Niccolò Ridolfi
Encyclopedia
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.
Born in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, son of Piero Ridolfi and Contessina de' Medici
Medici
The House of Medici or Famiglia de' Medici was a political dynasty, banking family and later royal house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the late 14th century. The family originated in the Mugello region of the Tuscan countryside,...
(the daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici
Lorenzo de' Medici
Lorenzo de' Medici was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance. Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists and poets...
the Magnificent), he was therefore nephew of 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...
, who granted him a quick ecclesiastical career. He was named governor of Spoleto
Spoleto
Spoleto is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome.-History:...
in the period 1514-1516 and protonotary apostolic
Protonotary apostolic
In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside of Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pope has conferred this title and its special privileges.-History:In later antiquity there were in...
at the age of thirteen.
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...
created him cardinal deacon in the consistory
Consistory
-Antiquity:Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek synedrion ....
of July 1, 1517 at the age of sixteen with the deaconry of SS. Vito e Modesto. Later his uncle appointed him administrator of the see of Orvieto on August 24, 1520 and he kept that post until September 3, 1529. Ridolfi participated in the conclaves of 1521–1522
Papal conclave, 1521–1522
The papal conclave, 1521–1522 elected Pope Adrian VI to succeed Pope Leo X. The conclave was marked by the early candidacies of cardinal-nephew Giulio de'Medici and Alessandro Farnese , although the Colonna and other cardinals blocked their election.Adrian, the viceroy to Spain and a clear...
and 1523
Papal conclave, 1523
The papal conclave, 1523 elected Giulio de' Medici as Pope Clement VII to succeed Pope Adrian VI. According to conclave historian Baumgartner, the conclave is the "last conclave of the Renaissance".-Background:...
.
Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII
Clement VII , born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, was a cardinal from 1513 to 1523 and was Pope from 1523 to 1534.-Early life:...
elected him archbishop of Florence on January 11, 1524. He resigned from that position on October 11, 1532. He served also as administrator of Vicenza from March 14, 1524 until his death, administrator of Forli (April 16, 1526 - August 7, 1528). During the Sack of Rome (1527)
Sack of Rome (1527)
The Sack of Rome on 6 May 1527 was a military event carried out by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in Rome, then part of the Papal States...
he was taken hostage to Hugo of Moncada
Hugo of Moncada
Hugo de Moncada a.k.a. Ugo de Moncada, , was a Spanish political and military leader of the late 15th and early 16th century. Originally he seems to have been some sort of Abbot of Santa Eufemia in Calabria, Italy,in the quality of Prior of the military Order of Saint John in Messina, Italy...
with other cardinals. Later he was named administrator of Viterbo (November 16, 1532-June 6, 1533), administrator of the metropolitan see of Salerno (February 7, 1533- December 19, 1548) and administrator of Imola (August 4, 1533 - May 17, 1546). Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII
Clement VII , born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, was a cardinal from 1513 to 1523 and was Pope from 1523 to 1534.-Early life:...
opted him for the deaconry of Santa Maria in Cosmedin
Santa Maria in Cosmedin
The Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin is a minor basilica church in Rome, Italy. It is located in the rione of Ripa.- History :The church was built in the 8th century during the Byzantine Papacy over the remains of the Templum Herculis Pompeiani in the Forum Boarium and of the Statio annonae, one...
on January 19, 1534. He participated in the Papal conclave, 1534
Papal conclave, 1534
The Papal conclave of 1534 was convened after the death of Pope Clement VII, and elected as his successor cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who became Pope Paul III.-List of participants:Pope Clement VII died on September 25, 1534...
.
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation...
appointed him administrator of Viterbo again (August 8, 1538 - May 25, 1548) and opted him for the deaconry of Santa Maria in Via Lata
Santa Maria in Via Lata
Santa Maria in Via Lata is a church on the Via del Corso , in Rome, Italy.-History:It is claimed that St. Paul spent two years here, in the crypt under the church, whilst under house arrest waiting for his trial. This conflicts with the tradition regarding San Paolo alla Regola...
on May 31, 1540] as he became cardinal protodeacon. He was a member of a special commission of eleven cardinals for reform of 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...
. On January 8, 1543 he was named Archbishop of Florence for second time and resigned again on May 25, 1548.
After the death of Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III , born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death in 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era following the sack of Rome in 1527 and rife with uncertainties in the Catholic Church following the Protestant Reformation...
he was a papabile
Papabile
Papabile is an unofficial Italian term first coined by Vaticanologists and now used internationally in many languages to describe a cardinal of whom it is thought likely or possible that he will be elected pope. A literal English translation would be "popeable" or "one who might become pope".In...
, entered the conclave of 1549 - 1550
Papal conclave, 1549–1550
The papal conclave from November 29, 1549 to February 7, 1550, which was convened after the death of Pope Paul III, and eventually elected Giovanni Del Monte to the papacy as Pope Julius III. It was the second-longest papal conclave of the 16th century, and the largest papal conclave in history in...
, but left because of illness. He died on January 31, 1550 of an apoplexy before the new Pope Julius III
Pope Julius III
Pope Julius III , born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was Pope from 7 February 1550 to 1555....
was elected on February 7, 1550. Cardinal Ridolfi was buried in the church of Sant'Agostino
Sant'Agostino
Sant'Agostino is a church in Rome, Italy, not far from Piazza Navona. It is one of the first Roman churches built during the Renaissance. The construction was funded by Guillaume d'Estouteville, Archbishop of Rouen and Papal Chancellor. The façade was built in 1483 by Giacomo di Pietrasanta, using...
.
External links
- The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church - Biographical Dictionary
- Giga - Catholic Information for this cardinal
- http://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/5809 Una suprema magnificenza :Niccolo' Ridolfi a Florentine Cardinal in sixteenth-century Rome, by Lucinda Byatt, Ph.D. thesis, European University Institute, 1983
- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1477-4658.1988.tb00159.x/abstract Lucinda Byatt, The concept of hospitality in a cardinal's household in Renaissance Rome, Renaissance Studies, October 1988, Volume 2, Issue 2, pp.312–320