Aldobrandini

ALDOBRANDINI. - Florentine family, to which it was not so much ancient nobility of blood and importance of offices held that gave celebrity as the man who was raised from it to the tiara. The first to give it some renown was SILVESTRO (1499-1558), chancellor of the Riformagioni of Florence, a skilled jurist, expelled by the Medici and having taken refuge in Rome under Paul III. Here, having entered the pontifical magistracies, he earned the vicegerency of Bologna, and became, after brief absences, during which he served the dukes of Ferrara and Urbino, consistorial advocate; under Paul IV he was an instrument, in the hands of Card. Carlo Carafa, of the anti-Spanish policy. Having fallen into disfavor with Paul IV and having soon died, he left six children, of whom one, TOMMASO, was secretary of the Briefs (d. 1572), a second, GIOVANNI, was bishop of Imola and cardinal (d. 1573), a third, PIETRO, was fiscal advocate (d. 1587), and a fourth, IPPOLITO, was consistorial advocate, auditor of the Rota, datary of Sixtus V, cardinal and finally pope under the name Clement VIII.

The latter was lavish in favors toward his closest relatives: PIETRO, son of his brother Pietro, was cardinal and Secretary of State (v. below); CINZIO, son of his sister Giulia, who had married Aurelio Personeni da Ca Passero, was also cardinal and, with his cousin, Secretary of State (v. below); GIAN FRANCESCO, husband of his niece Olimpia, destined to continue the family, was for this reason amply provided with revenues. The latter had twelve children; and of these SILVESTRO was made cardinal at the age of sixteen, IPPOLITO was cardinal under Gregory XV, MARGHERITA was given in marriage to the duke of Parma Ranuccio Farnese, ELENA was given in marriage to a Carafa, a man of loose morals. With the death of Card. Ippolito in 1637, the male line, so promising, died out and the many riches went to OLIMPIA, daughter of Gian Francesco, who passed first into the Borghese family and then into the Pamphili family. In the end the inheritance passed to the princes Borghese. Out of belated gratitude in 1839 Prince Camillo Borghese assumed the name of the Aldobrandini, a name which likewise remained, most honorable among posterity, to the urban villa, whence the famous Nozze Aldobrandine came to light, and to the Tusculan villa, among the largest and most splendid of the 16th century.

Luigi Berra

GIOVANNI

Cardinal, born in Florence, died in Rome on 17 September 1573. The elder brother of Clement VIII, in 1554 he was appointed consistorial advocate and governor of Imola. In 1556 he became auditor of the Rota. In 1569 he was created bishop of Imola by Pius V and on 17 May 1570 cardinal of the title of St. Susanna. Very important assignments were entrusted to him, among them also the negotiations for the league of Rome, Venice and Spain against the Turks. He was buried in S. Maria sopra Minerva in the family chapel.

Emma Santovito

CINZIO

Cardinal, b. at Sinigaglia in 1560, d. at Rome on 1 January 1610. Born Passeri, he received from his uncle, Cardinal Ippolito, later pope under the name Clement VIII, the surname Aldobrandini. He took his degree in law at Padua. In 1588 he accompanied Cardinal Ippolito on the legation to Poland and Germany and was then sent to Sixtus V to announce the pacification achieved between the Austrians and the Poles. On 17 September 1593 he was created cardinal of the title of St. George in Velabro, later changed to that of St. Peter in Chains. In the same year he was appointed, together with Cardinal Pietro, Secretary of State, and in that capacity he later accompanied the Pope to Ferrara. After a brief stay in Venice and Milan, he returned to Rome, where he was appointed Prefect of the Segnatura di Giustizia and, in 1604, legate of Avignon. Under Leo XI he held the office of Major Penitentiary. He protected artists and men of letters, among them particularly Torquato Tasso, who dedicated to him the Gerusalemme Conquistata. He was buried in St. Peter in Chains.

Emma Santovito

PIETRO

Cardinal, born in Rome in 1572, died there on 10 February 1621. He was appointed by his uncle, Pope Clement VIII, apostolic protonotary, consistorial advocate, prefect of Castel Sant'Angelo and finally cardinal on 17 September 1593. Together with his cousin Cinzio, he was entrusted with the direction of political affairs. In 1598, by the treaty of Faenza, he obtained the annexation of Ferrara to the Papal State. Subsequently he held the legation of Ferrara and later became prefect of the Segnatura, of the Brevi and Camerlengo of the Roman Church. In 1600 he negotiated the peace of Lyon between Henry IV and Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy. He obtained from Henry IV the recall of the Jesuits to France. In 1604 he received the archbishopric of Ravenna, where he retired upon the death of Clement VIII. In 1620 he became bishop of Sabina. He had the famous Villa Aldobrandini at Frascati built. - See Pl. LIX.

Emma Santovito

GIACOMO

Apostolic nuncio, born in Florence, died there on 10 March 1606. On 13 August 1545 he was appointed canon of the Collegiate Church of St. Lawrence, but he renounced the canonry five years later. Under Sixtus V he held numerous important offices, among them that of vice-nuncio and, in 1591, governor of Ancona and Fano. On 15 November 1593 he was appointed by Clement VIII bishop of Troia and three years later apostolic nuncio in Naples. He was buried in Florence in the Church of St. Lawrence.

Emma Santovito

ALESSANDRO

Cardinal, born in Florence on 1 May 1667, died in Ferrara on 14 Aug. 1734. After completing his studies at the Roman Seminary, he was sent in 1699 as vice-legate to Ferrara, and in 1702 he was appointed by Clement XI, precisely at the time of the War of the Spanish Succession, commissioner of the papal arms. In 1706, having returned to Rome, he received the office of cleric of the Chamber. He was then appointed nuncio first to Naples, then to Venice, and finally, in 1720, to Spain, at the court of Philip V, where he remained throughout the entire pontificate of Benedict XIII. In 1730 he was created cardinal of the title of the Four Saints by Clement XII, and in the same year the legation of Ferrara was entrusted to him. He was buried in the church of the Discalced Carmelites.

Emma Santovito