BICHI, ALESSANDRO. - Cardinal, b. at Siena in 1596, d. at Rome in 1657. In 1628 he was elected bi-
shop of Isola and sent as nuncio to Naples with the principal task of bringing the bishops back to the obligation of residence. Two years later (1630) he was transferred to Paris, where he worked to prevent the alliance of France with Sweden, and to bring Richelieu back to peace during the Thirty Years’ War. Made cardinal in 1633, he left Paris in 1634. Having returned to Rome, he promoted, with the consent of Urbano VIII, a secret conference at Einsiedeln between the delegates of France and Bavaria for the restoration of peace; it failed because of Richelieu’s opposition (Jan. 1640). He was also one of the principal promoters of the peace of Venice following the so-called war of Castro (late 1643–March ’44). A great supporter of France in the Conclaves of 1644 and 1655, he always opposed, though in vain, the whole policy of Richelieu.