Short. Pepin defeated the Lombards and made a gift of land to the pope, eventually leading to the establishment of the Papal States.

The County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos existed from 1185 to 1479 as part of the Kingdom of Sicily. The title and the right to rule the Ionian islands of Cephalonia and Zakynthos was originally given to Margaritus of Brindisi for his services to William II, King of Sicily, in 1185.

Following Margaritus, the county passed on to a branch of the Orsini family until 1325, when it passed briefly to Angevins and then, from 1357, to the Tocco family. The Tocco used the county as a springboard for their acquisition of lands in the Greek mainland, and were successful in gaining control over the Despotate of Epirus in 1411. However, facing the advance of the Ottoman Turks they successively lost their mainland territories and were once again reduced to the County Palatine, which they held until 1479, when it was divided between Venice and the Ottomans. Zakynthos was put under the direct rule of Venice.

The counts of Gravina, later the dukes of Gravina, were medieval rulers of Gravina in Puglia, in the old Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples. The county was settled on various royal favorites, and was held by members of the Neapolitan royal family from about 1300 until 1385. In 1417, it was granted to Francesco Orsini, who was created a duke in 1436; his descendant holds the title today, and represents the remaining branch of the Orsini family. Among the Orsini dukes, Pietro Francesco resigned his temporal dignities in 1667 to become a Dominican, and subsequently ascended the papal throne as Pope Benedict XIII. His nephew, Duke Domenico II, was created cardinal. Francesco (d. 1503) also achieved notoriety by being strangled while a captive of Cesare Borgia.

The House of Colonna is a prominent Italian family, forming part of the papal nobility. It played a pivotal role in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Martin V), 23 cardinals and many other church and political leaders. Other notable family members are Vittoria Colonna, close friend of Michelangelo, Marcantonio II Colonna (Marcantonio Colonna), leader of the papal fleet in the Battle of Lepanto (1571) and Costanza Colonna, patron and protector of Caravaggio. The family was notable for its bitter feud with the Orsini family over their influence in Rome, which was eventually settled by the issuing of the papal bull Pax Romana by Pope Julius II in 1511. In 1571, the heads of both families married nieces of Pope Sixtus V. Thereafter, historians recorded that "no peace had been concluded between the princes of Christendom, in which they had not been included by name". Today, the family is led by Don Prospero Colonna (b.1956).

Giulia Farnese (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒuːlja farˈneːze, -eːse]; 1474 – 23 March 1524) was an Italian noblewoman, a mistress to Pope Alexander VI, and the sister of Pope Paul III. Known as Giulia la Bella (Italian for 'Julia the Beautiful'), she was a member of the noble Farnese family, who were prominent leaders in the Italian regions of Parma and Piacenza. After marrying into the noble Orsini family in the Papal States, Farnese soon acquainted herself with, and initiated an affair with, the Spanish Cardinal Rodrigo de Borja. When the cardinal was elected Pope, Farnese continued the increasingly advantageous liaison, which enabled her to have her brother Alessandro made a cardinal, until losing Alexander's favor at the turn of the century.

Farnese spent most of her later years governing the castle of Carbognano, previously a property which Alexander had given to her husband. She died in 1524 in Rome at the residence belonging to Alessandro, who would later be elected Pope Paul III.