Ubaldini, Ottaviano, Cardinal

UBALDINI, OTTAVIANO, cardinale. - N. certamente dopo il 1210, m. nel 1273. Usci dalla famiglia

He was archdeacon of Bologna, subdeacon and apostolic chaplain, when the Chapter postulated him as bishop (21 Feb. 1240); but since he was not yet 30 years old, Gregorio IX on 17 June 1240 appointed him administrator in temporatibus et spiritualibus. He was created cardinal deacon of s. Maria in Via Lata on 28 May 1244 by Innocenzo IV, who sent him as legate to Lombardia in 1247; he favored Ottone Visconti of Milano; after the defeat of Federico II outside Parma (18 Feb. 1248) he entered that city; but having fallen into discord with the other legate, the Guelph Gregorio di Montelongo, he went over to Romagna; and with the troops of the Bolognesi, from May onward, he held Forlì, Forlimpopoli, Cesena, Imola, Cervia, Ravenna and, in June, Ferrara and Rimini. In May 1251 he was in Genova and persuaded Innocenzo IV to remain in Lombardia. He succeeded in dominating the mind of Alessandro IV, who in May 1255 appointed him legate to lead the expedition against Manfredi: he occupied Barletta and Monopoli, but besieged in Foggia by Manfredi, he concluded a treaty with him that the Pope could not accept, for which U. was accused of having betrayed the cause of the Church. He was a friend of Brancaleone degli Andalò, senator of Roma, who was working in favor of Manfredi; he did not hesitate to sacrifice the Church itself to the interests of his family or of a group of Ghibellines of Firenze, and he played a part in organizing the military expedition that secured for the Ghibellines, with the help of Siena and Manfredi, the victory of Monteaperti (1260) and dominion over Firenze (cf. Dante, Inf., X, 83 ff.). After the victory of Carlo d'Angiò at Benevento (1266), he did not hesitate to support the party of Senator Arrigo di Castiglia in Roma against Carlo; but after the defeat of Corradino (1268) and during the long vacancy of the papacy, his machinations no longer had any success. He was a «worldly man», indeed an «epicurean», so that it could be said that he did not believe in the immortality of the soul, and to him was attributed the saying «If there is a soul, for the Ghibellines I have lost it» (ibid., X, 120). Fra Salimbene did not spare him bitter reproaches.