PETRUCCI, ALFONSO. - Cardinal, b. in Siena in 1492. He was appointed by Julius II bishop of Soana, then of Massa

Marittima (1511) and created cardinal deacon of St. Theodore on 10 March 1511.

He fell out with Leo X and took advantage of the crisis brought about by the war of Urbino to attempt the recapture of Siena, from which the Pope had driven out his brother, Borghese. Having fallen under suspicion, he took refuge in the lands of the Colonna, where it seems established that he made agreements with Francesco Maria della Rovere. The details, however, concerning the P.'s conspiracy to have the Pope poisoned by the physician Battista da Vercelli are disputed. Having returned to Rome, the P. was arrested on 18 May 1517; found guilty, he was deprived of the cardinalate (22 June) and handed over to the secular arm; on 16 July he was killed in prison. Leo X was fully convinced of his guilt, and the P.'s arrogant attitude contributed to that conviction, for he had publicly boasted of freeing the Sacred College from the tyranny of the Pope.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: Pastor, IV. I, pp. 108-126, and passim; II, pp. 652-53. Cf. also the bibl. at the entry LEONE X.

Roberto Palmarocchi

@incollection{ec9_petrucci_alfonso, author = {Palmarocchi, Roberto}, title = {Petrucci, alfonso}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IX}, pages = {1304}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/petrucci-alfonso} }

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Petrucci, Alfonso

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