SODERINI, FRANCESCO. — Cardinal, born in Florence in 1453, died in Rome on 17 May 1524.
He was a familiar of Sixtus IV when, at the age of 24, he was appointed bishop of Volterra, on 11 March 1478. The brother of Piero, who after the expulsion of the Medici became gonfaloniere of Florence, he supported his cause until Piero, in turn, was expelled by the Medici in 1512, and shared with him his hostility toward that family. Not without considerable expense, he was created cardinal by Alexander VI on 31 May 1503, but he did not resign Volterra until 23 May 1509; in the meantime, he had received the bishopric of Saintes in commendam on 27 January 1507 and held it until 1514. He in fact supported the cause of France, as he demonstrated in the Conclave of September 1503. He took part in the Conclave from which Leo X emerged; he was reconciled with him and appeared to be his friend. But he was accused of having played some part in the conspiracy of Cardinal Petrucci and fined 12,000 ducats (8 June 1517), whereupon he fled to Palestrina and then to the Kingdom, returning to Rome only upon Leo’s death. In the Conclave (December 1521), he led the opposition against Cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Alessandro Farnese; and, as a skilled administrator, he acquired influence with Adrian VI. But because of his excessive favor toward French interests, he was imprisoned in the Castel Sant’Angelo (27 April 1523) and subjected to trial. Although the proceedings were still pending, he was admitted to the Conclave in October 1523; he was then reconciled with Giulio de' Medici, who emerged from it as Pope Clement VII, and received an amnesty. S., who on 12 June 1514 had received the bishopric of Vicenza in commendam and in 1517 also that of Anagni, was likewise bishop of Ostia from 18 December 1523 and dean of the Sacred College. He had built a palace in the Borgo, now destroyed, next to the equally important palace of Cardinal Castellesi.