Armellini de' Medici, Francesco

ARMELLINI de' MEDICI, FRANCESCO. - Cardinal, b. at Perugia or at Fossato (diocese of Nocera) in 1469, d. at Rome in 1527. The son of merchants, he changed his surname Pantalassi for that of a maternal uncle, who had had him educated and had left him heir to his property. Having entered the clergy, he passed through various grades of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Leo X brought him into his household, granting him permission to add the name de' Medici to his own. In 1517 he was created cardinal of the title of St. Callistus and then of St. Mary in Trastevere. The administration of the bishoprics of Oppido and Gerace was entrusted to him, and he was appointed legate of Umbria, of the Marches and then of France. In 1521 he was invested with the office of camerlengo, which had already been entrusted to him in 1517 to replace Cardinal Raffaele Riario, who had been suspended from it. Under Clement VII he was appointed pro-vice-chancellor in place of Cardinal Pompeo Colonna. In 1525 he became archbishop of Taranto. He lost all his property in the sack of Rome, during which he was forced to take refuge in Castel Sant'Angelo, in the Pope's retinue. He was buried in St. Mary in Trastevere, where he himself had had his tomb prepared. A. did not enjoy a good reputation because of his greed and his licentious conduct.

Emma Santovito