The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

Biographical Dictionary
[Antipope] John XXIII (1410-1415)
Pisa Obedience
Consistory of November 18, 1413 (III)


(17) 1. ISOLANI, Giacomo (1360-1431)

Birth. 1360, Bologna. Second of the three children of Giovanni degli Isolani, gonfaloniere of justice, who was beheaded in 1389, and Marzia Alidosi, of the signori of Imola. The other siblings were Giovanna and Lodovico (papal ambassador and gonfaloniere of justice). His last name is also listed as Insulanus. He was called the Cardinal of S. Eustachio. Another cardinal of the family was Guido Pepoli (1589), an Isolani on his mother's side.

Education. Studied at the University of Bologna and obtained a doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law.

Early life. He first was a solider. He got married in 1378 with Bartolomea Ludovisi and they had four children: Marzia, Giovanni, Agostino and Margarita; his wife died in 1405. Professor of law at the University of Bologna from 1383; when his father was decapitated for treason and his possessions confiscated, he went in exile until 1398; his wife died in 1405; professor at Pavia in 1405; he entered the ecclesiastical state. Named apostolic nuncio before King Ladislas of Naples, May 22, 1405. Attended the Council of Pisa in 1409. Supported Antipope John XXIII, who named him nuncio to recover the lands of the church that had been occupied by condottieri.

Cardinalate. Created pseudocardinal deacon of S. Eustachio in the consistory of November 18, 1413. Legate of the province of the Patrimony in 1414. Named vicar of the antipope at Rome on September 9, 1414, when the former left the city; as vicar, he had to seek refuge in Castello Sant'Angelo during the siege of Braccio di Montone between June and September 1417; for this reason, he could not participate in the conclave of 1417, which elected Pope Martin V. Opted for the deaconry of S. Maria Nuova in 1420.

Episcopate. Administrator of the see of Melfi, 1420; occupied the post until January 24, 1425. Named legate in Perugia in 1424. Named governor of Genoa by the duke of Milan on November 15, 1424; occupied the post for five years. Legate of Pope Eugenius IV in France in 1430. He wrote several works on law.

Death. February 9, 1431, near Milan, on his return from France. Buried in the Cistercian church of S. Ambrogio, Milan (1).

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, III, 22-25; 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, II, col. 809; "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931. Paris : Maison de la Bonne Presse, 1931, p. 161; 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. 33, 50 and 335; Weber, Christoph and Becker, Michael. Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte. 6 v. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 1999-2002. (Päpste und Papsttum, Bd. 29, 1-6), II, 536.

Webgraphy. Biography by Giorgio Tamba, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 62 (2004), Treccani; his portrait, Rettorato, Area Ragioneria, Stanza 19, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy; his engraving, Archiginnasio di Bologna, Bologna, Italy; another engraving, Archiginnasio di Bologna, Bologna, Italy; another engraving, Archiginnasio di Bologna, Bologna, Italy; his engraving, arms and portrait, Araldica Vaticana.

(1) This is according to "Essai de liste générale des cardinaux. VI. Les cardinaux du Grand Schisme (1378-1417)". Annuaire Pontifical Catholique 1931, p. 161; Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, III, 25; and Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 809, add that other sources indicate that he was buried in the church of S. Maria di Calunzano, or Calvenzano, a parish in Milan.

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