The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

Biographical Dictionary
Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303)
Consistory of March 2, 1300 (IV)
Celebrated in Rome


(11) 1. PATRASSO, Leonardo (ca. 1230-1311)

Birth. Ca. 1230, Guarcino, diocese of Aalatri. Relative (uncle or cousin?) of Pope Boniface VIII (the pope's mother was Emilia Patrasso di Guarcino). His last name is also listed as Guercino; as Gratino; and as Guerrino (from his native place).

Education. (No information found).

Early life. Canon of the cathedral chapter of Alatri, ca. 1247.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Modon, Greece, ca. 1295. Transferred to the see of Aversa, June 17, 1297 (1). Named apostolic administrator of the see of Ostia e Velletri, February 25, 1298, after the death of Cardinal Hughes Seguin de Billon, O.P.; occupied the post until February 1299. Promoted to the metropolitan see of Capua, July 20, 1299.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal bishop of Albano in the consistory of March 2, 1300. Subscribed the papal bulls from October 2, 1300 until February 16, 1302. Participated in the conclave of 1303, which elected Pope Benedict XI. Subscribed the papal bulls issued on March 13, 1304. Participated in the conclave of 1304-1305, which elected Pope Clement V. Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1309.

Death. December 7, 1311, Lucca, while traveling to Rome with two other cardinals to crown Emperor Henry VII in 1312. Buried in the Dominican church in Lucca.

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, II, 62-63; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. ; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux du XIIIè siècle". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1929. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1929, p. 136; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen I (1198-1431). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1913; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, pp. 13, 35, 123, 165 and 351.

Webgraphy. Brief biographical data, in English, Wikipedia; his engraving, arms and portrait, Araldica Vaticana; Catalog of the bishops of Anagni-Alatri, catholic-hierarchy.org.

(1) This is according to "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux du XIIIè siècle". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1929, p. 136; and Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, I, 123, 165 and 351; Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, II, 62; and the catalog of bishops of Anagni-Alatri, linked above, say that he was elected bishop of Alatri by its cathedral chapter in 1290; confirmed by Pope Nicholas IV on September 16, 1290. Transferred to the see of Iesi in 1295.

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(12) 2. MONTEFIORE, O.F.M., Gentile da (ca. 1240/1250-1312)

Birth. Ca. 1240/1250, Montefiore dell'Aso, diocese of Fermo. He is also listed as Gentilis de Monteflorum; as Gentilis di Montefiori; as Gentile di Particino da Montefiore; as Gentile Partino; as Partino di Montefiore dell'Aso; and Gentile Portino.

Education. Entered the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans), province of Marche, when he was very young. Studied in Paris; obtained the title of magister; regent, before 1295.

Priesthood. Ordained (no further information found). Professor of theology in Paris. Returned to Italy before the end of 1294; in Perugia, he met Cardinal Benedetto Caetani, seniore, future Pope Boniface VIII. Lector of theology in the Sacred Palace in 1296 (or at the Studium of the city where the papal curia was located).

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest of S. Martino ai Monti in the consistory of March 2, 1300. Together with Cardinal Niccolò Boccasini, O.P., he was charged by the pope to solve the problem of the distance that needed to exist between the churches of the Friars Minor and the Dominicans; the peaceful solution that they proposed on July 28, 1300 was ratified by the new Pope Benedict XI (former Cardinal Boccasini) on December 5, 1303. Subscribed the papal bulls issued on October 2, 1300 and February 16, 1302. Grand penitentiary, 1302 to 1305. On September 7, 1302, he was present in Anangni when the attempt on Pope Boniface VIII occurred. Participated in the conclave of 1303, which elected Pope Benedict XI. Subscribed the papal bulls issued on March 14, 1304. Participated in the conclave of 1304-1305, which elected Pope Clement V. In 1305, Pope Clement V granted him the cure and the administration of the church of S. Prassede. In the papal curia in Lyon, at the end of June 1307, he reviewed numerous elections of bishops and abbots. Named legate in Hungary in 1307 with a papal brief addressed to the people of that kingdom as well as of Poland, Dalmatia and Croatia; his main mission was to secure the Angevin succession in Hungary. He left Rome on December 19, 1307, and arrived in Hungary in June 1308; he crowned King Carlo-Roberto (Károly or Charles Robert I of Hungary and Croatia), son of King Carlo II Anjou of Sicily, whom he had helped to be accepted by the Hungarian nobility and magnates by threat of excommunication. He assisted in the composition of a constitution and a legal system for Hungary. Also, Cardinal-legate Montefiore confirmed the order of monks of St. Paul First Eremite, which followed the rule of Saint Augustine; and as apostolic legate, he condemned the sect of the Fraticelli. He left Hungary on September 10 or 11, 1311. He participated in the Council of Vienne convened on October 16, 1311 and defended the memory of Pope Boniface VIII (1). Charged by Pope Clement V with transferring the treasures of the Church in Rome, the province of Campagna and the Patrimony of S. Pietro, beyond the Alps to Avignon because they were in danger in Rome; the cardinal estimated that because of the fight between the factions of the Guelphs and the Ghibellins it was not safe to transport the treasures; he took the most valuable items of the papal treasure with him, leaving the rest in safe deposit in the sacristy of S. Frediano, in Lucca; in 1314, the papal treasures and the cardinal's possession were stolen by the Ghibelline Uguccione della Faggiola, when he took that city. In 1312, he commissioned the decoration of the chapel of San Martino in the basilica of Assisi; he spent a few months in Siena, where he probably met Simone Martini and chose him as his personal painter. On March 26, 1312, he was in Perugia; and at the beginning of June he went to Lucca, where he fell ill and died. The papal treasure and the personal possessions of the late cardinal were dispersed. King Edward I of England had assigned him a pension of 500 sterling pounds.

Death. October 27, 1312, Lucca. Buried in the chapel of S. Luigi e Martino, which he had built and had Simone Martini decorate with a fresco, in the lower church of S. Francesco in Assisi. On August 5, 1313, the pope ordered that the wealth of Cardinal Montefiore should be assigned to Cardinal Vitale du Four, O.F.M.

Bibliography. Betti, Umberto. I cardinali dell'Ordine dei Frati Minori. Presentazione di Alberto Ghinato. Roma : Edizioni Francescane, 1963. (Orizzonti Francescani. Collana di cultura francescana, 5), p. 29-30; Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, II, 56-58; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. 329-330; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux du XIIIè siècle". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1929. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1929, p. 136-137; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen I (1198-1431). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1913; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, pp. 13 and 47; Ritzler, Remigius. "I cardinali e i papi dei Frati Minori Conventuali." Miscellanea Franciscana, LXXI (Gennaio-Giugno 1971), Fasc. I-II, 19-20.

Webgraphy. Biography by Laura Gaffuri, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 53 (2000), Treccani; biography, in Hungarian, Magyar Elektronicus Könyvtár; Charles Robert of Anjou - before the Battle of Rozgony, Battle of Rozgony; Il Monumento funebre ai genitori del Cardinal Partino di Montefiore dell'Aso by Mirko Bonanni, Ascoli Piceno, Lamusa, 2005; Montefiore dell'Aso: presentato libro dedicato a un raro monumento funebre, Picusnet; his portrait in a fresco by Simone Martini, basilica of S. Francesco d'Assisi, Thais.it; Dedication of the chapel to St. Martin by the Cardinal Gentile da Montefiore, fresco, 1322-1326, Chapel in Lower Church of San Francesco in Assisi, Italy, Web Gallery of Art; his engraving, image on a fresco, and arms, Araldica Vaticana; A New Document for Simone Martini's Chapel of St. Martin at Assisi by Adrian S. Hoch, in Gesta, Vol. 24, No. 2 (1985), pp. 141-146.

(1) This is according to "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux du XIIIè siècle". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1929, p. 137; Ritzler, "I cardinali e i papi dei Frati Minori Conventuali." Miscellanea Franciscana, 19, says that it is still in doubt that he participated in the council of Vienne and delivered the speech defending Pope Boniface VIII.

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(13) 3. FIESCHI, Luca (ca. 1275-1336)

Birth. Ca. 1275, Genoa. Son of Niccolo Fieschi, count of Lavagna, and Leonora, whose lineage is unknown. Grand-nephew of Pope Innocent IV. Nephew of Pope Adrian V. Other cardinals of the family were Guglielmo Fieschi (1244); Giovanni Fieschi (1378); Ludovico Fieschi (1384); Giorgio Fieschi (1439); Niccolò Fieschi (1503); Lorenzo Fieschi (1706); and Adriano Fieschi (1834). Relative of King Jaime II of Aragón.

Education. (No information found).

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata in the consistory of March 2, 1300. On June 18, 1300, he was named administrator of the title of S. Marcello and of the deaconry of Ss. Cosma e Damiano; occupied the post until 1305. He helped Pope Boniface VIII escape to Anagni. Participated in the conclave of 1303, which elected Pope Benedict XI. Participated in the conclave of 1304-1305, which elected Pope Clement V. Opted for the deaconry of Ss. Cosma e Damiano in 1306. Legate to the coronation of Emperor Henry VII in the patriarchal Lateran basilica in 1312. Emperor Henry VII named him his imperial vicar in Lunigiana in 1312. Commendatario of the title of Ss. Marcellino e Pietro from September 1313 until 1316. Participated in the conclave of 1314-1316, which elected Pope John XXII. Legate in France and England in 1317 to obtain the peace between those kingdoms. Participated in the conclave of 1334, which elected Pope Benedict XII.

Death. January 31, 1336, Avignon. Buried in the Franciscan church in Avignon; later, his body was transferred to Genoa and buried in the cathedral of S. Lorenzo in that city (1). His tomb is now in the archdiocesan museum of Genoa.

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, II, 59-61; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1677, II, col. 331; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. Les cardinaux du XIIIè siècle". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1929. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1929, p. 137; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi. Volumen I (1198-1431). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1913; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, pp. 13, 44, 49, 52.

Webgraphy. Biography by Thérèse Boespflug, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 47 (1997), Treccani; Inventarium Cardinalis. I gusti collezionistici di Luca Fieschi fra Genova e Avignone, il Mediterraneo e l'Europa (1270-1336), in Italian.

(1) This is the text of his epitaph, taken from Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 331:

MCCCXXXVI. DIE. VLTIMA. IANVARII
OBIIT. REVERENDISSIMVS. DOMINVS. LVCAS
DE. FLISCO. S. R. E. DIACONVS. CARDINALIS
CVIVS. OSSA
IN. HAC. IACENT. TVMBA
ANIMA. CVIVS
REQVIESCAT. IN. PACE.

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