BONELLI, MICHELE. - Cardinal, b. at Bosco in the diocese of Tortona on 25 Dec. 1541, d. at Rome on 29 March 1598. A nephew on his mother's side of Pius V, he first studied at the Collegio Germanico in Rome, then, having entered the Dominicans, at the University of Perugia. On 6 March 1566 he was created a cardinal of the title of S. Maria sopra Minerva by Pius V, and the administration of the Papal State was entrusted to him. In 1568 he was named camerlengo, but he renounced this office shortly afterward. In 1571 he became abbot of S. Michele della Chiusa and prior of the Order of Malta in Rome. On 19 June of the same year he was named legate to Spain, Portugal and France. He held numerous offices under Gregory XIII, among them the protectorate of the kingdom of Hungary and of the duchy of Savoy. On 1 May 1585 he was elected by Sixtus V vicar general of Rome and of the Papal State with the power to carry out reforms among the clergy, and in 1587 bishop of Albano. He was buried in S. Maria sopra Minerva, where Card. Pietro Aldobrandini had a sumptuous mausoleum erected for him. He wrote the reports of his legations.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: Mazzuchelli, II, p. 1530; I. Quétif-I. Echard, Scriptores ordinis Praedicatorum, II, I, Paris 1721, pp. 3-24; L. Scarabelli, in Arch. stor. ital., App. 4 (1847), n. 17; Pastor, VIII, passim; A. Walz, I Cardinali domenicani, Rome 1940, p. 36.

Emma Santovito

@incollection{ec2_bonelli_michele, author = {Santovito, Emma}, title = {Bonelli, michele}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {1852}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/bonelli-michele} }

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Bonelli, Michele

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