Carnesecchi, Pietro

CARNESECCHI, PIETRO. - Heretic, b. in Florence on 24 Dec. 1508, beheaded in Rome on 1 Oct. 1567. Son of a noble Florentine merchant, knowledgeable in Greek and Latin letters, he soon won the esteem of the Medici, especially of Cardinal Giulio who, having become Pope Clement VII, summoned him to Rome as his secretary and provided him with rich ecclesiastical benefices. In a letter of recommendation to Charles V (27 June 1531) he calls him «summa fide et singulari modestia vir, quem cum suis meritis et deditissimo animo in me, tum virtute et nobilitate ita amo ut plus non possem».

In 1533, at Clement VII's side, he took part in the conference of Marseille. In Naples Giulia Gonzaga, whom he esteemed and loved, brought him into contact with Juan de Valdés, Bernardino Ochino, Pietro Martire Vermigli and other more or less open supporters of the reform in Italy (1536-40). In 1541 he was in Viterbo, where, around the English cardinal Reginald Pole, a circle of «spirituali» was forming which, while remaining within the Church, drew close to Lutheranism as regards justification by faith alone. The apostasy of Ochino and Vermigli (1542) alerted the ecclesiastical authority to the danger of those currents. Nevertheless C., who was also in contact with foreign and native heretics, knew how to conceal his true mind and was acquitted by the Roman Inquisition for lack of evidence (1546). He then went to France as the guest of Catherine de' Medici, his protectress and friend. He moved to Venice in 1552, increasingly manifesting his sympathies for the reform. Paul IV summoned him to Rome (1557), but C. refused to appear, and was condemned in absentia (6 Apr. 1558). On the death of Paul IV he reappeared in Rome, had his case re-examined and - telling, as Pius V would later affirm, «a mountain of lies» - obtained the annulment of the previous condemnation (June 1560). Suspicions remained, however, and C.'s conduct was certainly not such as to dispel them. Pius V had the trial resumed. C. was then staying with Cosimo de' Medici who, asked by the Pope, handed him over (July 1566). The trial lasted a year; and instead of confessing and abjuring, trusting in the protection of Cosimo and Catherine de' Medici, C. persisted in justifying himself, and since the evidence against him became ever more evident, in the end on 21 Sept. 1567 he was condemned, then on 1 Oct. 1567 he was beheaded and afterwards burned.

Ireneo Daniele