(1) 1. CAFFARELLI-BORGHESE, Scipione (1576-1633)

Birth. 1576 (1), Rome. Of a patrician family. Only child of Marcantonio Caffarelli and Ortensia Borghese, sister of Pope Paul V (1605-1621). Cousin of Cardinal Giambattista Leni (1608). He is also listed as Scipione Borghese; and his last name as Borghese Caffarelli. With permission of Pope Paul V, considering that his family did not have a male descendant to assist him, Scipione adopted the last name and the arms of the Borghese family at his promotion to the cardinalate.

Education. Studied philosophy at Collegio Romano; and law at the University of Perugia, with the assistance of his uncle, the future pope.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of July 18, 1605 (2). Received the four minor orders on July 31, 1605; the subdiaconate on August 1, 1605; and the diaconate on August 5, 1605.

Priesthood. Ordained, August 7, 1605. Received the red hat and the title of S. Crisogono, August 17, 1605. Cardinal nipote. Secretary of Apostolic Briefs in September 1605. Superintendent negotiorum Sanctae Sedis. Governor of Fermo on April 4, 1606. Legate a latere in Avignon and Comtat Venaissin on July 4, 1607. Archpriest of the patriarchal Lateran basilica in 1607, and abbot commendatario of S. Gregorio al Monte Celio, also in 1607 (3). Prefect of the S.C. of the Council in 1607. Abbot commendatario of Subiaco from 1608. Librarian of the Holy Roman Church ad vitam, from June 11, 1609 until February 17, 1618. Grand penitentiary, January 5, 1610 to October 2, 1633.

Episcopate. Elected archbishop of Bologna, October 25, 1610. Consecrated, December 8, 1610, in the Sistine Chapel, Rome, by Pope Paul V, assisted by Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, bishop of Spoleto, and by Cardinal Giovanni Garzia Mellini, bishop of Imola. Never went to his see, governing it through a suffragan bishop. Resigned the government of the archdiocese of Bologna before April 2, 1612 (4). Prefect of Apostolic Briefs, 1612 (?). Prefect of the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Grace, February 16, 1618. Resigned the office of librarian of the Holy Roman Church before February 17, 1618. Protector of Loreto, January 4, 1620. Archpriest of the patriarchal Vatican basilica, 1620. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, January 11, 1621; confirmed for another year, January 10, 1622 until January 9, 1623. Protector of Germany, of Finland, and of several religious orders, among them the Dominicans (since 1606) and the Camaldolese. During the pontificate of his uncle, he accumulated extraordinary power, possessions and rents, both in Rome and in the countryside. Participated in the conclave of 1621, which elected Pope Gregory XV. Participated in the conclave of 1623, which elected Pope Urban VIII. Opted for the order of cardinal bishops and the suburbicarian see of Sabina on August 20, 1629, retaining in commendam the title of S. Crisogono. Then, he retired from active public life. He was a protector of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and ordered the construction of Palazzo Borghese (future Galleria Borghese), where he gathered an extensive and extraordinary art collection. The cardinal was also protector of Italian satirist Trajano Boccalini, who dedicated to him Ragguagli di Parnaso in 1612. He wrote Carmina de cardinalibus a Paulo V creatis ac episcoporum ab eo institutorum præstantia. He was a close friend and protector of Cardinal Stefano Pignatelli.

Death. October 2, 1633, in his Roman palace (5). Buried in the tomb of his family in the patriarchal Liberian basilica, Rome (6).

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. 9 vols. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, VI, 118-120; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen III (1503-1592). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1935; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, pp. ; Faber, Martin. Scipione Borghese als Kardinalprotektor : Studien zur römischen Mikropolitik in der Frühen Neuzeit. Mainz : von Zabern, 2005. (Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Europäische Geschichte Mainz, Abteilung für Abendländische Religionsgeschichte ; Bd. 204); Gauchat, Patritium. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen IV (1592-1667). Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1935; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1967, pp. 9, 38 and 41; Meluzzi, Luciano. I vescovi e gli arcivescovi di Bologna. Bologna : Grafica Emiliana, 1975, (Collana storico-ecclesiastica; 3), pp. 418-421; Reinhardt, Volker. Kardinal Scipione Borghese (1605-1633) : Vermögen, Finanzen und sozialer Aufstieg eines Papstnepoten. Tübingen : M. Niemeyer, 1984. (Bibliothek des Deutschen Historischen Instituts in Rom, Bd. 58). Note: A revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--Universitdt Freiburg im Breisgau, 1981 originally presented under the title: Die Finanzen des Kardinals Scipione Borghese (1605-1633).

Webgraphy. Biography by Valerio Castronovo, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 12 (1971); his genealogy, A3 D4 E1, Libro de Oro de la Nobleza del Mediterráneo; his episcopal lineage by Charles N. Bransom Jr., in English, Apostolic Succession in the Roman Catholic Church; detail of his bust by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy, thais.it; another picture of the same bust, Web Gallery of Art; larger picture of the same bust, romascuola.net; his portrait by Ottavio Leoni - Il Padovano, musée Fesch, Ajaccio, Corsica; his portrait by an anonymous artist, Palazzo Corsini, Rome, iccd immagini, Fototeca Nazionale, Rome, Italy; engravings and arms, Araldica Vaticana; Museum and Borghese Gallery, Rome, Italy; his portrait and arms, secolo XIX (1890-1899), archdiocese of Bologna, Beni Ecclesiastici in Web (BeWeb); Familia Borghese by Carlos R. Eguía, in Spanish, Canal Social.

(1) This is according to his brief biographical data in Italian, linked above, and to Meluzzi, I vescovi e gli arcivescovi di Bologna, p. 419. The site of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, also linked above, indicates that he was born in 1579; and that of his brief biographical data in German says that he probably was born in 1579 .
(2) Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, IV, 9, indicates that he was 28 at the moment of his promotion.
(3) This is according to Meluzzi, I vescovi e gli arcivescovi di Bologna, p. 420, who also indicates, erroneously, that in that same year he was named prefect of the S.C. of the Tridentine Council. The prefecture was occupied by Cardinal Francesco Maria Bourbon del Monte from 1605 until 1616. The site of the Borghese family, linked above, also says that he was prefect of that congregation.
(4) Meluzzi, I vescovi e gli arcivescovi di Bologna, p. 420, indicates that after resigning the see of Bologna he obtained the Camerlengato but the post of camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church was occupied by Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini from 1599 until 1621 and he was not elected camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals until 1621.
(5) Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, IV, 9, indicates that he died at 51; Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, VI, 120, says that he died in 1633 at 57 years of age and 24 of cardinalate.
(6) This is the text of the inscription on his vault, kindly provided by Mr. Eman Bonnici, from Malta:

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