RIDOLFI, ROBERTO. - Born in Florence on 18 Nov. 1531, to Pagnozzo and Maddalena Gondi, died there in 1612. Having moved to London around 1562, he was the head of a prosperous banking house; but his intelligence, his connections, and his notable diplomatic qualities soon turned him toward greater things.
Through the bank's business, R. had the convenience of corresponding with abroad without arousing suspicion. Those English nobles who wished to restore their homeland to the Catholic faith turned to him, and elected him as their intermediary at the Papal court; the Pope, having satisfied himself of his ability (Adriani, Istoria dei suoi tempi, XXI, 4), declared him secret nuncio: a dangerous assignment in those troubled times. Already in 1569, accused of complicity in the rebellion of the Northern Earls, for having paid them large sums, he was imprisoned and closely examined; but he was able, through his firmness and with the help of powerful friendships among Queen Elizabeth's councillors, to persuade the judges of his innocence and to justify the payments made as ordinary commercial transactions. Acquitted of the charges, he formed even closer ties with Cecil and with Walsingham, who were convinced that he was utterly devoted to Elizabeth. This emboldened him to greater daring.
From 1570 onward, in fact, R. was the soul of the conspiracy that bears his name ("the R. plot"), aimed at the deposition of Elizabeth and the accession to the throne of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, who would have married the Duke of Norfolk. And it was R. who received from Pius V the risky commission to publish in England the famous bull of 25 Feb. 1570, by which the Pope declared Elizabeth deposed and released her subjects from their obligations of allegiance. Having received from Rome as many as 80 copies, both printed and manuscript, he oversaw their dissemination in London and in various places throughout the Kingdom. Once the spirits of English Catholics were inflamed by this publication, those who were at their head urged the conclusion of the negotiations by R., who acted as intermediary among them, the Pope, Philip II, and the Duke of Alba. On 24 March 1571, by commission received from the Duke of Norfolk and the Queen of Scots, he left
England to finalize the agreements with the Pope and with the King of Spain. In Brussels, at the court of the Duke of Alba, who was supposed to be the military arm of the conspiracy, he found nothing but great coldness. R., having then made his way to Rome, received a grand and joyous welcome from Pius V. Having easily obtained from the Pope what his mandators required, R. passed into Spain charged with new fervent papal commissions. He then received the order to proceed once more to Flanders, to the ever hostile and temporizing Duke of Alba; but there the news reached him that the principal conspirators had been arrested, including the Duke of Norfolk. The latter paid with his life, and R. with the confiscation of all his goods, which were considerable, for the unfortunate daring. Having withdrawn once more to Rome to give an account of his actions, he received ample recognition from Pius V. There the Grand Duke of Tuscany used him as his agent at the Papal Court, before sending him, in 1574, as his extraordinary ambassador to Spain and Portugal. Having finally returned to his homeland, he held no few public offices there, and in 1600 he was named senator.
By English Protestant historians he was called "the arch-conspirator"; Froude called him "the hottest firebrand in Europe"; by others he was branded outright with treason. But to devote one's life and property to the triumph of one's own faith did not, for R. — a Catholic and, moreover, not English — seem to be treason, if words have any meaning; and it is pleasing to note that he was, as is attested by several pieces of evidence, devoted to the memory of Fra Girolamo Savonarola. He was also accused of having a genius for intrigue and of having conducted himself with duplicity, but Pollen called him "substantially honest"; nor should the difficulties and the continual mortal dangers amid which he had to move be forgotten.
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Roberto Ridolfi