RUFFO. — I. TOMMASO, cardinal, b. Naples 1663, d. Rome 16 Feb 1753.
He completed his education at the Collegio Clementino, showing a passion for legal studies, for which he obtained the post of internuncio at Brussels, offered to him by Innocent XI. He served as vicelegate at Ravenna, nuncio in Tuscany, and master of the chamber to Innocent XII and Clement XI, who created him cardinal on 17 May 1706. He governed as legate Ravenna, Ferrara, Bologna, and again Ferrara, of which he became bishop in 1717 and which was elevated to an archbishopric for him. Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, in 1740 he was named vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church and secretary of the Holy Office. In the 1740 conclave his candidature, which met with favour, was opposed by Austria and France.
II. FABRIZIO, cardinal, b. S. Lucido (Cosenza) 16 Sept 1744, d. Naples 13 Dec 1827.
He was entrusted by his uncle Cardinal Tommaso to Giovanni Angelo Braschi, the future Pius VI, for his early education. He completed his studies at the Collegio Clementino. Entering the curia, he was admitted by Pius VI among the referendaries of the two Signatures and named chamberlain (1781). Treasurer-general of the Apostolic Chamber at the beginning of 1785, he applied himself to carrying out the reforming policy of the Pope; thus he worked to abolish feudal barriers that hindered internal trade, reorganized the customs at the borders of the State, and by suitable fiscal measures protected manufactures and facilitated the development of a merchant marine, the cultivation of hemp and cotton, the factories of linen and pottery, the copper and iron foundries, and the tanning industry. Some measures, such as the abolition of unproductive vineyards, the leasing of land, and the granting of emphyteusis to peasants of camerale properties, and the limitation of the powers of the cardinal legates, earned Ruffo many interested hostilities, which increased as the political and economic situation of the State worsened after the outbreak of the French Revolution. Pius VI, to remove him, created him cardinal deacon on 21 Feb 1794 (in the consistory of 26 Sept 1791 he had reserved him *in pectore*). Returning to Naples, he was named by the King intendant of Caserta, with the task of overseeing the manufactures of the agricultural-industrial colony of S. Leucio. Pius VI strongly disapproved of his acceptance of these posts and considered an usurpation the conferral upon Ruffo of the abbacy of S. Sofia of Benevento, arbitrarily declared of royal patronage.
After the French invasion, Ferdinand IV, having taken refuge in Palermo, named him on 25 Jan 1799 vicar-general of the Kingdom, entrusting him with the reconquest. Landing in Calabria near Punta del Pezzo (8 Feb 1799), almost alone, without money or arms, he succeeded in rallying, if not in disciplining, the masses of insurgents formed after the dispersal of the regular army.
Inclined to moderation and clemency, despite the contrary urgings of Ferdinand and Maria Carolina, he strove to contain the ferocity and plunder of his bands, but could not prevent excesses such as those at Crotone (22 March) and Altamura (10 May). The success of the enterprise was aided by Ruffo’s shrewd action in alleviating the wretched conditions of the common people, so that almost everywhere the advance of the army of the Holy Faith was accompanied by popular uprisings against the propertied classes, among whom the Parthenopean Republic had found greater support. Entering Naples (15 June), Ruffo negotiated with the defenders of the forts an honourable capitulation, which the sovereigns and Nelson refused to respect, thus adding to the bloody violence a merciless repression. Ruffo, who had never ceased to recommend a broad and generous pardon to found a lasting restoration on the pacification of minds, now in disgrace, left Naples in November for the conclave at Venice.
During the Napoleonic Empire, he was among the cardinals inclined to tolerate the Emperor’s religious policy. After the Restoration, Pius VII entrusted him with the supervision of the deputations of Annona and Grascia and the prefecture of the Pontine reclamations (1821). He spent his last years in Naples, devoted to his favourite studies of military art, economics, and agriculture.