The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

Biographical Dictionary
Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846)
Consistory of December 14, 1840 (XVI)


(53) 1. ALTIERI, Lodovico (1805-1867)

Birth. July 17 (1), 1805, Rome. Son of Prince Paluzzo Altieri (1760-1834), fifth prince of Oriolo, Roman senator (1819-1834), and Princess Maria Anna di Sassonia, countess von der Lausitz (1770-1845). Grand-nephew, on his father's side, of Cardinals Scipione Borghese (1770), who was a brother of his paternal grandmother; and Vincenzo Maria Altieri (1777), who was a brother of his grandfather; Domenico Spinucci (1816), who was a brother of his maternal grandmother. Cousin of Cardinals Costantino Patrizi Naro (1834) and Francesco Saverio Massimo (1838). He was baptized on the same day of his birth at the Collegiate Parish Church of San Marco. His first name is also listed as Luigi.

Education. He frequented the Pontifical Academy of Ecclesiastical Nobles, Rome.

Priesthood. Ordained, March 24, 1833, by Costantino Patrizi Naro, prefect of the Apostolic Palace. Privy chamberlain participant (April 1826). Apostolic ablegato to bring the red biretta to Cardinal Jean-Baptist-Marie-Anne-Antoine de Latil (1826). Coppiere maggiore (1827-1836). Qualificator of the Holy Office. Vicar of S. Maria in Via Lata (1828). Apostolic ablegato to bring the red biretta to Cardinal Filippo Giudice-Caracciolo, Orat., archbishop of Naples (1833). Secretary of the S.C. of Studies (June 1834).

Episcopate. Elected titular archbishop of Efeso, July 11, 1836. Consecrated, July 17, 1836, in the patriarchal Liberian basilica, Rome, by Pope Gregory XVI, assisted by Giovanni Soglia Cereoni, titular Latin patriarch of Constantinople, secretary of the S.C. of Bishops and Regulars, and by Giovanni Giacomo Sinibaldi, titular archbishop of Damiata, president of Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. In the same ceremony was consecrated Karl August von Reisach, bishop of Eischtätt. Nuncio to Austria, July 18, 1836. Assistant at the Pontifical Throne, July 19, 1836.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal and reserved in pectore in the consistory of December 14, 1840; published in the consistory of April 21, 1845; received the red hat, September 11, 1845; and the title of S. Maria in Portico Campitelli, deaconry elevated pro illa vice to title, November 24, 1845. Pro-secretary of Memorials, 1845-1847. Participated in the conclave of 1846, which elected Pope Pius IX. President of Rome and its district, November 2, 1847. Member of the triumvirate that governed Rome between July 1849 and April 1850; the other two members were Cardinals Luigi Vannicelli Casoni and Gabrielle della Genga Sermattei. Secretary of Memorials, January 17, 1855 to 1857. Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, March 19, 1857 until his death. President of the Consulta of State for Finances, December 1859. Opted for the order of cardinal bishops and the suburbicarian see of Albano, December 17, 1860. Prefect of the S.C. of the Index, September 5, 1861 until December 28, 1864. Archpriest of the patriarchal Lateran basilica, March 8, 1863. Archchancellor of the Roman University. During the cholera epidemic that affected his diocese, he assisted the sick and the dying and he himself contracted the malady.

Death. August 11, 1867, Albano, of cholera. The funeral took place in the church of S. Maria in Portico Campitelli, Rome; buried, temporarily, in the cemetery of Albano. Later, his remains were transferred to the Cathedral of San Pancrazio of Albano.

Beatification. On November 22, 2009, Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano initiated the diocesan inquest for his cause of beatification in a ceremony held at that cathedral.

Bibliography. Bianchini, Antonio. Della preziosa morte di Ludovico Altieri, cardinale di S.R.C., vescovo Albano : ragionamento. Roma : F.lli Monaldi, 1867; Doria, Piero. Il cardinale Ludovico Altieri : vescovo di Albano (1860-1867). Prefazione di Marcello Semeraro. Ariccia (RM) : Aracne editrice int.le S.r.l., 2015. (Thesaurus, 1); Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen VII (1800-1846). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 34, 46 and 188; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen VIII (1846-1903). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1979, pp. 43 and 62; Squicciarini, Donato. Nunzi apostolici a Vienna. Città del Vaticano : Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1998, pp. 207-209.

Webgraphy. Biography by Vittorio Emanuele Giuntella, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 2 (1960), Treccani; his image and biography, in Italian, Wikipedia; his arms, portrait and engraving, Araldica Vaticana.

(1) This is according to Ritzler, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, VII, 188; and his genealogy, linked above; Squicciarini, Nunzi apostolici a Vienna, p. 207; and his entry in Dizionario biografico degli Italiani, II, 559, indicates that he was born on July 11, 1805.

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(54) 2. BELLI, Silvestro (1781-1844)

Birth. December 29, 1781, Anagni. Of a patrician family. Son of Tommaso Belli and Diomira Rinaldi. His brother Francesco was an auditor (1816) and internuncio of the nunciature in Lucerne (1818-1819) and died in 1820. His first name is also listed as Silvester.

Education. Studied in the Seminary of Anagni; and later, with Canon Carticoni. Studied law in Rome.

Early life. He was secretary of the Bishop of Anagni, Giovanni Devoti (1800). Canon coadjutor of the Anagni Cathedral (1803). Professor of Physics, Metaphysics and Mathematics of the Seminary of Anagni (1804). Titular canon of the cathedral of Anagni (1811); then professor of philosophy and rector of the Seminary until 1817. Being still a canon coadjutor of Anagni, he took the oath of fidelity to Emperor Napoléon I of France, like almost the entire clergy of the diocese, following the instructions of the then bishop Gioacchino Tosi (then suspended in 1815), and in 1814 he had to retract himself. Entered at the service of the Roma Curia as privy chamberlain supernumerary. Sommista of the S.C. of Propaganda Fide (1820) and censor of the Academy of Catholic Religion (1822). Secretary of the Apostolic Commission for the Netherlands (1823-1825). Canon beneficiary of the Patriarchal Vatican Basilica and auditor of Cardinal Ignazio Nasalli. Pro-sigillatore of the Apostolic Penitentiary (1826-1832). Named garde-robe by Pope Pius VIII before April 4, 1829. Domestic prelate of His Holiness, July 2, 1830. Civil lieutenant of the tribunal of the Vicariate of Rome, July 2, 1830. Referendary of the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Justice, July 15, 1830. Named prelate of the S.C. of the Ecclesiastical Immunity before September 4, 1830. Named apostolic delegate in Benevento before June 25, 1831; in Orvieto, before October 5, 1831 and in Fermo, before June 27, 1832. Recalled to Rome, he was named canon of the patriarchal Vatican basilica, June 29, 1834. Substitute of internal affairs at the Secretariat of State, August 1, 1834. Secretary of the S.C. Consistorial and of the Sacred College of Cardinals, July 11, 1836. Assessor of the S.C. of the Supreme S.C. of the Holy Office, before November 3, 1838. Examiner of the bishops in canon law, December 18, 1839.

Sacred orders. (No information found).

Cardinalate. Created cardinal and reserved in pectore in the consistory of December 14, 1840; published in the consistory of July 12, 1841; received the red hat and the title of S. Balbina, July 15, 1841.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Iesi, January 24, 1842. Consecrated, February 24, 1842, in the church of S. Lorezno in Damaso, Rome, by Cardinal Carlo Pedicini, assisted by Fabio Maria Asquini, titular archbishop of Tarso, and by Stefano Scerra, titular bishop of Orope.

Death. September 9, 1844, Iesi. Exposed and buried in the cathedral of Iesi.

Bibliography. Boutry, Philippe Souverain et Pontife : recherches prosopographiques sur la curie romaine à l'âge de la restauration, 1814-1846. Rome : Ecole française de Rome, 2002, p. 312; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen VIII (1846-1903). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1979, pp. 32, 40 and 61.

Webgrapht. His engraving and biography, in Italian, Wikipedia; his engraving and arms, Araldica Vatciana

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