VISCONTI, FILIPPO. — Archbishop of Milan,
b. 19 Aug. 1721 at Massino (diocese of Novara), d.
30 Dec. 1801 at Lyons.
He was appointed in 1783 to the metropolitan see of Milan, following the death of Cardinal Pozzobonelli, by Emperor Joseph II, who deemed him to combine “with the conduct of a good ecclesiastic integrity and modesty of morals, prudence, practical knowledge, and manners most suited to render him acceptable.” The sovereign’s arbitrary act in making the appointment directly, which was the pope’s prerogative, provoked a vigorous response from Pius VI, who refused to recognize V. as archbishop of Milan. Only after Joseph II’s visit to Rome in December 1783 and the transfer to the Emperor by the Pope of the right of appointment for the bishoprics of the Duchies of Milan and Mantua, was V. preconized archbishop of Milan on 25 June 1784. He did not oppose Josephist reforms, though under Leopold II he went to Vienna and secured the suppression of the General Seminary of Pavia and the restoration of diocesan seminaries. With prudence and tact he governed the diocese during the First Republic, the Austro-Russian Restoration, and after the return of the French. Appointed deputy to the Cisalpine Consult, convened at Lyons in December 1801, he died in that city.