The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church - Biographical Dictionary

The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

Biographical Dictionary
Pope Gregory XIII (1572-1585)
Consistory of June 2, 1572 (I)

(1) 1. BONCOMPAGNI, Filippo (1548-1586)

Birth. September 7, 1548 (1), Bologna. Son of Boncompagno Boncompagni and Cecilia Bargellini. Bolognese patrician. Nephew of Pope Gregory XIII (1572-1585). Cousin of Cardinal Filippo Guastavillani (1574). Uncle of Cardinal Francesco Boncompagni (1621). Grand-uncle of Girolamo Boncompagni (1664). Great grand-uncle of Giacomo Boncompagni (1695).

Education. University of Bologna, Bologna (doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law, February 23, 1571).

Early life. Received the clerical tonsure in Bologna. Abbot commendatario of S. Stefano, Bologna; and of S. Bartolomeo.

Sacred orders. (No information found).

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 2, 1572; received the red hat and the title of S. Sisto, June 16, 1572. Superintendent general of the affairs of the Holy See, 1572. Legate a latere before the king of France, June 7, 1574. Legate a latere in Venice to congratulate King Henri III, who was leaving the throne of Poland to occupy France's, left vacant by the death of King Charles IX, and to invite him to go to Rome, July 19, 1574. Governor of Civita Castellana (2), July 25, 1577; again, April 3, 1581. Grand penitentiary, August 7, 1579 until his death. Prefect of the S.C.of the Tridentine Council from 1580 until his death. Archpriest of the patriarchal Liberian basilica, 1581. Participated in the conclave of 1585, in which Pope Sixtus V was elecetd.

Death. June 9, 1586, Rome. Buried in the patriarchal Liberian basilica, Rome (3).

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, V, 153-154; 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, 1630, col. 1737; Del Re, Nicola. "I cardinali prefetti della sacra congregazione del concilio dalle origini ad oggi (1564-1964)." Apollinaris, XXXVII (1964), p. 110: Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1935; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, III, 45 and 70; Weber, Christoph. Legati e governatori dello Stato Pontificio : 1550-1809. Roma : Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali, Ufficio centrale per i beni archivistici, 1994. (Pubblicazioni degli archivi di Stato. Sussidi; 7) pp. 212 and 509.

(1) This is according to Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, V, 154, that says he died in 1586 at 38 years of age; Del Re, "I cardinali prefetti della sacra congregazione del concilio dalle origini ad oggi (1564-1964)", p. 110, indicates that he was born in 1539.
(2) This is according to Weber, Legati e governatori dello Stato Pontificio : 1550-1809, p. 212; Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, V, 153, indicates that he was governor of Città di Castello.
(3) This is his epitaph transcribed by Andrea Vittorelli in Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II. col. 1737: PHILIPPO. BONCOMPAGNO. BONONIENSI. S. R. E. CARD. S. SIXTI. GREGORII. XIII. PONT. MAX. EX. FRATRE. NEPOTI. MAIORE. POENITENTIARIO. ATQVE. HVIVS. BASILICÆ. ARCHIPRESBYTERO. BONCOMPAGNVS. PATER. ET. CHRISTOPHORVS. ARCHIEPISCOPVS. RAVENNAS. HIERONYMVSQ. FRATRES. FACIENDVM. CVRARVNT. VIXIT. ANNOS. XXXVII. OBIIT. VII. IDVS. IVNII. MDLXXXVI.

VERANCSICS, Antal (1504-1573)

Birth. May 29, 1504, Sebenicóban (also Sebenico and Šibenik), Hungary. His first name is also listed as Antun and as Antonius; and his last name as Vrancic, Veranchich, Verantius, Veranzio, and Wranczy. Nephew of the Croat ban and bishop Petar Berislavic.

Education. Studied in Padua, Vienna and Kraków.

Early life. Spent almost 20 years as a secretary and diplomat at the court of Ivan Zapolja. Later, in 1549, went to the court of Emperor Ferdinand I Habsburg. He was the imperial envoy to Turkey for 6 years. He conducted diplomatic missions to France, Italy, Poland, and England. He corresponded with Cardinal György Draskovics, archbishop of Kalocza-Bacs, Erasmus of Rotterdam and Philip Melanchton.

Priesthood. Ordained (no date found), Pécs.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Pécs, August 3, 1554. Transferred to the see of Eger, July 17, 1560. Consecrated, September 21, 1561, Franciscan church, Vienna, by Nicolas Olah, archbishop of Esztergom. Promoted to the metropolitan and primatial see of Esztergom (Gran), September 25, 1570 (1). Regent of Hungary. The Hungarian Academy published his collected works in 12 volumes.

Cardinalate. Several sources indicate that he was created cardinal on June 5, 1573, but died ten days later, before receiving the news.

Death. June 15, 1573, Eperjesen (Prešov), before receiving the news of his promotion to the cardinalate. Buried in the cathedral of Szent Miklós.

Bibliography. Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1935; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, III, 98, 280 and 304; Evans, Robert John Weston. The making of the Habsburg monarchy 1550-1700: an interpretation. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1979, p. 17; Tusor, Péter. Purpura Pannonica : az esztergomi "bíborosi szék" kialakulásának elozminyei a 17. században = Purpura Pannonica : the "Cardinalitial See" of Strigonium and its Antecedens in the 17th Century. Budapest : Róma : Research Institute of Church History at Péter Pázmány Catholic University, 2005. (Collectanea Vaticana Hungariae, Classis I, vol. 3), 53, 54 and 321; "Wranczy ó Veranzio, Antonio", Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europea-Americana (Espasa-Calpe), LXX, p. 454; Zu, E. "Veranzio, Antoni", Enciclopedia Italiana di scienze, lettere ed arti, XXXV, 143.

Webgraphy. Biography, in Hungarian, Magyar Elektronikus Köyvtár; small engraving and biography, in Hungarian, Magyar Elektronikus Köyvtár; engravings and biography, in Hungarian, Wikipedia; his portrait, Új Ember, Katolikus Etilap; and his portrait and biography, in English, Croatia - an overview of its History, Culture and Science.

(1) At the time, a large part of the archdiocese was occupied by the Turks.