(2) 1. PARAVICINI, Ottavio (1552-1611)
Birth. July 11, 1552, Rome. Son of Giovanni Michele Paravicini and Lomellina Laudata, from Gaeta. He belonged to a patrician family originally from Como, that had gobe to Rome in the first half of the century and practice the mercantile activities. The father, who died in 1565, was registered in the mercantile corporation of Ripa, while and uncle, Pietro Paolo, a physician, had stayed in Lombardy and was ascribed to the Milanese patriciate. His first name is also listed as Ottaviano; and his last name as Parravicini.
Education. From childhood, around the age of four, he came into contact with the environment that revolved around Father Filippo Neri, a friend and acquaintance of his father, and with the Philippine oratory of S. Girolamo della Carità. He had Father Cesare Baronio as tutor and Father Filippo Neri was his confessor, as he recounted extensively in the depositions he made at the process for the canonization of the latter. Even later, he remained strongly linked to the Oratorian environment and in particular to Fathers Cesare Baronio and Francesco Maria Tarugi, who later was his colleague in the College of Cardinals. While his elder brother, Pier Francesco, continued the family, marrying Giulia Porcari in 1577, Ottavio was initiated into the religious life. It is probable that, in addition to Paravicini's family strategies and personal aspirations, fears of poor health weighed in his choice. Having reached the age of majority, he appeared in fact characterized by a thoracic deformation and some ocular disease, as well as by an overall weak physique. For almost twenty years, he served the Mass celebrated by Filippo Neri. Father Cesare Baronio, Orat., was his godfather when he received the sacrament of confirmation.
Early life. He travelled to Spain with Cardinal Antoine de Granvelle from 1580 to 1583.
Sacred orders. He had not received them in 1584 when he was elected bishop of Alessandria.
Episcopate. Elected bishop of Alessandria, with dispensation for not having yet received the sacred orders, March 5, 1584. Consecrated, July 15, 1584, cathedral of Milan, by Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, archbishop of Milan, assisted by Filippo Sega, bishop of Piacenza, and by Francesco Bosio, bishop of Novara. He took possession of the see in July 1584 and, in September, began his first pastoral visit. While often remaining absent from the diocese, he started a strong episcopal government, promoting various innovations in pastoral and religious life and an overall modernization of religious structures, thanks to the action of his vicars Girolamo and Orazio Confalonieri. In particular, he carried out important works to adapt the cathedral, in order to enhance the most important religious objects, according to a religious-pedagogical program of a Tridentine and Borromean character, and of the bishopric. Named nuncio to Switzerland, with faculties of legate a latere, on September 19, 1587. As part of an effort, already tenaciously pursued by Pope Gregory XIII, to strengthen the presence of permanent papal representatives in that area. The political-religious reality in which Nuncio Paravicini was called to work was particularly difficult, not only due to the confessional fracture, which was accentuated after the formation in 1586-1587 of a League of Catholic cantons, but also due to the complex mosaic of political and ecclesiastical powers that characterized Switzerland. His predecessor, Giovambattista Santoni, despite having achieved notable successes in the military strengthening of the Catholic cantons, had come into conflict with the government of the city of Lucerne, which exercised various powers over local ecclesiastical benefits, and had had to be recalled in August 1587. In addition to acting as a political observer for the benefit of the Holy See and the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Nuncio Paravicini had to deal with the tensions that occurred in the canton of Appenzell, where the Protestant minority had tried to assert itself over a Catholic majority. However, following a general assembly of the cantons (April 1588), it was possible to guarantee the pre-eminence of the Catholic religion. It was a first, important success in the work of consolidating Catholicism in Switzerland, which was strengthened, in July 1590, by the conversion of the Margrave James III of Baden-Hochberg. From a strictly religious point of view, he promoted the residence of the bishops, favoring the passage of the diocese of Constance from Cardinal Mark Sittich von Hohenems to Cardinal Andreas von Austria, after the possibility of granting it to a prelate of certain reliability such as Jacob Fugger had vanished. He also tried to consolidate ecclesiastical discipline, supporting the action of the Capuchins and the Jesuits, who in 1588 started the construction of a church in Lucerne.
Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of March 6, 1591; he did not immediately reached Rome but stayed in Switzerland to promote the recruitment of a contingent of mercenaries destined to support the expeditionary force sent by the pontiff in support of the Catholic League that opposed King Henri IV of France. In August, he was designated as legate to France in place of Marsilio Landriano, but the appointment was unsuccessful due to the uncertainties of the papal policy on the line to be followed in that phase of the war between King Henri IV and the Catholic League and, in December, he was replaced in Pais by Nuncio Filippo Sega. He received the red hat and the title of S. Giovanni a Porta Latina on November 20, 1591. Participated in the conclave of 1591, which elected Pope Innocent IX. Named member of the German Congregation, established to support the efforts of re-Catholicization in the area of the Empire. He maintained the post under the pontificates of Pope Clement VIII and Pope Paul V. Participated in the conclave of 1592, which elected Pope Clement VIII. Opted for the title of S. Alessio, March 9, 1592. He was a member of the Congregations of the Council and for the Examination of Bishops, and, from 1595, vice-protector of the Empire; after the death of Cardinal Ludovico Madruzzo, in April 1600, he effectively carried out the function of protector of the Empire, which was formally recognized to him in 1603. However, even before this date he had worked as the main representative in Rome of the interests of the Habsburgs of Austria, acting in close liaison with the ambassadors of Emperor Rudolf II. Resigned the government of the diocese of Alessandria before May 10, 1596. Cardinal Paravicini received, since 1601, a pension of 1000 scudi from King Felipe III of Spain, although he did not stand out for openly pro-Spanish positions. Beyond the artistic commissions, not much is known about the cardinal's relationship with the culture of his time. However, there is evidence of some relationship with Torquato Tasso, a recluse in the monastery of S. Onofrio of which Cardinal Paravicini was protector, and we know that, in 1602, the cardinal took the young Friulian scholar Ludovico Leporeo into his service, employed as a scribe at the Apostolic Dataria. Participated in the first conclave of 1605, which elected Pope Leo XI. Participated in the second conclave of 1605, which elected Pope Paul V. During the pontificate of Pope Paul V, he still played a role of some importance in the negotiations for the defense of Catholic interests in the imperial and Habsburg territories, in opposition to the requests of the Bohemian states, and for the settlement of the conflicts between Emperor Rudolf II and his brother Emperor Matthias. He also took care of promoting the career of his nephew Erasmo Paravicini (1580-1640), who in 1611 was appointed bishop of Alessandria. In 1606, after having resided for a long time in rented buildings, he acquired the palace of the Rustici family (now Besso), in the Sant’Eustachio district, for 20,000 scudi, starting an overall renovation, not yet fully completed when he died. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, January 7, 1608 to January 12, 1609.
Death. February 3 (1), 1611, Rome. Buried on the left side of the main altar of the church of S. Alessio on the Aventine, Rome.
Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, V, pp. 314-315; 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. 1842-1843; Cosola, Paola. Documenti vaticani per la storia di Alessandria : il cardinale Ottavio Paravicini vescovo di Alessandria, riformatore e nunzio apotolico (1552-1611). Alessandria : [s.n.], 1991. (Biblioteca dell'Accademia Olubrense, 7); Cosola, Paola. La nunziatura in Svizzera di Ottavio Paravicini vescovo di Alessandria : 1587-1591 : corrispondenza della sua missione diplomatica. Roma : [s.n.], 1994. (Biblioteca dell'Accademia Olubrense, 18); 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, 54, 103; 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. 178-179; Fratarcangeli, Margherita. Per un profilo del cardinal Ottavio Paravicino. Roma : Società Romana Storia Patria, 2014; Gauchat, Patritium. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1935; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, IV, 39, 42, 77; Giddey, Ernest, Le nonce Ottavio Paravicini. Zurich : [s.n.], 1955; Guerrieri Borsoi, Maria Barbara. Palazzo Besso : la dimora dai Rustici ai Paravicini e gli affreschi di Tarquinio Ligustri. Roma : Editore Colombo, ©2000. (Memorie romane); Guillimann, François ; Gemperlin, Abraham. Carmen gratulatorium ad amplissimum et illustrissimum Dominum, Dominum Octavium Paravicinum, Episcopum Alexandrinum, apud Helvetios apostolicum legatum, recens vero a S.D.N. Gregorio XIIII. Pont. Max. creatum S.R.E. Cardinalem. Friburgi Helvetiorum : Ex officina typographica Abrahami Gemperlini, 1591; Paravicini, Ottavio ; Cosola, paola. La nunziatura in Svizzera di Ottavio Paravicini, vescovo di Alessandria (1587-1591) : corrispondenza della sua missione diplomatica. Genova : Accademia Olubrense, 1995. (Biblioteca dell'Accademia Olubrense, 18); Pinto, Valter. "Dipinti chiaramente devoti : le scelte artistiche del cardinale Ottavio Paravicino", in Kronos, 13 (2009), 1, 153-158; Prigione, Gerolamo. Ottavio Paravicini Vescovo di Alessandria e la nunziatura svizzera (1587-1591). [S.l.] : [s.n.], 1951. Dissertation: Tesi theol. Roma. Edition/Format: Thesis/dissertation : Thesis/dissertation : Italian.
Webgraphy. Biography by Stefano Tabacchi, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 81 (2014), Treccani; biography, in Italian, Wikipedia; his engraving and arms, Araldica Vaticana; his tomb, S. Alessio, Rome, Requiem Datenbank.
(1) This is according to his epitaph, linked above, which says that he died "III Non. Febr.". The nonas were the fifth day of the Roman month and placing "III" before it indicates that it was three days before the fifth of February (counting it), therefore, the third of the month; Gauchat, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, IV, 39, indicates that he died on February 5, 1611.
(3) 2. ACQUAVIVA D'ARAGONA, seniore, Ottavio (1560-1612)
Birth. 1560, Naples. Of a patrician family. Son of Giovanni Girolamo Acquaviva d'Aragona, tenth duke of Atri, and Margherita Pio di Carpi. His last names are also listed as Aquaviva; and as d'Aragonia. Nephew of Cardinal Giovanni Vincenzo Acquavivad'Aragona (1542) and of Father Claudio Acquaviva, S.J., superior general of the Society of Jesus. Brother of Cardinal Giulio Acquaviva d'Aragona (1570) and of Blessed Ridolfo Acquaviva, S.J., martyred in the East Indies in 1583. Grand-uncle of Cardinal Ottavio Acquaviva d'Aragona, iuniore (1654). Other cardinals of the family are Francesco Acquaviva d'Aragona (1706); Troiano Acquaviva d'Aragona (1732); and Pasquale Acquaviva d'Aragona (1770).
Education. Studied at the University of Perugia belle lettere and Greek; and earned a doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law.
Early life. Went to Rome. Referendary of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace, 1584 (1). Domestic prelate of His Holiness. Vice-legate in the province of the Patrimony. Governor of Viterbo, March 20, 1589. Majordome (or oeconmous) of Pope Gregory XIV, 1590-1591.
Sacred orders. (No information found).
Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of March 6, 1591; received the red hat and the deaconry of S. Giorgio in Velabro, April 5, 1591. Legate in Campagna e Marittima, March 3, 1591. Participated in the conclave of 1591, which elected Pope Innocent IX. Participated in the conclave of 1592, which elected Pope Clement VIII. Opted for the order of cardinal priests and the title of S. Maria del Popolo, March 15, 1593. Legate in Avignon, 1593 to 1601; from 1597 resided he in Rome. Opted for the title of Ss. Giovanni e Paolo, April 22, 1602. Participated in the first conclave of 1605, which elected Pope Leo XI. Participated in the second conclave of 1605, which elected Pope Paul V. Opted for the title of S. Prassede, June 5, 1605.
Episcopate. Elected archbishop of Naples, August 31, 1605 (2). Consecrated, September 18, 1605, church of the Gesù, Rome, by Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino, assisted by Antonio Caetani, archbishop of Capua, and by Bonifazio Caetani, bishop of Cassano all'Ionio. Celebrated diocesan synods in 1607, 1611 and 1612. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, January 12, 1609 to January 11, 1610.
Death. December 5, 1612 (3), Naples. Buried in the metropolitan cathedral of Naples (4). His funeral monument is in the sacristy of the chapel of Monte di Pietà, Naples (5).
Bibliography. Berton, Charles. Dictionnaire des cardinaux, contenant des notions générales sur le cardinalat, la nomenclature complète ..., des cardinaux de tous les temps et de tous les pays ... les détails biographiques essentiels sur tous les cardinaux ... de longues études sur les cardinaux célèbre .... Paris : J.-P. Migne, 1857 ; Facsimile edition. Farnborough ; Gregg, 1969, col. 249-254; Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, V, pp. 317-320; 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. 1845; 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, 54 and 73; Gauchat, Patritium. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1935; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, IV, 43, 45, 48 and 254; Katterbach, Bruno. Referendarii utriusque Signaturae a Martino V ad Clementem IX et Praelati Signaturae Supplicationum a Martino V ad Leonem XIII. Città del Vaticano 1931. (Studi e Testi 55), pp. 156, 178, 193, 208; Oldoini, Agostino. Athenaeum Romanum : in qvo summorum pontificum, ac pseudopontificum, nec non s.r.e. cardinalium et pseudocard. scripta publich exponuntur. Perusiae [i.e. Perugia] : Ex typographia Camerali, apud haeredes Sebastiani Zechini, 1676. Republished in 1969 by Gregg International Publishers Limited, 1 Westmead, Farnborough, Hants., England, p. 511-512; 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. and 132, 181, 430, 440; Zedler, Johann Heinrich, and Carl Günther Ludovici. Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon aller Wissenschafften und Künste. 64 v. Graz, Adakemische Druck, 1961- . Reprint. Originially published : Halle : J. H. Zedler, 1732-50. Vols. 19-64 ed. by Carl Günther Ludovici; Zigarelli, Daniello Maria. Biografie dei vescovi e arcivescovi della chiesa di Napoli con una descrizione del clero, della cattedrale, della basilica di s. Restituta e della cappella del tesoro di s. Gennaro. Napoli: Tipografico di G. Gioja, 1861, pp. 152-156.
Webgraphy. Biography, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 1 (1960), Treccani; his engraving by Jacopo Piccino, Antiquariat Hille, Berlin; his tomb, Requiem Darenbank; engravings and arms, Araldica Vaticana; Acquaviva cardinals by Thomas Shahan, in English, The Catholic Encyclopedia.
(1) This is according to Weber, Legati e governatori dello Stato Pontificio : 1550-1809, p. 440, his prosopography, linked above, indicates that he
was named on March 6, 1591.
(2) This is according to Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, III, 254; Zigarelli, Biografie dei vescovi e
arcivescovi della chiesa di Napoli, p. 152, says that he was named on April 1, 1605 by Pope Leo XI but that this pontiff died before the bull of appointment was issued;
Pope Leo XI reigned for only twenty seven days.
(3) This is according to Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, III, 54 and his prosopography
linked above; Zedler, Grosses vollständiges Universal-Lexicon aller Wissenschafften und Künste, indicates that he died on September 12, 1612.Chacón,
Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalvm, II, col. 1845 indicates that he died on December 15, 1612.
(4) This is the text of his
epitaph taken from Oldoino, Athenaeum Romanum, p. 511-512:
(4) 3. FARNESE, Odoardo (1573-1626)
Birth. December 7 (or 8), 1573, Parma. Of the dukes of Parma. Youngest of the the three children of Alessandro Farnese, third duke of Parma and Piacenza, and Princess Maria de Portugal. The other siblings were Margherita (a Benedictine nun) and Ranuccio. The father also had an illegitimate daughter, Isabella Margherita, by Catherine de Roquoi. His first name is also listed as Edoardo. Great grand-son of Pope Paul III; and grand-nephew of Cardinals Alessandro Farnese, iuniore (1534) and Ranuccio Farnese, O.S.Io.Hieros. (1545). Uncle of Cardinal Mario Alberizzi (1675).
Education. Educated under his uncle Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, iuniore.
Early life. Resigned the duchy of Parma in favor of his brother Ranuccio. Abbot commendatario of Grottaferrata, March 1589.
Sacred orders. (No information found).
Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of March 6, 1591. Participated in the conclave of 1591, which elected Pope Innocent IX. Received the red hat and the deaconry of S. Adriano, November 20, 1591. Participated in the conclave of 1592, which elected Pope Clement VIII. Opted for the deaconry of S. Eustachio, June 12, 1595. Governor of Vetralla, 1600. Legate in Viterbo, September 25, 1600. Participated in the first conclave of 1605, which elected Pope Leo XI. Participated in the second conclave of 1605, which elected Pope Paul V. Opted for the deaconry of S. Maria in Via Lata, November 13, 1617. Cardinal protodiacono. Opted for the order of cardinal priests, January 11, 1621; no title was assigned to him at the time. Did not participate in the conclave of 1621, which elected Pope Gregory XV.
Episcopate. Opted for the order of cardinal bishops and the suburbicarian see of Sabina, March 3, 1621. Consecrated, Friday July 2, 1621. Gesù church, Rome, by Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino, assisted by Diofebo Farnese, titular Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and by Galeazzo Sanvitale, archbishop of Bari. Protector of Portugal. After 1622 he ruled the duchy of Parma as regent during the minority of his nephew. Participated in the conclave of 1623, which elected Pope Urban VIII. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Frascati, September 27, 1623 (1).
Death. February 21, 1626 (2), Parma. Transferred to Rome, was buried in front of the main altar of the Jesuit church of Gesù (3).
Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, V, pp. 315-317; 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. 1843-1844; Combaluzier, Fernand. "Sacres épiscopaux à Rome de 1565 à 1662. Analyse intégrale du Ms. «Miscellanea XIII, 33» des Archives Vaticanes." Sacris Eruduri, XVIII (1967-1968), p. 191; 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, 54; Gauchat, Patritium. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1935; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, IV, 38, 51 and 53; Mansour, Opher. "Cardinal vistues : Odoardo Farnese in his Camerino" in The possessions of a Cardinal : politics, piety, and art, 1450-1700. Edited by Mary Hollingsworth & Carol M. Richardson. University Park, Pa. : Pennsylvania State University Press, 2010, p. 226-248; Weber, Christoph and Becker, Michael. Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte. 6 v. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 1999-2002. (Päpste und Papsttum, Bd. 29, 1-6), III, 527; 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.424, 430 and 659; Witte, Arnold A. The iconography ex contrario of the 'Contento', or: Odoardo Farnese as a patron of Elsheimer. München : Hirmer, 2008.
Webgraphy. Biography by Roberto Zapperi, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 45 (1995), Treccani; biography, in Italian, diocese of Frascati; portraits, genealogy and biography in English, Wikipedia; his genealogy, A2 B3 C1 D3, EU Genealogy; his portrait by Annibale Carracci, Wikimedia; Cardinals Alessandro and Odoardo Farnese, atrium of the sacristy, Gesù Church, Rome, Wikipedia; engravings, portrait and arms, Araldica Vaticana; his portrait by Scipione Pulzone (maniera), scuola romana, secolo XVII (1600-1605), regione ecclesiastica Lazio, diocese Civitavecchia-Tarquinia, Beni Ecclesiastici in Web (BeWeB); his arms and prosopography, in German, Requiem Datenbank; his tomb, Requiem Datenbank; The artistic patronage of Cardinal Odoardo Farnese by Clare Robertson, in Actes du colloque de Rome (2-4 octobre 1986). Les Carrache et les décors profanes, 1988, 359-372.
(1) This is according to Gauchat, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, IV, 38; Cardella,
Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, V, 315, says that he was named bishop of Frascati in 1624.
(2) Gauchat, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, IV, 38, indicates that he died at 53; Cardella,
Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, V, 317, says that he died at 52.
(3) This is the
inscription on the pavement over his tomb taken from Requiem Datenbank, linked above:
FARNESIO
EPISCOPO TVSCVLANO
ALEXANDRI PARMAE AC PLACENTIAE
DVCIS
ET PRINCIPIS MARIAE LVSITANIAE
FILIO
Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E.
Cardinalvm, II, col. 1844, transcribed the inscription placed in his coffin: ODORADUS Card. FARNESIVS Alexandri
Parmæ, & Placentiæ Ducis, & Mariæ Lusitanæ filius, Alexandri Card. Farnesii, Templi Nominis IESV fundatoris pronepos,
episcopu Tusculanus, Legatus Patrimonii, Domus Professæ Societ. IESV, eiusq. Sacraris fundator, Protector regnorum Lusitaniæ, Aragoniæ, Angliæ Suetiæ, Nationis Helvetiæ Catholicæ, Reip. Ragusinæ, Vallis Tellinæ, Ordinis Caribusiani, Orfanorum, soeminarum et quæs pudicitiæ ad castitatem religiosam refugientum, Hospitsii S, Iacobi Insanabilium, Sodalitatum Rosarii, Caritatii Mortis, Sacri Vexilli, Montis Carmeli, S. Caroli quæ omnia curæ suæ commissæ in Vrbe loca beneficiis, amplissi miis, atque erogate pecunia locupletanus; extra Vrbem in super Coenobia & Temple fundavit; egregium Princeps, Romaneq; Curiæ, ac Sacro Cardinalium Collegio vimax, etiam post mortem, prudentiæ, ac pietatis exemplum, de tanto demum nomine, si virtutem excipiat, exiguus hic cineres.
(5) 4. PIATTI, Flaminio (1550 or 1552-1611)
Birth. July 11, 1552 (or toward 1550), Milan (or Turbigo). Of a patrician family. Son of Girolamo Piatti and Antonia Vicemale (or Vismara). He had several brothers: Ludovico (a physician and member of Collegio dei fisici of Milan; Ottavio (born in 1548, he entered the Society of Jesus, assuming the name Girolamo, and died in 1591); and Domizio (also a jesuit). His last name is also listed as Plato; and as Plattus. Related to Pope Gregory XIV (1590-1591).
Education. Studied law and obtained a doctore in utroque iure, bot canon and civil law, at the University of Pavia.
Early life. Consistorial advocate, 1583. Auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota, 1586.
Sacred orders. (No information found).
Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of March 6, 1591; received the red hat and the deaconry of S. Maria in Domnica, April 5, 1591. Together with twelve other cardinals was charged with the affairs of the duke of Ferrara. Participated in the conclave of 1591, which elected Pope Innocent IX. Participated in the conclave of 1592, which elected Pope Clement VIII. Opted for the deaconry of Ss. Cosma e Damiano, March 9, 1592. Opted for the order of cardinal priests and the title of S. Clemente, March 15, 1593. Opted for the title of S. Onofrio, June 10, 1596. Opted for the title of S. Maria della Pace, April 24, 1600. Participated in the first conclave of 1605, which elected Pope Leo XI. Participated in the second conclave of 1605, which elected Pope Paul V. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, January 11, 1610 to January 10, 1611.
Death. November 1, 1613 (1), Rome. Buried in the Jesuit church of Gesù, Rome (2). His funeral oration was pronounced by a Carmelite friar.
Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, V, pp. 320-321; 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. 1846; 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, 54 and 74; Gauchat, Patritium. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1935; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, IV, 41, 42, 45 and 51; Piatti, Girolamo ; Piatti, Flaminio. De cardinalis dignitate, et officio. Romae : G. Plachi, 1713; Mira, Paolo. "La famiglia Piatti a Turbigo. Quattro secoli di presenza di una nobile casata milanese in un lembo del Seprio", in Rassegna Gallaratese di Storia e d'Arte, LIV (2004), n. 128; Mira, Paolo. "Flaminio Piatti cardinale (1550-1613)", in Bollettino storico per la provincia di Novara, XCI (2000), 121-135; Mira, Paolo. "Turbigo: la devozione a san Diego e il cardinale Flaminio Piatti", in Spicilegium Mediolanense. Studi in onore di Mons. Bruno Maria Bosatra, a cura di Fabrizio Pagani, Archivio Ambrosiano, Vol. IC - Ricerche Storiche sulla Chiesa Ambrosiana, XXIX (2011), Milano, Editrice ITL, 2011; Mira, Paolo ; Morbidelli, Patrizia. "De cardinalis dignitate". Omaggio a Flaminio Piatti, nel IV centenario della morte, e alla sua famiglia. Milano : [s.n.], 2013; Weber, Christoph. Senatus divinus : verborgene Strukturen im Kardinalskollegium der frühen Neuzeit (1500-1800). Frankfurt am Main ; New York : Peter Lang, 1996, p. 428.
Webgraphy.
Biography by Massimo Carlo Giannini, in
Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (2015), Treccani;
(1) This is according to Gauchat, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, IV, 45, indicates that he died on November 1, 1613; Weber,
Senatus divinus, p. 428; and Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, V, 321, who also indicate that he died in 1613;
Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, III, 54; says that he died on November 2, 1612; and Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm
Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalvm, II, col. 1846, says that he died in 1611.
(2) This is the text of his epitaph placed on the floor above his tomb as transcribed by
Ferdinando Unghelli in Chacón's, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalvm, II, col. 1846:
NERI, Orat., Filippo (1515-1595)
Birth. July 22, 1515, Florence. He was the youngest child of Francesco Neri, a lawyer, and his wife, Lucrezia da Mosciano, whose family were nobles in the service of the state. His baptismal name was Filippo Romolo.
Education. He was carefully brought up, receiving his early education from the friars at San Marco, the famous Dominican Monastery in Florence. He was accustomed in later life to ascribe most of his progress to the teaching of two among them, Zenobio de' Medici and Servanzio Mini. At the age of eighteen, he was sent to his uncle, Romolo, a wealthy merchant at San Germano, a Neapolitan town near the base of Monte Cassino, to assist him in his business, and with the hope that he might inherit his uncle's fortune. He did gain Romolo's confidence and affection, but soon after coming to San Germano, Filippo had a conversion. He no longer cared for things of the world and chose to go to live in Rome in 1533.
Early life. After arriving in Rome, he became a tutor in the house of a Florentine aristocrat named Galeotto Caccia. After two years he began to pursue his own studies, for a period of three years, under the guidance of the Augustinians. Following this, he began those labors amongst the sick and poor which gained him in later life the title of "Apostle of Rome", and also ministering to the prostitutes of the city. In 1538, he entered on the home mission work for which he became famous. He travelled throughout the city, seeking opportunities of entering into conversation with people, and of leading them on to consider the topics he desired to set before them. In 1548, he founded with his confessor, Father Persiano Rossa, the confraternity of the Santissima Trinità de' Pellegrini e de' Convalescenti, whose primary object was to minister to the needs of the thousands of poor pilgrims who flock to Rome, especially in years of jubilee, and also to relieve the patients discharged from hospitals but who were still too weak for labor. In 1551, he reeived all the minor orders and the diaconate.
Priesthood. Ordained, May 23, 1551. He thought of going to India as a missionary, but was dissuaded by his friends who saw that there was abundant work to be done in Rome. Accordingly, he settled down, with some companions, at the hospital of San Girolamo della Carità, and while there tentatively began, in 1556, the institute with which his name is more especially connected, that of the Oratory. The scheme at first was no more than a series of evening meetings in a hall (the Oratory), at which there were prayers, hymns, readings from Scripture, from the church fathers, and from the Martyrology, followed by a lecture, or by discussion of some religious question proposed for consideration. The musical selections (settings of scenes from sacred history) were called oratorios. The scheme was developed, and the members of the society undertook various kinds of mission work throughout Rome, notably the preaching of sermons in different churches every evening, a completely new idea at that time. He also spent much of his time hearing confessions, and effected many conversions in this way. In 1564, the Florentines requested that he leave San Girolamo, and to oversee their church in Rome, San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, then newly built. He was at first reluctant, but by consent of Pope Pius IV he accepted, while retaining the charge of San Girolamo, where the exercises of the Oratory were kept up. At this time the new society included among its members Cesare Baronio, the ecclesiastical historian; Francesco Maria Tarugi, afterwards archbishop of Avignon; and Ottavio Paravicini, all three subsequently cardinals, and also Gallonius, author of a well-known work on the "Sufferings of the Martyrs", Ancina, Bordoni, and other men of ability and distinction. In 1574, the Florentines built a large oratory or mission-room for the society, next to San Giovanni, in order to save them the fatigue of the daily journey to and from San Girolamo, and to provide a more convenient place of assembly, and the headquarters were transferred there. As the community grew, and its mission work extended, the need for a church entirely its own, and not subject to other claims, as were San Girolamo and San Giovanni, made itself felt, and the offer of the small parish church of Santa Maria in Vallicella, conveniently situated in the middle of Rome, was made and accepted. The building, however, was not large enough for their purpose, was pulled down, and a splendid church erected on the site. It was immediately after taking possession of their new quarters that Father Filippo formally organized, under permission of a papal bull dated July 15, 1575, a community of secular priests, called the Congregation of the Oratory. The new church was consecrated early in 1577, and the clergy of the new society at once resigned the charge of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini. However, Father Filippo himself did not leave San Girolamo until 1583, and then only by virtue of an injunction of the pope that he, as the superior, should reside at the chief house of his congregation. He was at first elected for a term of three years (as is usual in modern societies), but in 1587, he was nominated superior for life. He was, however, entirely free from personal ambition, and had no desire to be general over a number of dependent houses, so that he desired that all congregations formed on his model outside Rome should be autonomous, governing themselves, and without endeavoring to retain control over any new colonies they might themselves send out - a regulation afterwards formally confirmed by a brief of Pope Gregory XV in 1622.
Cardinalate. Pope Gregory XIV had tried to elevate him to the Sacred College of Cardinlas, but thanking him for the offer, he stated to the pontiff that “once he maked up his mind on receiving it, he would let him know”. But, his positive answer never arrived. On numerous occasions, Pope Clement VIII tried everything to create him a cardinal, but he always refused stating that "he preferred heaven” rather than such a hat. He did, however, kept it and wore it when playing, jumping or running with the children.
Death. May 26, 1595, at 2 a.m., feast of the Corpus Christi that year, which he spent hearing confessions and receiving visitors. About midnight he began hemorrhaging, and Father Cesare Baronio read the commendatory prayers over him. Father Baronio asked him to bless his spiritual sons before dying, and though he could no longer speak, he blessed them with the sign of the cross and died. His incorrupt body is conserved in the Chiesa Nuova, Rome.
Beatification. He was beatified by Pope Paul V on May 25, 1615.
Canonization. He was canonized by Pope Gregory XV on March 15, 1622. His memorial is celebrated on May 26, in the traditional calendar and on May 25, in the reformed calendar He is honored as the patron of the city of Rome.
Webgraphy Biography by Pericle Perali, in Italian, Enciclopedia Italiana (1932), Treccani; biography by Vittorio Frajese, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, in Italian, Volume 47 (1997), Treccani; biography, in English, Ecyclopaedia Brittanica; biography by Charles Sebastian Ritchie, The Catholic Encyclopedia; St Philip Neri. Celebrated on May 26th, Independent Catholic News; Saint of the Day: St. Philip Neri, Aleteia; images and biography, in Italia, Wikipedia; La Roma ignaziana, San Filippo amico di Sant' Ignazio by Angela Ambrogetti, ACI Stampa, Città del Vaticano, 11 luglio, 2022 / 2:00 PM.
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