GRIMALDI, GIACOMO. — Priest, scholar, born in Bologna c. 1560, died in Rome on 7 January 1623. He entered the service of the Vatican Basilica at a young age as an extra cleric (1581), then became sacristan, archivist, and beneficiary cleric (1602).
In 1588, in this capacity, he took part in the Lateran Council. On 19 January 1517, he succeeded his uncle as Patriarch of Aquileia. Clement VII created him a cardinal on 3 May 1527.
He was also administrator of the diocese of Concordia and, from 1544, the suburbicarian bishop of Porto. He resigned several times from the episcopate of Ceneda and the patriarchate of Aquileia in favor of brothers and relatives, later regaining possession of them as administrator or by right of reversion. He asserted the rights of Aquileia and the territory occupied by Austria at the Diet of Worms (1521) and the Congress of Bologna (1529), and was involved in jurisdictional disputes with the Venetian Republic over Ceneda. During the struggle between Charles V and Francis I, he worked for pacification at the Congress of Busseto. In 1535, he was legate in Perugia, which was plagued by the Baglioni, and succeeded in restoring peace throughout the Umbrian territory; in 1544, he was legate in Parma and Piacenza. He served on various commissions established by Paul III for the reform of the officials of the Papal States, the Chancery, and matters concerning the Council. He took part in the conclave in which Paul III was elected. A patron of men of letters and artists, he enjoyed a reputation for great learning. He published anonymously a *Commentarium in Epistolas Pauli ad Romanos et Galatas* (Venice 1542).