MEZZABARBA, CARLO AMBROGIO. — Patriarch of Alexandria, legate to China and cardinal, born ca. 1685 in Pavia to a noble family, died in Lodi on 7 Dec. 1741. After obtaining a degree in utroque iure, he became referendary of both Signatures in Rome. Later he was governor of Todi, then of Sabina. On the proposal of Propaganda, in the secret consistory of 18 Sept. 1719 Clement XI appointed him legate a latere to China and patriarch of Alexandria. The legation of Tournon in China had failed to resolve the question of the rites. Some signs of imperial clemency toward Christians had raised in Rome the hope of a favorable change for Christianity. The Portuguese government also withdrew the measures issued in 1715 against the application of the papal decrees concerning the rites and consented to the mission of a new legate, on condition that the journey take place via Lisbon.
The mandate of M. was to enforce in China the decree *Ex illa die* of 19 March 1715. To prepare the way for the legate, Clement XI wrote numerous briefs to the king of Portugal, to his brother Francesco, to the Emperor, to the bishops and vicars apostolic of China, and assigned some Barnabites and Servites as companions of M. The legate’s confessor was the Servite Sostegno Viani, who later wrote the *Giornale della legazione della China* (Cologne 1740). The two Barnabites Onorato Ferrari and Filippo Cesati traveled in advance with a papal brief to prepare the Emperor for the legation. In the spring of 1720 M. made the journey to Lisbon, presenting his credentials there, to which the Portuguese government made certain adjustments according to the regalist principles in use. On 25 March 1720 M. departed from Lisbon and, after a brief stop in Goa, arrived on 23 Sept. 1720 in Macao. In Dec. 1720 and Jan.–Feb. 1721 he was
received by Kangxi with all due honors; but the result was negative, as was that of the legation of Tournon.
Anticipating this outcome, M. had presented to the Emperor, before the first audience, a list of concessions brought from Rome. These concessions contained the liceity of the rites, if they were purely civil and after the elimination of all superstitious elements. On 19 Jan. 1721 the Emperor replied in an autograph letter, stating that the restrictive clause was without foundation and deprived the concessions of all value. With gifts for the Pope and the king of Portugal, M. left Peking on 3 March 1721, arriving in Macao on 17 May 1721. On 7 Nov. 1721 he published a Pastoral Instruction to the bishops, vicars apostolic, and missionaries, declaring that it was not his intention to suspend the constitution of Clement XI or to permit anything forbidden therein. To remove any doubt in its execution, he also published the eight famous concessions that he had made known to Emperor Kangxi the previous year. The instruction was intended exclusively for missionaries and, under pain of excommunication, forbade its translation into Tartar or Chinese; Chinese Christians were permitted to share its contents, if necessary or useful. Benedict XIV in the constitution *Ex quo singulari* of 11 July 1742 revoked all the concessions of M. and reaffirmed the constitution of Clement XI *Ex illa die*. He then wrote to the king of Portugal that the legate had exceeded his powers, or else the opponents of the Clementine constitution had interpreted his decisions too broadly. But it is certain that M. had not acted on his own initiative. Shortly before his departure from Lisbon he had received from Rome the reply to some doubts raised by the vicars apostolic of China in Rome. The eight concessions were contained in this reply. A note on the back of the document expressly stated that the legate could make use of this reply (Letter of M. to Propaganda, dated Lodi, 10 Oct. 1740, in Archivio di Prop. Fide, Scritture riferite nei congressi. Indie cren-tali e Cina, 1737–40, vol. XXII, ff. 680–81).
Toward the end of 1721 he departed from Macao for Europe, bringing with him to Rome the remains of his predecessor, Cardinal Tournon (1723). On 13 July 1725 he was appointed bishop of Lodi.