ANNIBALDI (ANNIBALDESCHI) DELLA MOLARA, RICCARDO DEGLI

ANNIBALDI (ANNIBALDESCHI) della MOLARA, RICCARDO degli. — He was created cardinal with the title of S. Angelo by his great-uncle Gregory IX in 1237 or 1239. He was appointed, perhaps by Innocent IV, archpriest of the Vatican basilica, and then archdeacon of the Roman Church; in this capacity he crowned Pope Clement IV in 1265. In 1248 he became rector of the Campagna and the Marittima. At the behest of Innocent IV, he is said to have brought together under the Rule of s. Augustine the numerous hermits scattered throughout Tuscany: the regulations he drew up for this purpose to establish the discipline of the professed, novices, and lay brothers were confirmed by his uncle Alexander IV in a bull issued at Anagni on 22 July 1255 (Potthast, no. 16334), and in March 1257 the same Pope appointed him protector of the Order. He was entrusted with the Church’s most important political affairs: in 1252 he went to Florence to establish peace between the factions dividing Tuscany; Clement IV chose him to be part of the embassy that conferred upon Charles I the investiture of the kingdom of Naples; he was one of the six cardinals to whom the opposing parties, by compromise, referred the papal election; Gregory IX charged him with settling the conflict between the churches of Viterbo that were disputing the remains of Clement IV; Innocent V entrusted him with judging a contested election to the bishopric of Antwerp. He died perhaps in the summer of 1276 and was buried in the basilica of S. Pietro. He was a close friend of s. Tommaso d'Aquino, with whom he was also related, since a niece of the saint married an Annibaldi of Ceccano.