Cardinal protector
Encyclopedia
Since the thirteenth century it has been customary at Rome to confide to some particular Cardinal
a special solicitude in the Roman Curia
for the interests of a given religious order or institute, confraternity, church, college, city, nation etcetera. Such a person is known as a Cardinal Protector. He was its representative or orator when it sought a favor or a privilege, defended it when unjustly accused, and besought the aid of the Holy See
when its rights, property or interests were violated or imperiled.
In ancient Rome a similar relationship had existed between the client (cliens) and his patronus
(hence 'patron'); as Rome's power grew, a still closer analogy is visible between the Roman institution and the modern ecclesiastical protectorate. Nearly every provincial city had its patronus, or procurator
, in imperial Rome, usually a Roman patrician or eques, and such persons were held in high esteem. Thus Cicero
was patronus of Dyrrachium (later Durazzo, now Durrës) and of Capua
, in which Campania
n city a gilded statue was raised to him. In time the office became hereditary in certain families; Suetonius
wrote, in his life of Tiberius
, that the [imperial] Claudian
family (gens Claudia) was from ancient times protector of Sicily
and the Peloponnesus.
The Roman Church adopted this, with many other imperial institutions, as one serviceable for external administration, not that the popes who first conferred this office and title sought to copy an ancient Roman usage, but because analogous conditions and circumstances created a similar situation. The office is conferred by the pope
through the Cardinal secretary of state
, sometimes by spontaneous designation of the Holy Father, sometimes at the request of those who seek such protection. Such a cardinal protector had the right to place his coat-of-arms on the church or main edifice of the institute, or on the municipal palace of the city in question.
The first to hold such an office was Cardinal Ugolino Conti (later Pope Gregory IX
), who sought thereby to paralyze the intrigues of his many enemies at Rome; at the request of St. Francis
himself, he was named protector of the Franciscans by Pope Innocent III
, and again by Honorius III
. Alexander IV
and Nicholas III
retained for themselves the office of protector of the Franciscans. Indeed, the latter were long the only order that boasted of a cardinal protector; it was only in the fourteenth century that gradually the office was extended. As early as 1370 Pope Gregory XI
was obliged to restrain the abuses committed by the cardinal protector of the Franciscans; Pope Martin V
(1417-31) forbade the acceptance by the protector of a religious order of any payment for his protection. While Sixtus IV
and Julius II
defined more particularly the limits of the office, Pope Innocent XII
(1691-1700) must be credited with a lasting regulation of the duties and rights of a cardinal protector.
Kingdoms, empires etc. must have had cardinal protectors until Pope Urban VI
(1378-89) forbade such cardinals to receive anything from the respective sovereigns of these states, lest through love of money they should be led to abet works of injustice. In 1424 Martin V forbade the cardinals to accept the protectorate of kings and princes, which prohibition was renewed in 1492 by Alexander VI
. This prohibition was not renewed by Pope Leo X
in the ninth session of the Lateran Council
of 1512; the cardinals, however, were urged to exercise the office in an impartial way and without human respect. Until the Portuguese Revolution of 1910, the Kingdom of Portugal was the only state with a cardinal protector.
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
a special solicitude in the Roman Curia
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
for the interests of a given religious order or institute, confraternity, church, college, city, nation etcetera. Such a person is known as a Cardinal Protector. He was its representative or orator when it sought a favor or a privilege, defended it when unjustly accused, and besought the aid of the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
when its rights, property or interests were violated or imperiled.
Antecedents
- See also Protector (title)Protector (title)Protector, sometimes spelled protecter, is used as a title or part of various historical titles of heads of state and others in authority...
In ancient Rome a similar relationship had existed between the client (cliens) and his patronus
Patronage in ancient Rome
Patronage was the distinctive relationship in ancient Roman society between the patronus and his client . The relationship was hierarchical, but obligations were mutual. The patronus was the protector, sponsor, and benefactor of the client...
(hence 'patron'); as Rome's power grew, a still closer analogy is visible between the Roman institution and the modern ecclesiastical protectorate. Nearly every provincial city had its patronus, or procurator
Procurator (Roman)
A procurator was the title of various officials of the Roman Empire, posts mostly filled by equites . A procurator Augusti was the governor of the smaller imperial provinces...
, in imperial Rome, usually a Roman patrician or eques, and such persons were held in high esteem. Thus Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
was patronus of Dyrrachium (later Durazzo, now Durrës) and of Capua
Capua
Capua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now...
, in which Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
n city a gilded statue was raised to him. In time the office became hereditary in certain families; Suetonius
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
wrote, in his life of Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
, that the [imperial] Claudian
Claudian
Claudian was a Roman poet, who worked for Emperor Honorius and the latter's general Stilicho.A Greek-speaking citizen of Alexandria and probably not a Christian convert, Claudian arrived in Rome before 395. He made his mark with a eulogy of his two young patrons, Probinus and Olybrius, thereby...
family (gens Claudia) was from ancient times protector of Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and the Peloponnesus.
Church history
- See also Protectorate of MissionsProtectorate of missionsProtectorate of Missions is a term for the right of protection exercised by a Christian power in an 'infidel' country with regard to the persons and establishments of the missionaries...
The Roman Church adopted this, with many other imperial institutions, as one serviceable for external administration, not that the popes who first conferred this office and title sought to copy an ancient Roman usage, but because analogous conditions and circumstances created a similar situation. The office is conferred by the pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
through the Cardinal secretary of state
Cardinal Secretary of State
The Cardinal Secretary of State—officially Secretary of State of His Holiness The Pope—presides over the Holy See, usually known as the "Vatican", Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia...
, sometimes by spontaneous designation of the Holy Father, sometimes at the request of those who seek such protection. Such a cardinal protector had the right to place his coat-of-arms on the church or main edifice of the institute, or on the municipal palace of the city in question.
The first to hold such an office was Cardinal Ugolino Conti (later Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...
), who sought thereby to paralyze the intrigues of his many enemies at Rome; at the request of St. Francis
Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
himself, he was named protector of the Franciscans by Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
, and again by Honorius III
Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III , previously known as Cencio Savelli, was Pope from 1216 to 1227.-Early work:He was born in Rome as son of Aimerico...
. Alexander IV
Pope Alexander IV
Pope Alexander IV was Pope from 1254 until his death.Born as Rinaldo di Jenne, in Jenne , he was, on his mother's side, a member of the de' Conti di Segni family, the counts of Segni, like Pope Innocent III and Pope Gregory IX...
and Nicholas III
Pope Nicholas III
Pope Nicholas III , born Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, Pope from November 25, 1277 to his death in 1280, was a Roman nobleman who had served under eight Popes, been made cardinal-deacon of St...
retained for themselves the office of protector of the Franciscans. Indeed, the latter were long the only order that boasted of a cardinal protector; it was only in the fourteenth century that gradually the office was extended. As early as 1370 Pope Gregory XI
Pope Gregory XI
Gregory XI was pope from 1370 until his death.-Biography:He was born Pierre Roger de Beaufort, in Maumont, in the modern commune of Rosiers-d'Égletons, Limousin around 1336. He succeeded Pope Urban V in 1370, and was pope until 1378...
was obliged to restrain the abuses committed by the cardinal protector of the Franciscans; Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V , born Odo Colonna, was Pope from 1417 to 1431. His election effectively ended the Western Schism .-Biography:...
(1417-31) forbade the acceptance by the protector of a religious order of any payment for his protection. While Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. His accomplishments as Pope included the establishment of the Sistine Chapel; the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age,...
and Julius II
Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II , nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" and "The Warrior Pope" , born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513...
defined more particularly the limits of the office, Pope Innocent XII
Pope Innocent XII
Pope Innocent XII , born Antonio Pignatelli, was Pope from 1691 to 1700.-Biography:He was born in Spinazzola to one of the most aristocratic families of the Kingdom of Naples, which included many Viceroys, and ministers to the crown, and was educated at the Jesuit college in Rome.In his twentieth...
(1691-1700) must be credited with a lasting regulation of the duties and rights of a cardinal protector.
Kingdoms, empires etc. must have had cardinal protectors until Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI , born Bartolomeo Prignano, was Pope from 1378 to 1389.-Biography:Born in Itri, he was a devout monk and learned casuist, trained at Avignon. On March 21, 1364, he was consecrated Archbishop of Acerenza in the Kingdom of Naples...
(1378-89) forbade such cardinals to receive anything from the respective sovereigns of these states, lest through love of money they should be led to abet works of injustice. In 1424 Martin V forbade the cardinals to accept the protectorate of kings and princes, which prohibition was renewed in 1492 by Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI , born Roderic Llançol i Borja was Pope from 1492 until his death on 18 August 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his Italianized surname—Borgia—became a byword for the debased standards of the Papacy of that era, most notoriously the Banquet...
. This prohibition was not renewed by Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X , born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, was the Pope from 1513 to his death in 1521. He was the last non-priest to be elected Pope. He is known for granting indulgences for those who donated to reconstruct St. Peter's Basilica and his challenging of Martin Luther's 95 Theses...
in the ninth session of the Lateran Council
Lateran council
The Lateran councils were ecclesiastical councils or synods of the Catholic Church held at Rome in the Lateran Palace next to the Lateran Basilica. Ranking as a papal cathedral, this became a much-favored place of assembly for ecclesiastical councils both in antiquity and more especially during...
of 1512; the cardinals, however, were urged to exercise the office in an impartial way and without human respect. Until the Portuguese Revolution of 1910, the Kingdom of Portugal was the only state with a cardinal protector.
- In the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta
Sources and references
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03341a.htm- HIERONYMI PLATI, Tractatus de cardinalis dignitate et officio (Rome, 1836), xxxiii
- HUMPHREY, Urbis et Orbis (London, 1896).