RIDOLFI, NICCOLÒ

RIDOLFI, NICCOLÒ. — Cardinal, born in Florence on 16 July 1501, to Piero and Contessina de’ Medici, daughter of Lorenzo il Magnifico, he was directed toward an ecclesiastical career as soon as Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici, his uncle, was raised to the papacy under the name of Leo X.

In 1517, at only sixteen years of age, he received the cardinal’s purple with the title of SS. Vito e Modesto, which he subsequently exchanged for the deaconry of S. Maria in Cosmedin and finally for that of S. Maria in Via Lata. In 1518 he received the provostship of Prato, and the bishopric of Orvieto in 1520; but it was under the pontificate of his other kinsman, Clemente VII, that the shower of benefices began for him: to the bishopric of Orvieto were added those of Vicenza in ’24, Forlì in ’26, Viterbo in ’32, and Imola in ’33; and the archbishoprics of Florence in ’24 and Salerno in ’33. These benefices, together with others of lesser importance, assured R. enormous revenues, a large part of which he distributed among the men of letters with whom he loved to surround himself. Elected legate of the Patrimony (1524), he was then sent to steady the spirit of the Florentines (1527); but his mission produced an effect contrary to the Pope’s wishes, because R., through family connections, friendships, and an inclination toward the ancient liberties, showed rather favour than severity toward those acting against Medici rule and the detested government of Cardinal Passerini. When the city rebelled against the Medici, after the sack of Rome, R. was among the small number of cardinals who, at Parma, while the Pope was besieged in Castel S. Angelo, attended to the affairs of the Church. As a cardinal and as a relative, during the siege of Florence by the papal and imperial armies, he sided with the Pope, being also indignant at the unrestrained faction that held the city in its hands. But when it fell under the tyranny of Alessandro, he joined the duke’s opponents among the exiled patriots, tacitly while the Pope lived, and openly after his death. After Alessandro was killed and suc-

(from Fr. Guillermo Furlong Cardiff, Cartografia Jesuítica del Rio de la Plata, Buenos Aires 1858, vol. 63-II, plate 18)
REDUCTIONS – Map of the missions of the Society of Jesus in Paraguay with the r., compiled by I. Quiroga (1749).

After Alessandro was killed and Cosimo succeeded him, together with Cardinals Salviati and Gaddi he marched with an army toward Florence to oppose this election, asserting, with the Salviati and the Strozzi, his rights as the last legitimate descendant of that branch of the Medici which had ruled the homeland. But while he, because of family traditions and the republican ideas he had acquired from his humanistic studies, sincerely wished to restore liberty and the Great Council to Florence, Salviati was thinking of the advantages that could derive from his kinship with Cosimo. Thus, since the cardinals were divided, the expedition failed. The R. did not for this reason surrender, and from Rome, under the benevolent eyes of Paul III, he continued to plot against Cosimo’s principate. After the death of Paul III, the R. was among the papabili, despite imperial opposition. Favored by the cardinals of the French party, he would easily have been elected had the Farnese, the arbiters of the conclave, followed the recommendations of the deceased Pontiff. Instead, they seemed to turn toward the R. only after he had left the conclave because of an indisposition. Recalled with firm promises, he was preparing to return when a sudden death overtook him on 31 January 1550, «at the moment closest to his elevation» (Galluzzi, Storia, I, 7). Naturally, there was talk of poison, given to him by Cosimo or «by one who had no other means of preventing him from attaining the papacy» (B. Segni, Storia, XII). But this is at least doubtful, even though the famous physician Realdo publicly asserted, after dissecting the body, that if he had given him the poison himself he could not have been more certain of II.
The R. was great of spirit and good-natured; in generosity, the worthiest nephew of Lorenzo il Magnifico and Leone X. A disciple of Lascaria, he was extremely learned, especially in Greek literature; he assembled a library of ancient Greek and Latin codices, the most extensive and renowned collection put together in his time. His household, filled with artists and men of letters whom he supported, among them Donato Giannotti, who dedicated to him the treatise Della Repubblica fiorentina, was called the house of wisdom. Molza, Flaminio, Bonfadio, Tolomei, and Berni sang his praises. Trissino, who was his friend, as were the poet Gambara and Michelangiolo, addressed to him the volume of his Rime; Michelangiolo sculpted for him, not without significance, his bust of Bruto. The autographs of Machiavelli used for Blado’s celebrated editio princeps came from his library. Valerio Belli engraved gems for him, and Cellini, who remembered him in the Vita, fashioned silverwork for him. In a court that was by no means austere, his morals were exceptionally pure. Such a splendor of virtues appears blemished by certain transfers, not all disinterested, that he made of some of his numerous and rich benefices; but it seems that he, who knew how to remain free of so many vices and abuses of the age, was unable entirely to liberate himself from this one.

RIDOLFI, NICCOLÒ. – In the world Lucantonio, master general of the Order of Preachers, diplomat and ascetical writer, b. in Florence in 1578, d. in Rome on 25 May 1650. He received the Dominican habit (1592) at S. Maria sopra Minerva from the hands of s. Filippo Neri, his spiritual director. He subsequently became master of students (1609), bachelor at the Collegio di S. Tommaso (1611), master of theology (1614), lecturer in philosophy at the Sapienza, Roman provincial (1619–21), master of the Sacred Apostolic Palaces (1622), and finally master general of his Order.

He opposed private life (1629), promoted religious reform, and established a national training novitiate in Paris (1631). Because of his pro-Spanish sympathies, for having favoured the marriage of Princess Olimpia Aldobrandini to Paolo Borghese, and for having sided with Cardinal R. Ubaldini, who was opposed to the Barberini, he fell into disfavour with Urban VIII, who, on unspecified charges, suspended him from office (brief Alias a nobis), confined him in S. Pietro in Vincoli (1542), and subjected him to an interminable trial. He was defended by Anna of Austria, Mazzarino, the Duke of Orléans, and Philip IV of Spain. Rehabilitated by Innocent X, he died a few days before the probable re-election to the office of General could take place. He wrote many encyclical letters to his Order, notably the one beginning Videte vocationem vestram (1 January 1631), which was printed; Breve modo di far l'orazione mentale, Rome 1642.