CARLO GIUSEPPE FILIPPO della MARTINIANA. Born in Turin on 19 June 1724, died in Vercelli on 7 December 1802. Having become a priest, he served as a spiritual director at the University of Turin; in 1757 he was made Bishop of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. Pius VI, in the Consistory of 1 June 1778, created him a cardinal and the following year appointed him Archbishop of Vercelli.
He later met Pius VI when, during the Pope’s deportation to France, on 23 April 1799 he stopped at Crescentino near Vercelli and was the last cardinal to meet with the Pontiff. On 20 May 1800, just returned from the Venetian conclave, he had the historic audience in which Napoleon, as First Consul, expressed his intention to regulate relations with the Church, a prelude to the Concordat. Pius VII promptly acted on this good disposition by entrusting MARTINIANA with the initial contacts that, well placed, became official negotiations entrusted to diplomatic channels.