The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

Biographical Dictionary
Pope Clement XIV (1769-1774)
Consistory of April 19, 1773 (XI)


(13) 1. CARAFA DELLA SPINA, Francesco (1722-1818)

Birth. April 29, 1722, Naples. Of one of the premier families of the Neapolitan nobility. Eldest of the ten children of Adriano Antonio Carafa della Spina, Palatine count, first duke of Traetto, and Princess Maria Vittoria Teresa Borghese, of the princes of Sulmona. The other siblings were Andrea, Antonio, Marco Antonio, Giovanni Maria, three girls who were nuns in S. Croce di Luca, and two children who died young. Related to Pope Paul IV on his father's side; and to Pope Paul V on his mother's side. Great-grand-uncle of Cardinal Domenico Carafa della Spina (1844). Other cardinals of the family were Filippo Carafa (1378); Oliviero Carafa (1467); Gianvincenzo Carafa (1527); Carlo Carafa (1555); Diomede Carafa (1555); Alfonso Carafa (1557); Antonio Carafa (1568); Decio Carafa (1611); Pier Luigi Carafa, seniore (1645); Carlo Carafa della Spina (1664); Fortunato Ilario Carafa della Spina (1686); and Marino Carafa di Belvedere (1801). He is also listed as Francesco Carafa only; and his last name as Carafa di Traetto; and as Carafa di Trajetto.

Education. Completed his secondary studies in Naples; then, went to Rome in 1744 to study at La Sapienza University, Rome, where he earned a doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law, on March 22, 1747.

Early life. Privy chamberlain supernumerary March 1745. Entered the Roman prelature as protonotary apostolic participantium, April 6, 1745; and referendary of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace, April 20, 1747. Vice-legate in the city of Ferrara, May 1748 to January 1754. Returned to Rome and was named relator of the S.C. of the Sacred Consulta, December 1753. Prelate of the S.C. of the Ecclesiastical Immunity, August 1754. Relator of the S.C. of Propaganda Fide. Governor of Città di Castello, 1758-1760. After the pope decided to name him nuncio in Venice, he received the subdiaconate on December 22, 1759; and the diaconate on January 13, 1760.

Priesthood. Ordained, January 27, 1760.

Episcopate. Elected titular archbishop of Patras, January 28, 1760. Named nuncio in Venice, January 29, 1760 (1) ; arrived in Venice on the following September 3; had his first official audience on April 15, 1761; occupied the post until December 1766; returned to Rome at the end of that month. Consecrated, February 16, 1760, Quirinale palace, Rome, by Pope Clement XIII, assisted by Filippo Caucci, titular patriarch of Constantinople, and by Giuseppe Locatelli, titular archbishop of Cartago. In the same ceremony were consecrated Antonio Eugenio Visconti, titular archbishop of Efeso, future cardinal; and Pietro Colonna Pamphili, titular archbishop of Colosse, also future cardinal. Assistant at the Pontifical Throne, February 20, 1760. Secretary of the S.C. of Bishops and Regulars, December 1766 until his promotion to the cardinalate. Under the new pope, he assumed a decided anti-Jesuit position, influence by the intrigues and promises of the Spanish Ambassador José Moñino y Redondo, future count of Floridablanca, who flattered him with gifts and favors and the promise to press Pope Clement XIV for his promotion to the cardinalate. The pope, now convinced of the need to dissolve the Society of Jesus, decided to increase the number of cardinals in favor of this decision and received requests of the Bourbon to that effect. Abbot commendatario of S. Maria di Nastasi, Isola, April 1771; and of S. Maria di Montecchio, Melfi, April 1772.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of April 19, 1773; received the red hat on April 22, 1773; and the title of S. Clemente on April 26, 1773. Named examiner of bishops in canon law before May 15, 1773. After the publication of the papal brief Dominus ac Redemptor of July 21, 1773, which suppressed the Society of Jesus, he was named a member of the commission charged with the liquidation of the properties and institutions of the Society, August 6, 1773. Participated in the conclave of 1774-1775, which elected Pope Pius VI. Prefect of the S.C. of Bishops and Regulars, March 29, 1775 until his death; during his legation in Ferrara, he did not cease as prefect but was substituted by Cardinals Giovanni Costanzo Caracciolo and Francesco Saverio Zelada as pro-prefcts. Legate in Ferrara, June 1, 1778; arrived in his legation on the following October 18; reappointed for another triennium, January 10, 1781; ceased, November 7, 1786; he benefitted by the experience he had gained during his years a vice-legate in Ferrara. Returned to Rome at the end of his legation. Opted for the title of S. Lorenzo in Lucina, September 15, 1788. Cardinal protoprete. In 1798, he was imprisoned by the French military forces first in palazzo di Montecavallo, Rome; and then in Civittavecchia on March 10, in the monastery delle Convertiti; finally, he was freed and went to Naples; and from there, he embarked for Palermo, where he received the news of the death of Pope Pius VI and the invitation to participate in the conclave. Cardinal Carafa, as a veteran member of the College of Cardinals, was asked for advice on the organization of the conclave on October 19, 1799; along with Cardinal Henry Benedict Mary Clement Stuart of York, he was charged with the adaptation of the monastery of S. Giorgio in Venice for the conclave; on November 12, 1799, together with Cardinals Stuart of York and Leonardo Antonelli, he was named guardian of the conclave, which lasted from December 1, 1799 to March 14, 1800. Participated in the conclave of 1799-1800, which elected Pope Pius VII. After the first restoration of the papal government in Rome, he was named, on July 9, 1800, member of the particular congregation for the recovery of the ecclesiastical properties alienated during the French occupation of the city (Congregzione deputata per gli acquisti fatti nel tempo della rivoluzione). Apostolic visitor to the House and Archhospital of the S. Spirito in Sassia, Rome, September 12, 1800. In 1801, together with Cardinals Filippo Carandini, Giuseppe Albani, Leonardo Antonelli, Hyacinthe Sigismond Gerdil, C.R.S.P., Aurelio Roverella, Romoaldo Braschi-Onesti, Michele Di Pietro and others, he was named to form part of the special congregation for the concordat with France. Vice-chancellor and sommista of the Holy Roman Church, August 3, 1807 until his death. Opted for the title of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, proper of the vice-chancellor, retaining in commendam the title of S. Lorenzo in Lucina, August 3, 1807. During the French occupation of Rome, 1809-1814, he sought refuge in the convent of the Oratory of S. Filippo Neri Montalbaddo (or Montelabbate) in the Marches.

Death. September 20, 1818, Rome (2). Exposed and buried, temporarily, in the church of S. Maria in Vallicella, Rome. Later, transferred to the basilica of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, Rome, and buried in that church. Last surviving cardinal of Pope Clement XIV.

Bibliography. Boutry, Philippe. Souverain et Pontife : recherches prosopographiques sur la curie romaine à l'âge de la restauration, 1814-1846. Rome : École française de Rome, 2002, pp. 338-339; Carafa, Francesco. Costituzione per il buon governo della città di Comacchio e sue attenenze. In Comacchio : Nella stamperia di Gioseffantonio Cavalieri, 1780; Carafa, Francesco. De advocatis, et procuratoribus constitutio. Ferrariae : Ex Typographia Camerali, 1779; Carafa, Francesco. Editto per la nuova scuola di veterinaria in Ferrara. Ferrara : Per Giuseppe Barbieri Stampator Camerale, 1786; Carafa, Francesco; Lupi, Antonio. Editto sopra l'estensione del gius privativo dell' aquavite per la terra, e luoghi tutti della giurisdizione di Ariano. In Ferrara : nella Stamperia Camerale, 1780; Fabrizi, Vincenzo; Livigni, Filippo; Banchieri, Giuseppe; Ferrini, Giacomo. I due castellani burlati : dramma giocoso per musica da rappresentarsi in Ferrara nel Teatro del nobil uomo sig. conte Pinamonte Buonacossi il carnevale dell' anno 1786 : dedicato all' e.mo, e r.mo principe il sig. cardinale Francesco Carafa de' duchi di Trajetto legato di detta città &c. &c. In Ferrara : Per gli eredi Rinaldi, con licenza de' superiori, 1785; Karttunen, Liisi. Les nonciatures apostoliques permanentes de 1650 à 1800. Genève : E. Chaulmontet, 1912. (Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemian Toimituksia. Sarja B. Nid.5, no. 3), pp. 169 and 238; Moroni, Gaetano. Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica da S. Pietro sino ai nostri giorni. 103 vols. in 53. Venezia : Tipografia Emiliana, 1840-1861, IX, 249; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, VI, 28, 43, 45 and 331; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, VII, 42; Weber, Christoph and Becker, Michael. Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte. 6 v. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 1999-2002. (Päpste und Papsttum, Bd. 29, 1-6), III, 189; 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. 211, 255, 256 and 552; Weber, Christoph. Die päpstlichen Referendare 1566-1809 : Chronologie und Prosopographie. 3 vols. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 2003-2004. (Päpste und Papsttum ;; Bd. 31/1, 31/2, 31/3), II, 516.

Webgraphy. Biography by Mirella Giansante, Italiani, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 19 (1976), Treccani; his genealogy, A3 B1 C2 D2 E1 F3, Libro d'Oro della Nobilità Mediterranea; his portrait, arms, genealogy and biography, in Italian, Wikipedia; his portrait by Anton von Maron, musée du Louvre, Joconde, Collections des musées de France; his portrait, attributed to Gian Domenico Porta, Artnet - The Art World Online; his portrait by Giovanni Fiori, ARTPAST, Ministero per i Beni e le attività culturali, Italy; his engraving, Bildarchiv Austria. Die Bildplattform der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek; his engraving, portraits and arms, Araldica Vaticana; his tomb, Requiem Datenbank; Costituzione dell'Eminentissimo, e Reverendissimo Sig. Cardinale Francesco Carafa Legato di Ferrara per la Congregazione su la Cassa dei Lavorieri. In Ferrara MDCCLXXXV. Nella Stamperia Camerale, Google Books.

(1) This is according to Ritzler, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, VI, 339; Karttunen, Les nonciatures apostoliques permanentes de 1650 à 1800, pp. 169 and 238, indicates that he was named on March 1, 1760.
(2) According to L'Ami de la Religion, in spite of his advanced age (he died at 96) he stayed healthy and had his mental faculties until the end.

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(14) 2. ZELADA, Francesco Saverio de (1717-1801)

Birth. August 27, 1717, Rome, of a Spanish family. Son of Juan de Zelada, noble from Murcia, and Manuela Rodríguez, from a noble family from Oviedo.

Education. Studied at La Sapienza University, Rome, where he obtained a doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law.

Priesthood. Ordained, October 23, 1740. Privy chamberlain supernumerar of Pope Benedict XIV. Entered the Roman prelature as referendary of the Supreme Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace on January 25, 1742. Relator of the S.C. of Good Government, June 1742. Civil auditor of the auditor of the Apostolic Chamber, September 1742. Prelate of the S.C. of the Reverend Fabric of St. Peter's from 1742. Auditor dof the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Justice, November 1749. Second civil lieutenant of the auditor of the Apostolic Chamber, December 1753. Prelate of the S.C. of Ecclesiastical Immunity, 1755. Civil lieutenant of the Tribunal of the Apostolic Chamber, 1758. Executor of the will of Cardinal Clemente Argenvilliers, who died on December 23, 1758. Auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota, February 26, 1760; took possession on March 14, 1760. Secretary of the S.C. of the Episcopal Visit. Canonist of the Apostolic Penitentiary succeeding Monsignor Urbano Paracciani, when the latter was appointed archbishop of Fermo in July 1764. Secretary of the S.C. of the Tridentine Council and of the Residence of Bishops from September 26, 1766. Archdeacon of the chapter of the metropolitan cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, August 1767. Consultor of the S.C. of the Holy Office, January 1768. Secretary of the S.C. of the Examination of Bishops, November 1770. Prior commendatario of Santa Ana de Barcelona, June 1772.

Episcopate. Elected titular archbishop of Petra in Palestina, December 23, 1766. Consecrated, December 28, 1766, Quirinale Palace, Rome, by Pope Clement XIII, assisted by Scipione Borghese, titular archbishop of Teodosia, and by Ignazio Reali, titular archbishop of Atena. In the same ceremony was consecrated Angelo Maria Durini, titular archbishop of Ancira, future cardinal. Voter of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Grace.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of April 19, 1773; received the red hat on April 22, 1773; and the title of S. Martino ai Monti on April 26, 1773. Abbot commendatario of Marsillac, Cahors, May 1773. Abbot commendatario of S. Pedro de Osma, July 1773. Principal negotiator for the Holy See and composer of the Bull Dominus ac Redemptor of July 21, 1773, that suppressed the Society of Jesus; he prepared the document under the inspiration and directives of José Moñino y Redondo, Spanish ambassador to the Holy See and ferocious enemy of the Society of Jesus. Cardinal Zelada, who was largely compensated by King Carlos III of Spain, was also appointed member of the commission for the execution of the suppression bull in 1773. Ambassador Moñino was named count of Floridablanca for his work toward the publication of the papal bull. Prefect of Studies of Collegio Romano (taken from the Jesuits), November 1773. Participated in the conclave of 1774-1775, which elected Pope Pius VI. Librarian of the Holy Roman Church, December 15, 1779 until his death. Pro-prefect of the S.C. of Bishops and Regulars in absence of Cardinal Francesco Carafa di Traetto between November 1780 and October 1786. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, February 17, 1783 until June 25, 1784. Grand Penitentiary, September 8, 1788 until his death; he had been acting as such since 1787. Secretary of State, October 14, 1789 until August 1796. President of the University of Ferrara, October 12, 1790. Opted for the title of S. Prassede, retaining in commendam the title of S. Martino ai Monti, June 17, 1793. Apostolic visitor to the French foundations under the jurisdiction of the Church. After the pope was deported to France on February 20, 1798, Cardinal Zelada went to Tuscany; Cardinal Leonardo Antonelli had been appointed by the pope pro-major-penitentiary. Participated in the conclave of 1799-1800, which elected Pope Pius VII. Archpriest of the patriarchal Lateran basilica and protector of its Capella Orsini, 1800. He was a great collector of books, ancient coins and medals, and other artistic objects. He built an observatory at Collegio Romano, a former Jesuit institution.

Death. Friday December 19, 1801, of fever and convulsions, after receiving the sacraments of the Church, in Rome. Exposed in the church of S. Marcello, Rome, where the funeral took place; the mass was celebrated by Cardinal Francesco Maria Pignatelli, iuniore, in the presence of twenty seven cardinals; and buried, at 3 a.m., in the oratory of S. Silvestro I, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the tomb that he had prepared several years before, next to the place where Blessed Cardinal Giuseppe Maria Tomasi di Lampedusa, Theat. (now a saint) was buried, in the church of S. Martino ai Monti, Rome, according to his disposition (1).

Bibliography. Del Re, Niccolò. La Curia romana : lineamenti storico giuridici. 4th ed. aggiornata ed accresciuta. Città del Vaticano : Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1998, p. 90; Moroni, Gaetano. Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica da S. Pietro sino ai nostri giorni. 103 vols. in 53. Venezia : Tipografia Emiliana, 1840-1861, CIII, 460-469; Salamon, Louis Sifrein Joseph Foncrosé de ; Zelada, Francesco Saverio ; Richemont, Eugène Octave Marie Romuald Panon Des Bassayns. Correspondance secrète de L'abbé de Salamon, chargé des affaires du Saint-Siège pendant la Révolution avec le Cardinal de Zelada (1791-1792). Paris : Plon, Nourrit et cie., 1898. Responsibility : publiée par Le Vte. de Richemont; Weber, Christoph. Die päpstlichen Referendare 1566-1809 : Chronologie und Prosopographie. 3 vols. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 2003-2004. (Päpste und Papsttum ; Bd. 31/1, 31/2, 31/3), III, 989.

Webgraphy. His portrait and biography, in English, Wikipedia; biographical entry, in Italian, Enciclopedie on line, Treccani; Editto di Francesco Saverio de Zelada sui confini tra papato e Toscana - 1793, in Italian, Libri antichi online - Studio bibliografico Apuleio; 56 works in 70 publications in 6 languages and 194 library holdings about Cardinal Francesco Saverio de Zelada, WolrdCat; his portrait by Anton Raphae Mengs, Museo Civico di Pistoia, omune di Postoia, Italy; his portrait, The Art Institute of Chicago; another image of his portrait by Mengs, The Art Institute of Chicago, flickr; his portrait, Museo della Accademia Etrusca, Cortona, ARTPAST, Ministero per i Beni e le attività culturali, Italy; his engraving by Antonio Capellan, CalcoGRAFICA - Istituto Nazionale della Grafica, Italy; his engraving, Biblioteca comunale dell'Archiginnasio, Bologna; his engraving Bildarchiv Austria. Die Bildplattform der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek; enggravings and portraits, Araldica Vaticana; his tomb, Requiem Datenbank.

(1) This is how Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica da S. Pietro sino ai nostri giorni, CIII, 467, describes his funeral and burial: "Il suo corpo, dopo essere stato imbalsamato, fu esposto nella stanza del baldacchino, ed in carrozza fu trasportato per l'esequie, a tenore della disposizione di Pio VII, nella chiesa di S. Marcello, il cui curato prese in essa luogo come chiesa esponente, insieme a' parrochi di S. Lucia de' Ginnasi curato della parrocchia del defunto, e di S. Martino a' Monti chiesa commendataria del cardinale e seppelliente secondo la disposizione del medesimo. La chiesa di S. Marcello venne magnificamente apparata a lutto, ed al funerale intervenne Pio VII, facendo le solenni assoluzioni sul cadavere, dopo la messa pontificata dal cardinal Pignatelli, alla presenza di 27 porporati. Nella sera, colle stanghe del palazzo apostolico e col solito accompagnamento, il cadavere venne trasferito nella detta chiesa di S. Martino, dove ricevuto in piviale nero dal priore del convento, alla testa della religiosa famiglia de' carmelitani con candele accese, recitate le prescritte preci di suffragio, fu sepolto nella 3.a chiesa sotterranea o oratorio di S. Silvestro I e dedicato alla B. Vergine, com'egli aveva disposto, nella tomba che da vari anni erasi preparata, vicino al luogo ov'era stato tumulato il b. cardinal Tommasi. Recatomi ad esaminarne la tomba, la trovai in mezzo di tale oratorio, precisamente appresso e dopo quella che aveva servito al beato, con grande e semplice lapide marmorea."

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