Francesco Maria Mancini (20 October 1606, Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 – 1672) was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 cardinal

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...

 of the Mancini family

Mancini family

Mancini was one of the oldest families of Roman nobility. Their titles and fiefs were numerous: Duke of Nevers and Donzy, Prince of Vergagne and of the Holy Roman Empire with the treatment of Serene Highness, French Peer, Spanish Grandee, Marquis of Fusignano, Count of Montefortino, Viscount of...

. He was made a cardinal by Pope Alexander VII

Pope Alexander VII

Pope Alexander VII , born Fabio Chigi, was Pope from 7 April 1655, until his death.- Early life :Born in Siena, a member of the illustrious banking family of Chigi and a great-nephew of Pope Paul V , he was privately tutored and eventually received doctorates of philosophy, law, and theology from...

, in reward for contributing to Alexander's election as pope.

Life

He was the son of Paolo, Signore Illustrissimo, and of the noblewoman Vittoria Capocci. Made a deacon of San Vito e San Modesto, then a cardinal in 1660, holding the titulus of San Matteo in Merulana. His older brother, Baron Lorenzo Mancini, married Geronima Mazzarini

Girolama Mazzarini

Girolama or Geronima Mazzarini was the sister of Cardinal Mazarin, the chief minister of France at the start of the reign of King Louis XIV of France...

, the sister of Cardinal Jules Mazarin, the chief minister to King Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

. Upon Lorenzo's death in 1650, his widow took her family to France in the hope that her brother could arrange advantageous marriages for them. Lorenzo's five daughters became famous at the French court for their beauty and wit. They were known as the Mazarinettes

Mazarinettes

The Mazarinettes were the seven nieces of Cardinal Jules Mazarin, the Chief Minister of France during the youth of King Louis XIV. He brought them, together with three of his nephews, from Italy to France in the years 1647 and 1653. Afterwards, he arranged advantageous marriages for them to...

. Later, one of his nieces, Marie

Marie Mancini

Anna Maria Mancini was the third of the five Mancini sisters; nieces to Cardinal Mazarin who were brought to France to marry advantageously...

, returned to Rome in 1661 and married Prince Lorenzo Colonna

Colonna family

The Colonna family is an Italian noble family; it was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one Pope and many other Church and political leaders...

. She was followed by her sister, Hortense

Hortense Mancini

Hortense Mancini, duchesse Mazarin , was the favourite niece of Cardinal Mazarin, chief minister of France, and a mistress of Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland...

, in 1668. Hortense, who was fleeing her abusive husband, Charles de La Porte, duc de La Meilleraye, scandalized her uncle with her libertine ways.

Source

• This page is a translation of its Italian equivalent.