The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

Biographical Dictionary
Pope Leo XII (1823-1829)
Consistory of June 25, 1827 (VII)


(22) 1. NASALLI, Ignazio (1750-1831)

Birth. October 7, 1750, Parma. Of a patrician family. Fourth of the seven children of Count Girolamo Nasalli, podestá of Borgo S. Donnino and advisor (1756) and then president of the Supreme Magistrature of Finance of Parma (1758), and Giulia Ratti, sister of Andrea Ratti (1712-1779), titular archbishop of Adrianopoli (1776). The other siblings were Matilde, Antonia, Maria Luigia, Giuseppe (canon of the cathedral of Parma), Andrea and Gaetano (ca.1760-1825) was a professor at the University of Parma, state councillor and governor of Piacenza (1818). Great-grand uncle of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Rocca di Corneliano (1923). Great-great-grand uncle of Cardinal Mario Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano (1969). His last name is also listed as Nasalli Ratti; and as Nasalli Rocca.

Education. He had planned to enter the Society of Jesus but when Pope Clement XIV suppressed the order, he joined the secular clergy; studied at the University of Parma, where he obtained a doctorate in theology on July 6, 1774; and at the Pontifical Academy of Ecclesiastical Nobles, Rome, from 1775 until 1778.

Priesthood. Ordained, September 24, 1774 (1). Further studies in Rome, 1775-1778. Canon of the cathedral chapter of Ravenna, 1789. Domestic prelate of His Holiness, 1800. Accompanied the pope to Paris for the coronation of Napoléon Bonaparte; he officiated as subdeacon apostolic in the coronation mass on December 2, 1804. He retired to Parma during the French occupation of Rome and the captivity of Pope Pius VII in France. After the restoration of the papal government in Rome, he was charged by the duke of Parma with the representation of the affairs of the duchy before the Holy See and he prepared a draft of a concordat. Civil lieutenant of the tribunal of the vicariate of Rome on March 9, 1816. Entered the Roman prelature as referendary of the tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace on March 14, 1816. Relator of the S.C. of Ecclesiastical Immunity, March 23, 1816.

Episcopate. Elected titular archbishop of Cirro, December 17, 1819. Consecrated, December 19, 1819, Benedictine church of Campo Marzio, Rome, by Cardinal Giulio Maria della Somaglia, bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina, sub-dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, assisted by Candido Maria Frattinini, titular archbishop of Filippi, vicegerent of Rome, and by Giovanni Francesco Falzacappa, titular archbishop of Atena, secretary of the S.C. of the Council. Nuncio before the Helvetic Confederation (Switzerland), January 21, 1820; his main mission was to discuss with the cantons the project for erection of new dioceses; in 1820 took place the Conference of Langelthal, in which were placed the principal points for the resolution of that arduous question; the matter continued to be discussed for a few years; from August 4, 1823 until March 26, 1827, Monsignor Pasquale Gizzi took his place in Lucerne. Without leaving his post in Lucerne, he was sent by Pope Pius VII to the Low Countries, where he was confronted with serious difficulties because King Willem I claimed the right to nominate bishops and intended to interfere in the education of the clergy; at the same time, the influence of the Jansenist Church of Utrecht exercised a strong influence in the court; in close collaboration with Cardinal Mauro Cappellari, O.S.B.Cam., future Pope Gregory XVI, in Rome, he was able to conclude a concordat with Holland on June 18, 1827.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 25, 1827; received the red hat, July 5, 1827; and the title of S. Agnese fuori le mura, September 17, 1827. Ascribed to the SS. CC. of Bishops and Regulars, Index, Indulgences and Sacred Relics, and Lauretana. Participated in the conclave of 1829, which elected Pope Pius VIII. Participated in the conclave of 1830-1831, which elected Pope Gregory XVI.

Death. December 2, 1831, after receiving the sacraments of the Church, in Rome (2). Exposed in the church of S. Marcello, Rome, where the funeral took place celebrated by Cardinal Benedetto Barberini; in the evening, his body was transferred to and buried in his title, S. Agnese fuori le mura, according to his will. Pope Gregory XVI named his nephew, Francesco Nasalli, domestic prelate.

Bibliography. Boutry, Philippe Souverain et Pontife : recherches prosopographiques sur la curie romaine à l'âge de la restauration, 1814-1846. Rome : Ecole française de Rome, 2002, pp. 432; De Camillis, Mario. "Nasalli, Ignazio", Enciclopedia Cattolica. 12 vols. Città del Vaticano : Ente per l'Enciclopedia cattolica e per il Libro cattolico, 1948-1954, VIII, col. 1661; LeBlanc, Jean. Dictionnaire biographique des cardinaux du XIXe siècle : contribution à l'histoire du Sacré Collège sous les pontificats de Pie VII, Léon XII, Pie VIII, Grégoire XVI, Pie IX et Léon XIII, 1800-1903. Montréal : Wilson & Lafleur, 2007. (Collection Gratianus. Série instruments de recherche), p. 672-673; Moroni, Gaetano. Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica da S. Pietro sino ai nostri giorni. 103 vols. in 53. Venezia : Tipografia Emiliana, 1840-1861, XLVII, 237-238; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen VII (1800-1846). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 20, 39 and 171; Weber, Christoph and Becker, Michael. Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte. 6 v. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 1999-2002. (Päpste und Papsttum, Bd. 29, 1-6), VI, 680.

Webgraphy. Biography by Cosimo Semeraro, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 77_online (2012), Treccani; biography, in Italian, Dizionario biografico Nadasti-Nuvoloni, Portale dedicato alla Storia di Parma e a Parma nella Storia, a cura dell'Istituzione delle Biblioteche di Parma; brief biographical entry, in German, Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz; same entry, in French, Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse; and same entry in Italian, Dizionario storico della Svizzera; biography by Gaetano Moroni, in Italian, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica da s. Pietro sino ai nostri giorni; his engraving and arms, Arladica Vaticana; his engraving by Salvatore Marroni, Lombardia Benic Culturale, Regione Lombardia - Università degli Studi di Pavia; his bust (1900) by Enrico Astorri, Cultura Italia, Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali..

(1) This is according to all the sources consulted except De Camillis, "Nasalli, Ignazio", Enciclopedia Cattolica, col. 1661; and his biography in the Dizionario biografico Nadasti-Nuvoloni, which say that he was ordained in 1785.
(2) This is according to all the sources consulted except DeCamillis, "Nasalli, Ignazio", Enciclopedia Cattolica, col. 1661; and his biography in the Dizionario biografico Nadasti-Nuvoloni, which say that he died on December 7, 1831.

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(23) 2. ISOARD, Joachim-Jean-Xavier d' (1766-1839)

Birth. October 23, 1766, Aix-en-Provence, France. Of a noble family. Eldest child of Jean Antoine d'Isoard de Vauvenargues (1717-1787), mayor of Seyne (1743-1757) and royal secretary (1774) and his second wife, Marie Anne Rose du Pin (1736-1823), marquise de Vauvenargues. His father died when he was very young and he was sent to the seminary.

Education. Studied at the Minor Seminary of Aix; there became a friend of Joseph Fesch, uncle of Napoléon Bonaparte, future archbishop of Lyon and cardinal; did not continue at that time his ecclesiastical studies. It is said that the friendship with Fesch and the Bonaparte family protected him during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution. He sought refuge in Verona with the count of Provence, future King Louis XVIII of France, in 1794; he returned to Aix after the fall of Maximilian Robespierre. He went again to Italy after the coup of Fructidor. He established himself in Paris during the Consulate thanks to the protection of Cardinal Fesch, whom he accompanied to visit Pope Pius VII in Rome in 1803.

Early life. Auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota for France before December 7, 1803; confirmed by motu proprio of December 9, 1803; did not occupy the post until June 5, 1804; took the oath on July 22, 1803; and later, on March 10, 1823, became its dean and occupied the post until his promotion to the cardinalate. Received the ecclesiastical tonsure, April 18, 1805. Named domestic prelate of His Holiness.

Priesthood. Ordained, 1825. In 1809 accompanied Pope Pius VII to France and was confined in Grenoble and then in Savona. After the fall of Napoleon, returned to Rome as auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota again; the French authorities tried to have him replaced by Msgr. de Salamon but the Holy See firmly refused stating the permanent character of his post. During the return of Bonaparte to France, the one hundred days, he was named on June 13, 1815, chargé d'affaires of France before the Holy See with the purpose of maintaining the Concordat of 1801; but the appointment did not last after the second fall of Napoléon. King Louis XVIII of France named him baron on May 24, 1823. Consultor of the S.C. of the Holy Office, June 13, 1823. Prelate of the congregation for the reconstruction of the basilica of S. Paolo fuori le Mura, March 21, 1825.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 25, 1827; received the red hat, July 5, 1827; and the title of S. Pietro in Vincoli, September 17, 1827. Member of the SS. CC. of the Council, Rites, Good Government, and Waters; and of the special congregation for the re-edification of the patriarchal basilica of S. Paolo fuori le mura.

Episcopate. Elected archbishop of Auch, December 15, 1828. Consecrated, January 11, 1829, at the chapel of the Dames du Sacré-Coeur, Paris, by Cardinal Jean-Baptist-Marie-Anne de Latil, archbishop of Reims, assisted by Jean-Pierre de Chabons, bishop of Amiens, and by Jules de Simony, bishop of Soissons. His episcopal motto was Lux nostris hostibus ignis. Participated in the conclave of 1829, which elected Pope Pius VIII. Participated in the conclave of 1830-1831, which elected Pope Gregory XVI (1). Opted for the title of SS. Trinità al Monte Pincio, April 15, 1833. He declined transfer to the metropolitan see of Aix and later, of Bordeaux. Nominated by King Louis-Philippe of France to the metropolitan see of Lyon, June 13, 1839; he died before having been preconized by the pope.

Death. October 7, 1839, Paris. Exposed in the parish church of the Assumption, Paris; the funeral took place on October 12, 1839; transferred to Auch, where the solemn funeral was celebrated on October 23, 1839 by François-Adelaide-Adolphe Lannéluc, titular bishop of Agatopoli, coadjutor of Aire, in the metropolitan cathedral of Auch; and buried in its crypt.

Bibliography. Berton, Charles. Dictionnaire des cardinaux, contenant des notions générales sur le cardinalat, la nomenclature complète ..., des cardinaux de tous less 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, cols. 1097-1100; Boutry, Philippe Souverain et Pontife : recherches prosopographiques sur la curie romaine à l'âge de la restauration, 1814-1846. Rome : Ecole française de Rome, 2002, pp. 401-402; Chapeau, O.S.B. André and Fernand Combaluzier, C.M. Épiscopologe français des temps modernes, 1592-1973. Paris : Letouzey et Ané, 1974, p. 339; LeBlanc, Jean. Dictionnaire biographique des cardinaux du XIXe siècle : contribution à l'histoire du Sacré Collège sous les pontificats de Pie VII, Léon XII, Pie VIII, Grégoire XVI, Pie IX et Léon XIII, 1800-1903. Montréal : Wilson & Lafleur, 2007. (Collection Gratianus. Série instruments de recherche), p. 482-484; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen VII (1800-1846). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 20, 44, 45 and 98.

Webgraphy. His arms, engraving and biography, in Italian, Cathopedia; biography, in English, Wikipedia; biography, in German, Wikipedia; biography, in French, Wikipedia; his image and biography by Yvon Beaudoin, o.m.i., in French, Oblate Communications, Official Site of the General Administration of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate; biography, in French, Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne, Supplment. Paris : Chez L.-G. Michaud, éditeur, 1840, tome, 582-585; his engraving and arms, Araldica Vaticana.

(1) He was instructed by King Louis-Philippe of France to place a veto against the election of Cardinal Vincenzo Macchi if necessary, which apparently did not happen.

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