The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church - Biographical Dictionary (original) (raw)

The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church Biographical Dictionary Pope Clement XII (1730-1740) Consistory of March 24, 1734 (VII) Celebrated in Rome

(16) 1. ALDROVANDI, Pompeio (1668-1752)

Birth. September 23, 1668, Bologna. Of a patrician and senatorial family. Second of the four children of Count Ercole Aldrovandi, a senator, and his second wife, Maria Giulia Albergati. His first name is also listed as Pompeo; and as Pietro; and his last name as Aldovrandi.

Education. Studied at Seminario Romano; and then at Collegio Tolomei, Siena; later he attended the University of Bologna, where he obtained a doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law, on March 10, 1691.

Early life. Went to Rome and entered the Roman prelature as referendary of the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace, February 22, 1696. Auditor of the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Justice, December 1696. Vicar of the patriarchal Lateran basilica, April 14, 1699. Civil lieutenant of the auditor general of the Apostolic Chamber, December 1700. Auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota, May 17, 1706. Attached to the S.C. of Ecclesiastical Immunity, he was its acting secretary several times.

Priesthood. Ordained, October 5, 1710. Auditor of the nunciature in France. Auditor and chargé d'affaires of the nunciature in Spain, 1712 to June 1716; his mission was to reestablish the diplomatic relation with the Holy See; he was successful and arrived and Genoa in July 1716, on his way to Rome, which he reached on the following August 3 con commissioni particolari della Corona di Spagna (1). Privy chamberlain of His Holiness.

Episcopate. Elected titular archbishop of Neocesarea, October 5, 1716. Consecrated, October 11, 1716, church of S. Ignazio, Rome, by Cardinal Fabrizio Paolucci, assisted by Prospero Marefoschi, titular bishop of Cirene, and by Agostino Nicola degli'Abbati Olivieri, titular bishop of Targa. Lieutenant for an auditorship of the Sacred Roman Rota. Assistant at the Pontifical Throne, November 23, 1716. Nuncio to Spain, January 2, 1717. Before arriving in Spain, he was charged with a mission to Paris for very important matters with King Louis XIV. He arrived in Madrid in June 1717. Not a small difference between the Holy See and King Felipe V occurred because of the fleet that the latter sent to Sardinia as well as because the pope suspended the faculty that the king had of demanding from the ecclesiastics in his dominions any taxes or subsidies; the king ordered the nuncio not to go to the royal palace and forbade his ministers to deal with the nuncio; afraid of being kept in Madrid, Nuncio Aldrovandi, in order to spare himself from such an affront, decided to avoid it voluntarily leaving the nunciature, without first receiving the papal order. Such a conduct displeased the monarch and even more Pope Clement XI. In Avignon, where the nuncio had gone, he received orders in 1718 to immediately go to Bologna; he stayed in that city until the death of Pope Clement XI in 1721. Then, he was rehabilitated by the new Pope Innocent XIII and reappointed auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota, of which he later became lieutenant of the deanship in 1725; and dean in 1726. He became regent of the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary in 1724. On July 11, 1728, he solemnly consecrated the church of S. Maria in Portico and its main altar. Promoted to the titular patriarchate of Jerusalem, March 23, 1729. Governor of Rome and vice-camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, September 30, 1733 until March 24, 1734; he was pro-governor until July 1734. In December 1733, he declined the appointment to the see of Benevento.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of March 24, 1734; received the red hat and the title of S. Eusebio, April 12, 1734. Transferred to the see of Montefiascone e Corneto, with personal title of archbishop, July 9, 1734. Abbot commendatario of S. Giulio di Dulzago, diocese of Novara, 1737. Participated in the conclave of 1740, which elected Pope Benedict XIV. Datary of His Holiness, August 24, 1740 to 1743. Legate in Romagna, October 3, 1743; arrived in his legation ca. November 4, 1743; his mandate was extended for another triennium; left it at the beginning of July 1746; and the post at the end of October 1746. He then went to Bologna, in which cathedral of S. Petronio he founded a sumptuous chapel in honor of that saint.

Death. January 6, 1752, Montefiascone. Buried temporarily in the cathedral of Montefiascone; later, his remains were transferred to Bologna and buried, on May 26, 1752, in the chapel he had built in the metropolitan cathedral; his remains were placed in a sarcophagus that had probably been the tomb of King Enzo between 1272 and 1490; he also built a funeral monument in that chapel with a brief epitaph (2).

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. 9 vols. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1794, VIII, 265-267; Del Re, Niccolò. Monsignor governatore di Roma. Rome : Istituto di Studi Romani Ediotres, 1972, p. 114; Notizie per l'anno1753. In Roma MDCCLIII : Nella Stamperia del Chracas, p. 131-132 no. 42; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recientoris Aevi. Volumen V (1667-1730). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1952, pp. 220-221 and 284; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recientoris Aevi. Volumen VI (1730-1799). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 7, 43; Seidler, Sabrina M.; Weber, Christoph. Päpste und Kardinäle in der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts (1730-1777) : das biographische Werk des Patriziers von Lucca Bartolomeo Antonio Talenti. Frankfurt am Main ; New York : Peter Lang, 2007. (Beiträge zur Kirchen- und Kulturgeschichte, Bd. 18), p. 290-293; Storti, Nicola. La storia e il diritto della Dataria Apostolica dalle origini ai nostri giorni. Napoli : Athena Mediterranea Editrice, 1969, p. 172, no. 68; Weber, Christoph and Becker, Michael. Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte. 6 v. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 1999-2002. (Päpste und Papsttum, Bd. 29, 1-6), I, 35; 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. 361, 371 and 451; 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; Variation: Päpste und Papsttum ; Bd. 31), II, 399-400; Weber, Christoph. Senatus divinus : verborgene Strukturen im Kardinalskollegium der frühen Neuzeit (1500-1800). Frankfurt am Main ; New York : Peter Lang, 1996, p. 502, no. 654.

Webgraphy. Biography by Elena Fasano Guarini, in Italian, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 2 (1960), Treccani; his bust, "Il Comunne di Bologna", Rivista mensile del Comune di Bologna 1924-1939, Febbraio 1935;his portrait, Araldica Vaticana; his portrait, Araldica Vaticana; his engraving, "Il Comune di Bologna", Rivista mensile del Comune di Bologna 1924-1939, Marzo 1933; his tomb, Requiem Datenbank; his sarcophagus, Aldovrandi chapel, crypt of the metropolitan cathedral of S. Petronio, Bologna, "Il Comune di Bologna", Rivista mensile del Comune di Bologna 1924-1939, Agosto 1928; Diocesi: Viterbo, 30 settembre e 1° ottobre convegno sul card. Pompeo Aldrovandi Vescovo di Montefiascone e Corneto, Servizio Informazione Religiosa, 24 Settembre 2022 @ 18:00; Aldrovandi e la città sul lago. Il cardinale a 270 anni dalla morte by Fabio Fabene, L'Osservatore Romano, 22 ottobre 2022.

(1) In 1716, he was sent to Rome by the queen of Spain, Isabel de Farnesio, without the knowledge of King Felipe V, to request the promotion to the cardinalate of Abbot Giulio Alberoni. The pope named a particular congregation to discuss and examine the conduct of Nuncio Aldrovandi; he was told to return to Madrid.
(2) This is the text of the inscription taken from Requiem Datenbank, linked above:

D . O . M . IN MISERICORDIA SUA VIVIFICET ANIMAM MEAM DOMINUS ET EXULTABIT SPIRITUS MEUS IN DEO SALUTARI MEO POMPEJ S.R.E. CARD. ALDROVANDI PATRITII BONONIENSIS CINERES QVIESCUNT HIC IN SPEM BEATAE IMMORTALITATIS.

(17) 2. CENCI, Serafino (1676-1740)

Birth. May 20, 1676, Rome. Of an ancient and noble family. Third of the six children of Francesco Cenci and Anna Giustina Ripa. His first name is also listed as Seraphino; and his last name Cencius; and as Cincius. Other cardinals of the family are Tiberio Cenci (1645), Baldassare Cenci, seniore (1695) and Baldassare Cenci, iuniore(1761).

Education. Initial studies in Rome, later, he attended La Sapienza University, Rome, under famous lawyer Giuseppe Canuto; he he obtained a doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law, on May 14, 1701.

Early life. Conservatore of Rome, 1694. Prior of the Caporioni, 1696. Admitted to the Roman prelature as referendary of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace, June 16, 1701. Relator of the SS.CC. of Good Governmen and of the Fabric of St. Peter's basilica. Voter of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Justice, January 1708. Lieutenant of the auditor of the Apostolic Chamber, October 1712. Named nuncio to Naples by Pope Innocent XIII; for urgent and reasonable motives he declined the appointment; one of the reasons was that he was not sufficiently rich to decorously occupy that post. Auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota, September 1724; took possession, March 21, 1725; he occupied the post for ten years.

Sacred orders. Received the minor orders, November 24, 1726; the subdiaconate, December 22, 1726; and the diaconate, December 28, 1726.

Priesthood. Ordained, January 1, 1727. Prelate of the S.C. of the Apostolic Visit. Prelate of the Reverend Fabric of St. Peter's and of the Congregation for Jail Visitations. Auditor of the causes of the Apostolic Chamber. Named regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary in September 1733.

Episcopate. Elected archbishop of Benevento, December 18, 1733. Consecrated, December 26, 1733, Rome, by Cardinal Giovanni Antonio Guadagni, O.C.D., vicar general of Rome. He was given the pallium on January 20, 1734.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of March 24, 1734; with a papal brief of March 30, 1734, the pope sent him the red biretta with his nephew Monsignor Baldassare Cenci, future cardinal; received the red hat and the title of S. Agnese fuori le mura, June 27, 1735. Died during the conclave of 1740, which elected Pope Benedict XIV.

Death. June 24, 1740, after a long illness, in Rome; his health had improved enough that morning to allow him celebrate Mass; later, he was found dead in his own bed. Exposed in the church of S. Tommaso de' Cenci, iuspatronato of his family, where the funeral took place on June 26, 1740; after the funeral, his body was transported to and buried in his title, S. Agnese fuori le mura, in front of the altar of the Madonna, under a tombstone with his cardinalitial arms and a simple inscription (1). He requested that his heart be transferred to Benevento and placed in the chapel that he had built for the preservation of the Holy Relics, as a sign of the particular affection that he had always felt for his see. On October 17, 1740, Domenico Antonio Manfredi, bishop of Boiana, was appointed apostolic vicar of Benevento.

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. 9 vols. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1794, VIII, 267-268; Notizie per l'anno 1736. Rome : Nella Stamperia del Chracas, presso S. Marco al Corso, 1736, p. 188; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recientoris Aevi. Volumen VI (1730-1799). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 7, 41 and 120; Seidler, Sabrina M.; Weber, Christoph. Päpste und Kardinäle in der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts (1730-1777) : das biographische Werk des Patriziers von Lucca Bartolomeo Antonio Talenti. Frankfurt am Main ; New York : Peter Lang, 2007. (Beiträge zur Kirchen- und Kulturgeschichte, Bd. 18), p. 215-216; Weber, Christoph and Becker, Michael. Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte. 6 v. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 1999-2002. (Päpste und Papsttum, Bd. 29, 1-6), I, 217; 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; Variation: Päpste und Papsttum ; Bd. 31), II, 548.

Webgraphy. His engraving and biography, in Italian, Wikiwand; his engraving by Nicolo Billy, Bildarchiv Austria. Die Bildplattform der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek;his engraving, Araldica Vaticana; his tomb, Requiem Datenbank; his arms, secolo XX (1940-1960), ambito campano, regione ecclesiastica Campania, diocesi Benevento, Beni Ecclesiastici in web (BeWeB).

(1) This is the text of the inscription on his tomb, taken from Requiem Datenbank, linked above:

D . O . M. SERAPHINVS TIT . S . AGNETIS S . R . E . PRESB . CARD . CINCIVS ARCHIEPVS . BENEVENTANVS OBIJT ROMÆ XXIV . IVNY MDCCXXXX ÆTAT . SVÆ ANN . LXIV . MENS . I DIES IV.

(18) 3. PIERI, O.S.M., Pietro Maria (1676-1743)

Birth. September 29, 1676, in a small castle called Piancastagno, near Radicofani, Siena (1). Of an imporverished noble family. Son of Francesco Pieri and Elizabetta Maggiolini. He was baptized on October 1, 1676. His first name is also listed as Pier Maria.

Education. During a visit to Piancastagno, Father Ponzoli, O.S.M., met young Pietro Maria and asked him to become a voluntary brother in the Order of the Servants of Mary (Servites), invitation that he quickly accepted; with the consensus of his parents, Pietro Maria went to Florence with Father Ponzoli and studied grammar; in 1691, when he turned fifteen years old, he received the religious habit in the convent della SS. Annunziata; two years later, when he finished the novitiate, he was sent to the convent of S. Marcello in Rome, where he continued his education, concluding his theological formation with a brilliant public dissertation; when he was twenty six, Pope Clement XI by a papal brief made him master in his order.

Priesthood. Ordained (no further information found). When he finished his studies, he went as regent of studies to the convent _della Annunziata_in Florence and two years later, he returned as regent to the convent of S. Marcello in Rome, where he was later elected definitor general of his order's province of Tuscany. At the death of the superior general, he was named general vicar until the celebration of the general chapter; Father Castelli was elected new superior general of the order and for reasons only known to himself, the new superior general deprived Father Pieri of the post of regent. Father Pieri appealed to Cardinal Lorenzo Corsini, future Pope Clement XII, then protector of the Order of the Servites, with such energy and eloquence that the cardinal named him his librarian and theologian, with a pension of fifty scudi a year, and consultor of the SS.CC. of Rites and of the Index. At the death of Father Castelli, Father Sostegno Cavalli was elected superior general and Father Pieri was acclaimed as procurator general of the order in 1720. When Father Cavalli was promoted to the episcopate as bishop of Gubbio, Father Pieri governed the order temporarily until, by a papal brief of Pope Benedict XIII, he was named the new superior general in 1725. In the general chapter celebrated in 1732, after six years as superior general, he was confirmed in the same post by the religious of his order. He was able to obtain several privileges for the Order, including the exemption of Third Order sisters from the jurisdiction of the local bishop and the placing of them directly under the Order; the right in perpetuo of the Servants of Mary to have a consultor in the Sacred Congregation of Rites; the approval of the Constitutions of the Germanic Observance (1727); the extension of the office of Our Lady of Sorrows on the Friday after Passion Sunday to the Universal Church. During his generalate, S. Peregrine Laziosi was canonized and the canonization of St. Juliana Falconieri was prepared, but it had to be postponed until 1737 because of the death of Benedict XIII. It is said that the Order was never so well known or respected as in the period when Father Pieri was prior general.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of March 24, 1734; received the red hat and the title of S. Giovanni a Porta Latina, April 12, 1734. Remained as superior general until the feast of Pentecost 1734. Participated in the conclave of 1740, which elected Pope Benedict XIV. Shortly after he became ill and was afflicted with the partial loss of his mind, and suffered his illness with great patience and holiness. After his promotion to the cardinalate, he strictly continued to observe the rules of his religious order and declined all gifts.

Death. January 27, 1743, Rome. Exposed in the church of S. Marcello, Rome, on January 29, 1743; the capella papalis took place the following day with the participation of Pope Benedict XIV and the Sacred College of Cardinals; the late cardinal was buried in front of the altar of S. Giuliana Falconieri, in the chapel of S. Filippo Benizi in that church. Later, his remains were buried in the center of the choir, to the right of the main altar, with a noble epitaph composed by Father Alessandro Bandiera, O.S.M. (2). A marble monument to his memory was erected in the sacristy of the basilica of S. Maria dei Servi, in Siena.

Bibliography. Benassi, Vincenzo ; Dias, Odir J. ; Faustini, Faustino. A short history of the Servite order. Rome : General Secretariat for the Servite Missions, 1987, pp. 66-167, 172, 180 and 181; Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. 9 vols. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1794, VIII, 268-270; Forcella, Vincenzo. Iscrizioni delle chiese e d'altri edificii di Roma dal secolo XI fino ai giorni nostri. 14 v. in 7. Roma : Tip. delle scienze matematiche e fisiche, 1869-1884, II, 322 no. 995; Notizie per l'anno 1753. In Roma MDCCLIII : Nella Stamperia del Chracas, p.123, no. 12; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recientoris Aevi. Volumen VI (1730-1799). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 7 and 44; Seidler, Sabrina M.; Weber, Christoph. Päpste und Kardinäle in der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts (1730-1777) : das biographische Werk des Patriziers von Lucca Bartolomeo Antonio Talenti. Frankfurt am Main ; New York : Peter Lang, 2007. (Beiträge zur Kirchen- und Kulturgeschichte, Bd. 18), p. 233-235; Weber, Christoph. Senatus divinus : verborgene Strukturen im Kardinalskollegium der frühen Neuzeit (1500-1800). Frankfurt am Main ; New York : Peter Lang, 1996, p. 502, no. 656.

Webgraphy. His engraving, portrait and biography, in Italian, Wikipedia; his image, fresco, Pistoia, Polo Museale Fiorentino; his portrait by an unknown artist, Servitenkloster Innsbruck, Ritratti tirolesi; his portrait, Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali - CulturaItalia; his portrait, Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali - CulturaItalia; his engravingby Nicolò Billy, Il Giovani, CalcoGRAFICA - Istituto Nazionale della Grafica; his engraving by Nicolò Billy, Il Giovani, Bildarchiv Austria. Die Bildplattform der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek; his tomb, Requiem Datenbank; his monument, in the sacristy of the basilica of S. Maria dei Servi, in Siena, Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali.

(1) Some sources indicate that he was born on September 24, 1676; others give September 30 as the day of his birth; and yet others say that he was born in 1675 or in 1677.
(2) This is the inscription in his tomb taken from Forcella, Iscrizioni delle chiese e d'altri edificii di Roma dal secolo XI fino ai giorni nostri, II, 322 no. 995:

D. O. M. F. PETRO M. PIERIO SENENSI ORDINIS SERVORUM B.M. VIRGINIS TITULI S. JOANNIS ANTE PORTAM LATINAM PRESB. CARDIN. RELIGIONEM IN DEUM IN TRANSFIXAM VIRGINEM PIETATE MISERICORDIA IN PAUPERES DOCTR1NA PRUDENTIA RERUMQ. GERENDARUM USU MIRIFICE PRAEDITO ACCEPTISSIMO PROPTEREA SUMMIS PONTIFICIBUS CLEMENTI XI ET BENEDICTO XIII AB EISQUE RINUNCIATO SACR. CONGREGRATIONUM INDICIS SUPREMAE INQUISITIONIS AC RITUUM CENSORI ET CONSULTORI ATQUE EPISCOPORUM EXAMINATORI ET SEDIS APOSTOLICAE NEGOCIJS GRAVISSIMIS EXPEDIENDIS IN CONSILIUM ADHIBITO A CLEMENTE VERO XII. CUI ANTE PONTIFICATUM A BIBLIOTHECA THEOLOGISQUE STUDIJS FUERAT IN SACRUM PURPURATORUM PATRUM COLLEGIUM COOPTATO ANNO MDCCXXXIV. DIE XIV. MARTIJ EIUSDEM ORDINIS SOClJ AMANTISSIMO QUONDAM FRATRI VIGILANTISSIMO SEMEL ATQUE ITERUM UNIVERSAE FAMILIAE PATRI EMINENTISSIMO TANDEM BENEFACTORI MORTE OBITA ANNO MDCCXLIII. DIE XXVI. JANUARII AETAT. LXVII GRATI ANIMI MONUM. POSUERE.

(19) 4. LANFREDINI, Giacomo (1680-1741)

Birth. October 26, 1680, Florence. Of a noble family. His mother was Costanza Sati. His last name is also listed as Lanfredi; and as Lanfredini Amadori.

Education. He studied science, Greek and Latin; he later, in 1699, he attended the University of Pisa, where he studied law under Professor Giuseppe Averani, a distinguished lawyer.

Early life. Named canon of the cathedral chapter of Florence by Grand Duke Cosimo III. Practiced law in Rome under the direction of Pomponio de Vecchis, renowned lawyer. Generously distributed his income among the poor, donating in one day 10,000 scudi to the Roman house of the Congregation of the Mission (Paulists). He conducted a retired, devout and austere life. He was auditor of several cardinals and Cardinal Nicolò Acciaioli, bishop of Ostia e Velletri, dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, named him his vicar general; and later so did Cardinal Fabrizio Paolucci, bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina, vice-dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals. Declined the appointment of first auditor of the grand duke of Tuscany but accepted that of advocate of his causes as well as those of his son Giangastone. Obtained by competitive examination the prelature Amadori(defender of the causes of the poor), 1721, and from then on was known as Lanfredini-Amadori. Delivered before the Sacred College of Cardinals the oration for the funeral of Pope Innocent XIII in 1724; and in March 1730, the oration De eligendo Pontifice for the election of the new Pontiff Clement XII; both were published in Rome. Consistorial lawyer and tutor of the pope's nephew, 1726.

Priesthood. Ordained, March 16, 1727, by Pope Benedict XIII. Relator of the S.C. of Good Government. Auditor of the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church. Canonist of the Apostolic Penitentiary, 1728. Secretary of the S.C. of the Tridentine Council, July 1730. Canon of the patriarchal Vatican basilica, 1730. Voter of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, May 1731. Datary of the Apostolic Penitentiary, July 1733; and later, regent. He was a trusted counselor of Popes Innocent XIII, Benedict XIII and Clement XII, who asked for his advice in the most delicate matters; he generally responded in writing modestly suppressing his signature.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of March 24, 1734; received the red hat and the deaconry of S. Maria in Portico Campitelli, April 12, 1734.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Osimo e Cingoli, September 15, 1734. Consecrated, April 4, 1734, Rome, by Cardinal Giovanni Antonio Guadagni, O.C.D., vicar general of Rome, assisted by Tommaso Cervini, titular Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and by Giuseppe Maria Feroni, titular archbishop of Damascus. Each year, he visited the diocese and celebrated five diocesan synods; he preached tirelessly and when he was able to, he brought the viaticum to the infirm, comforting them with paternal exhortations in that difficult moment; he visited the parishes instructing all with the Catechism; he frequently distributed generous alms to the needy. Prefect of the S.C. of Ecclesiastical Immunity, May 15, 1739 until his death. Participated in the conclave of 1740, which elected Pope Benedict XIV. Resigned the government of the diocese of Osimo e Cingoli, September 15, 1740; the pope granted him the selection of his successor. Apostolic visitor of the Reverend Fabric of St. Peter's, December 17, 1740. Apostolic visitor of the archhospital of S. Spirito in Sasia, Rome.

Death. May 16, 1741, Rome. The following day he was exposed, according to his will, in the church of Ss. Giovanni e Paolo, Rome; the cappella papalis took place on May 18 with the participation of Pope Benedict XIV. Privately transferred to and buried in the Paulist church of the SS. Trinità in Monte Citorio, Rome, which he had founded and named his beneficiary. His biography was written by a Paulist priest and published in Rome in 1761. Canon Salvino Salvini also wrote the cardinal's biography but was not published. Giovanni Maria Brocchi registered the name of Cardinal Lanfredini in the first volume of Vite de' Santi della diocesi di Firenze. The Paulist Fathers placed a memorial to the cardinal over the main door of the church of Monte Citorio with an honorable inscription (1). He was the last descendant of his family.

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. 9 vols. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1794, VIII, 270-273; Notizie per l'anno 1753. In Roma MDCCLIII : Nella Stamperia del Chracas, p. 110, no. 2; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recientoris Aevi. Volumen VI (1730-1799). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 7, 52 and 109; Seidler, Sabrina M.; Weber, Christoph. Päpste und Kardinäle in der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts (1730-1777) : das biographische Werk des Patriziers von Lucca Bartolomeo Antonio Talenti. Frankfurt am Main ; New York : Peter Lang, 2007. (Beiträge zur Kirchen- und Kulturgeschichte, Bd. 18), p. 217-220; Weber, Christoph. Senatus divinus : verborgene Strukturen im Kardinalskollegium der frühen Neuzeit (1500-1800). Frankfurt am Main ; New York : Peter Lang, 1996, p. 502-503, no. 657.

Webgraphy. His engravings and biography, in Italian, Wikipedia; his portrait, secolo XVIII (1725-1749), bottega marchigiana, regione ecclesiastica Marche, diocesi Ancona-Osimo, Beni Ecclesiastici in web (BeWeB); his engraving, Araldica Vaticana; his engraving by Nicolò Billy, Il Giovani, Bildarchiv Austria. Die Bildplattform der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek; his tomb, Requiem Datenbank.

(1) On October 10, 1925, his remains were transferred to the church of S. Apollinaris, Rome, in a zinc container together with those of five distinguished Paulists. Their remains were collocated beneath the chapel of S. Vincenzo.

©1998-2022 Salvador Miranda.