RANUZZI, ANGELO MARIA. — Cardinal, born in Bologna on 19 May 1626, died in Fano on 27 September 1689. Very young he undertook an ecclesiastical career, earned degrees in canon and civil law, and distinguished himself, through his learning and balance, in various delicate missions.
Appointed by Clement IX Archbishop of Damietta in partibus, he began his diplomatic career as nuncio to the Duke of Savoy. He then went to the court of King Michael of Poland and, having been named Bishop of Fano, was sent in 1683 by Innocent XI as nuncio to Louis XIV, charged with delivering blessed scapulars for the Dauphin’s firstborn, but above all to prevent a rupture between France and the Emperor of Austria, in an attempt to form a powerful anti-Turkish league.
The overbearing power of Louis XIV, the question of the Gallican articles, the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the provision of vacant bishoprics, the bombardment of Genoa (for which R. succeeded in obtaining from the King a suitable compensation for the restoration of the churches struck), the dispute over the French embassy in Rome, etc., made the nunciature difficult, and among other things R. was subjected, for a long period, to police surveillance. Created cardinal on 2 September 1686 and named Archbishop of Bologna, he died in Fano on his return from Paris.