RINUCCINI, FAMILY. - A noble Florentine family, which in the 14th century carried on a profitable banking activity with the Commune and the papal Court. The R., until the extinction of the family in the first half of the 19th century, counted among their members soldiers, diplomats, and men of letters.

Among the ecclesiastics, GIOVANNI BATTISTA R., b. 15 Sept. 1592 in Rome, d. at Fermo on 13 Dec. 1653. Secretary of the Congregation of Rites under Gregory XV, he was appointed in 1625 archbishop of Fermo.

After having refused in 1631 the archbishopric of Florence, R. was sent in 1645 as nuncio to Ireland. R. found himself caught between the party of the old Irish and that of the Catholic Anglo-Irish, who feared they would have to restore the ecclesiastical property usurped during the schism, in the event that the Catholic Church were publicly recognized in Ireland. R. attempted, but in vain, to safeguard the rights of Catholics in the face of the various religious sects and of the Anglican Church. R.'s attitude, opposed on principle to any negotiation with the Protestants, antagonized the Supreme Council, in which the Anglo-Irish were in the majority. On 2 March 1649 the nuncio left Ireland after having declared that the Holy See did not intend to be represented by nuncios at Protestant powers.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: G. Aiazzi, Nunziatura in Irlanda di mons. G. B. R., Florence 1854; R. Bagwell, R., in Dict. of National Biography, XVI, London 1921, pp. 1198-1201 (with bibl.); Pastor XIV, part 1, passim.

GIOVANNI R. (1743-1801), after having been vice-legate of Bologna and ponente of the consulta, was promoted in 1789 by Pius VI to governor of Rome and vice-chamberlain, then created cardinal deacon on 21 Feb. 1794. Forced to leave Rome because of the French invasion, he took part in the Conclave of Venice of 1799-1800.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: A. Panella, R., in Enc. Ital., XXIX, with bibl.; L. Ferrari, Onomasticon, Milan 1947, p. 378 (for the indication of biographical sources on various members of the family); Moroni, LVII, pp. 304-305 (on Giovanni R.); Y. Renouard, Les relations des papes d'Avignon et des compagnies commerciales et bancaires de 1316 à 1378, Paris 1941, passim.

Silvio Furlani

OTTAVIO RINUCCINI

Born in Florence in 1564, died there in 1621. He is considered the first librettist and, as a poet, holds a considerable place in the history of melodrama in Italy. He also stayed at the Court of France from 1601 to 1603. In the sacred genre he composed the Versi cantati in the Chapel of the Archduchess of Austria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (Florence 1619) and the libretto for the "Festa dell'Agnolo Gabriello."

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: A. Civita, O. R. e il sorgere del melodramma in Italia, Mantua 1900; A. Solerti, Gli albori del melodramma, I-II, Palermo 1903; A. Della Corte, O. R. librettista, Turin 1925.

Luisa Cervelli

@incollection{ec10_rinuccini_famiglia, author = {Furlani, Silvio and Cervelli, Luisa}, title = {Rinuccini, famiglia}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {X}, pages = {943}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/rinuccini-famiglia} }

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Rinuccini, Family

OTTAVIO RINUCCINI

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