CONTARELLI, MATTEO. - Cardinal, b. in 1519 at Morannes (Maine-et-Loire). He studied at Bologna, where he met Ugo Boncompagni (later Pope Gregory XIII) who, having moved to Rome, proposed him to Pope Pius IV as companion, in the capacity of datary, of Card. Ippolito d'Este, legate in France. On his return, he followed the cardinal of Alessandria, Michele Bonelli, nephew of St. Pius V, who was going as legate to the courts of Europe for the league against the Turk.

At the time of his election Gregory XIII took C. as datary; as a contemporary wrote, he «is of great reputation and has always been advancing in the grace of Our Lord» (Pastor, IX, 873); and indeed his integrity and ability were always appreciated, but the Pope created him cardinal only on 13 Dec. 1583.

He died in Rome on 29 Sept. 1585 and was buried in the church of St. Louis of the French, whose facade he had had built.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: L. Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali, V, Rome 1793, pp. 213-14; G. Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica, XVII, Venice 1842, pp. 51-52; Eubel, III, p. 52; Pastor, IX, pp. 22-23, 180 and passim.

Maria Morseletto

@incollection{ec4_contarelli_matteo, author = {Morseletto, Maria}, title = {Contarelli, matteo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IV}, pages = {433}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/contarelli-matteo} }

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Contarelli, Matteo

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