Pietro Mazzarini was an Italian courtier and the father of 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...

 Jules Mazarin.

Mazzarini's father, Giulio Mazzarini, was a Sicilian

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,...

 craftsman who was successful enough to educate his sons. Mazzarini excelled in school and became a notary

Notary

A notary is a lawyer or person with legal training who is licensed by the state to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents...

. After his father's death, Mazzarini traveled to Rome and found employment in the household of Filippo I Colonna

Filippo I Colonna

Filippo Colonna , Prince of Paliano, was an Italian nobleman, who was the head of the Colonna family of Rome and the hereditary Gran Connestabile at the court of Naples.-Biography:He was born at Rome...

, the grand Constable of Naples

Kingdom of Naples

The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...

. Colonna encouraged Mazzarini to marry his goddaughter, Ortensia Buffalini, a woman of a noble family of Città di Castello

Città di Castello

Città di Castello is a city and comune in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of the Umbria region of Italy. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain of the river Tiber. The city is north of Perugia and south of Cesena on the S3bis. It is connected to the A1...

 in Umbria

Umbria

Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...

 with an ample dowry. They married and had six children.

Both of Mazzarini's sons entered the church; Jules as a Cardinal and advisor to French kings, and Michele as archbishop of Aix-en-Provence. Mazzarini also had four daughters, including Laura

Laura Margherita Mazzarini

Laura Margherita Mazzarini was the daughter of Pietro Mazzarini and Ortensia Buffalini.On July 9, 1634, she was married to Count Girolamo Martinozzi...

 and Girolama

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 mothers of 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...

.