(27) 1. PUCCI, Antonio (1484-1544)

Birth. October 8, 1484 (1), Florence. Son of Alessandro Pucci and Sibilla Sassetti. Nephew of Cardinals Lorenzo Pucci (1513) and Roberto Pucci (1542).

Education. University of Pisa, Pisa (poetry, literature, law, theology and Sacred Scriptures).

Sacred orders. Ordained (no information found). Returned from Pisa and was named canon of the cathedral chapter of Florence in 1497; later, its dean; he was a talented preacher. Called to Rome by his uncle Lorenzo, who obtained for him the nomination of cleric of the Apostolic Chamber in 1518. Participated in the V Lateran Council, which took place from 1512-1517; his eloquence caused admiration in the assembly. Nuncio in Switzerland, 1517-1521. Vice-legate against the French who occupied Modena and other territories; he introduced the Swiss troops that went to fight under the flag of the Papal States in 1518.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Pistoia, November 5, 1518; his uncle Cardinal Lorenzo resigned the see in his favor. Consecrated (no information found). Nuncio in France. Arrested by the imperial troops during the sack of Rome in 1527; retained as a hostage; he was mistreated and sentenced to death; when he was about to be hanged in Campo di Fiori, he was able to escape, thanks to a stratagem of Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, and join Pope Clement VII, who sent him to Spain and later to France. Named bishop of Vannes, June 8, 1529 (2); occupied the see until June 10, 1541. Penitentiary major, succeeding his uncle Cardinal Lorenzo, October 1, 1529 until his death.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of September 22, 1531; received the red hat and the title of Ss. Quattro Coronati, September 27, 1531. Celebrated the funeral of his uncle Cardinal Lorenzo, October 23, 1531. One of the two legates named to receive Holy Roman Emperor Charles V when he arrived in Genoa en route to Spain, February 26, 1533. Participated in the conclave of 1534, which elected Pope Paul III. Resigned the government of the see of Pistoia in favor of his uncle Roberto, November 8, 1541. Opted for the title of S. Maria in Trastevere, November 14, 1541; retained the title of Ss. IV Coronati in commendam until October 12, 1544. Fourteen of his homilies on the words of the consecration were published in Bologna in 1541. Opted for the order of cardinal bishops and the suburbicarian see of Albano, February 15, 1542. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Sabina, January 8, 1543. In his villa in Tuscany, he hosted Pope Paul III, who was returning to Rome from the colloquy with Emperor Charles V in Lucca.

Death. Sunday October 12, 1544, at 11 p.m., after suffering from lethargic fever for several days, Bagnoreggio. Buried in the choir of the church of S. Maria sopra Minerva (3); his uncle Cardinal Roberto Pucci composed a magnificent eulogy.

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, IV, 127-129; 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, cols. 1478-1479; 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, 21, 55, 58, 62, 66 and 275; Fink, Urban. Die Luzerner Nuntiatur 1586-1873 : Zur Behördengeschichte und Quellenkunde der päpstlichen Diplomatie in der Schweiz. Luzern ; Stuttgart : Rex Verlag, 1997. (Collectanea Archivi Vaticani ; Bd. 40) (Luzerner Historische Veröffentlichungen ; Bd. 32), p. 88; Weber, Christoph and Becker, Michael. Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte. 6 v. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 1999-2002. (Päpste und Papsttum, Bd. 29, 1-6), IV, 797-798.

Link. His engraving, portrait and arms, Araldica Vaticana.

(1) His epitaph, transcribed in note 3, says that he died in 1544 and lived 60 years and four days, and Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, III, 21, indicates that he died on Sunday October 12, 1544 at 11 p.m., therefore, he was born on October 8, 1484; Weber, Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte, IV, 798, says that he was born in 1485.
(2) Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, IV, 128, says that he briefly occupied the see of Rapolla in 1528 but neither Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, III, 241; nor Pius Bonifatius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae catholicae (Graz : Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1957), p. 896, list him among the occupants of that see. In 1528, the see of Rapolla was absorbed into that of Melfi.
(3) This is the text of his epitaph transcribed by Ferdinando Ughelli in his addition to Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 1479: D. O. M. ANTONIO. PVCCIO. EPISCOPO. SABINO. CARD. SANCTORVM. QVATTVOR. MAIORI. POENITENTIARIO. MORIBVS. EI. RELIGIONE. AC. IN. OMNES. PROBOS. LIBERALITATE. SINGVLARISSIMO. QVI. VIXIT. ANNOS. LX. DIES. IV. ROBERTVS. PVCCIVS.CARDD. SANCTORVM. QVATTVOR. MAIOR. POENIT. FRATRIS. FILIO. IVXTA. CLEMENTEM. PAPAM. VII.A. QVO. PVRPVRAM. ACCEPERAT. SEPVLCHRVM. FACIENDVM. CVRAVIT. MORTEM. OBIIT. ANNO. MDLXIV. Ughelli also transcribed, in the same source, the inscription of a plaque placed by his family in the chapel of S. Sebastiano in the church of Annunziata in Florence: ANTONIO. PVCCIO. ALEXANDRI. F. EPISC. SABINO. CARD. SANCTOR. QVATTVOR. M. POENIT. SACRARVM. LITER. PERISS. ABVD. GALLIÆ. HISPANIÆQ. REGES. LEGATIONE. EGREGIE. FVNCTO. A. CLEM. SEPTIMO. PONT. MAX. IN. CARD. COOPTATO. ROBERTVS. PVCC. VT. EIVS. CONSERVARETVR. MEMORIA. HOC. AVI. SVI. EX. FRATRE. NEPOTI. STATVIT. MONMENTVM. ANN. DOMINI. M. DC. VII.

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