Sciarra Colonna

He is most famous for attacking Pope Boniface VIII and for crowning Louis IV of Germany as Holy Roman Emperor.

Eventually, Palestrina was stormed by papal forces.The Colonna allied with the Pope's other great enemy, Philip IV of France.

In September 1303, Sciarra and Philip's advisor, Guillaume de Nogaret, led a small force into Anagni to arrest Boniface VIII and bring him to France, where he was to stand trial.

However, Boniface VIII died on 11 October, allowing France to dominate his weaker successors during the Avignon papacy.

In honor of this event, the Colonna family was granted the privilege of using the imperial pointed crown on top of their coat of arms.

Sciarra Colonna slapping Boniface VIII , illustration by Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville , from François Guizot 's The History of France from the Earliest Times to the Year 1789 (1883).