(1) 1. SERBELLONI, Giovanni Antonio (1519-1591)

Birth. 1519, Milan. Of a patrician family. Son of Giampiero Serbelloni and Elisabetta Rainoldi. Nephew of Pope Pius IV because the pontiff's mother was Clelia Serbelloni. Cousin of Cardinals Carlo Borromeo (1560); and Mark Sittich von Hohenems (1561).

Education. (No information found).

Early life. Cleric of Milan.

Sacred orders. (No information found).

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Foligno, May 7, 1557. Consecrated (no information found).

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of January 31, 1560; received the red hat and the title of S. Giorgio in Velabro (1), February 14, 1560. Resigned the administration of the diocese before March 13, 1560. Transferred to the see of Novara, March 13, 1560. Legate in Camerino, April 26, 1560 until August 1565. Governor of Città della Pieve, 1565. Opted for the title of S. Maria degli Angeli, retaining the denomination of S. Giorgio in Velabro, May 15, 1565. Legate in Perugia and Umbria, August 22, 1565 until January 30, 1566 when the new Pope Pius V revoked all legations. Participated in the conclave of 1565-1566, which elected Pope Pius V. Opted for the title of S. Pietro in Vincoli, April 12, 1570 (2). Opted for the title of S. Clemente, June 9, 1570. Opted for the title of S. Angelo in Pescheria (3), July 3, 1570. Participated in the conclave of 1572, which elected Pope Gregory XIII. Resigned the government of the diocese before April 26, 1574. Opted for the title of S. Maria in Trastevere, July 31, 1577. Opted for the order of cardinal bishops and the suburbicarian see of Sabina, July 9, 1578. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Palestrina, October 5, 1578. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Frascati, March 4, 1583. Participated in the conclave of 1585, which elected Pope Sixtus V. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Porto e Santa Rufina, December 11, 1587. Vice-dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Ostia e Velletri, proper of the dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, March 2, 1589. Participated in the first conclave of 1590, which elected Pope Urban VII. Participated in the second conclave of 1590, which elected Pope Gregory XIV.

Death. March 18 (4), 1591, Rome. Buried in the church of S. Maria degli Angeli, Rome (5).

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, V, 1-2; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1630, II, col. 1652-1653; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1935; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, III, 37, 56, 57, 58, 59, 65, 66, 68, 72, 73, 199, 260-261; Weber, Christoph. Legati e governatori dello Stato Pontificio : 1550-1809. Roma : Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali, Ufficio centrale per i beni archivistici, 1994. (Pubblicazioni degli archivi di Stato. Sussidi; 7) pp. 170, 203, 328 and 909.

Links. Biography, in Italian; his portrait, third from the right; his tomb in S. Maria degli Angeli, Rome; and another view of his tomb.

(1) According to Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, III, 37, he was created cardinal priest and assigned this deaconry.
(2) According to Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, III, 68, he could not opt in person because he was suffering from podagra and Cardinal Luigi Cornaro opted for him.
(3) According to Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, III, 72, this church was considered both as a title and as a deaconry.
(4) This is according to Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, III, 37; his biography in Italian, linked above, indicates that he died on March 18 or 20, 1591; Eubel, III, 37, adds that the pope announced the death of the cardinal on March 20.
(5) This is the text of his epitaph taken from Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 1652: IOANNES. ANTONIVS. SORBELLONIVS. MEDIOLANENSIS. PII. IV. PONT. MAX. AMITINVS. CARD. S. GEORGII. EPISCOPVS. OSTIENSIS. SACRI. COLEGII. DECANVS. VIR. CIVILI. PRVDENTIA. MVLTOQVE. RERVM. VSV. PRÆSTANS. PERSONÆ. DIGNITATEM. APVD. SVMMOS. PONTIFICES. AVCTORITATE. CONSILIO. PVBLICI. BONI. STVDIO. PER. ANNOS. DVOS. ET. TRIGINTA. SVMMA. CVM. LAVDE. SVSTINNIT. VIXIT. ANNOS. LXXII. OBIIT. XV. KAL. APRILIS. MDCXI. FATO. HÆRES. PATRVO. MAGNO. BENE. MERENTI. FECIT.

(2) 2. BORROMEO, Carlo (1538-1584)

Birth. October 2, 1538, Wednesday, between 8 and 9 a.m., in a stanza called "dei Tre Laghi", later called "di san Carlo", Arona, diocese of Novara. Second son, and the third of six children, of Count Giberto II Borromeo and Margherita de' Medici, sister of Pope Pius IV. He was baptized in the parish church of Arona. Cousin of Cardinals Gianantonio Serbelloni (1560); Mark Sittich von Hohenems (1561) and Federico Borromeo, seniore (1587). Uncle of Cardinal Giberto Borromeo, seniore (1652). Other cardinals of the family were: Federico Borromeo, iuniore (1670); Giberto Bartolomeo Borromeo (1717); Vitaliano Borromeo (1766); and Edoardo Borromeo (1868).

Education. Studied humanities in Milan under Fr. Giacomo Merula; University of Pavia, Pavia, from October 1552 (doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law, December 6, 1559; studied under Francesco Alciato, later a cardinal).

Early life. He spent his years in the Castle of Arona and in the Palazzo Borromeo, Milan. Received the clerical habit and tonsure, Milan, from Bishop Giovanni Simonetta of Lodi, October 13, 1547. Cleric of Milan. Upon the resignation of his uncle Giulio Cesare Borromeo, he became abbot commendatario of S. Felino e S. Graziano in Arona, November 20, 1547. Abbot commendatario of S. Silano di Romagnano, May 10, 1558. Prior commendatarioof S. Maria di Calvenzano, December 8, 1558. Called to Rome by his uncle the new pope. Protonotary apostolic participantium and referendary of the papal court, January 13, 1560. Member of the counsulta for the administration of the Papal States, January 22, 1560. Abbot commendatario of Nonatola; S. Gallo di Moggio; Serravalle or della Follina; S. Stefano del Corno, near Milan; and of one abbey in Portugal, and another one in Flanders, January 27, 1560.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of January 31, 1560; received the red hat and the deaconry of Ss. Vito e Modesto, February 14, 1560. Named administrator of the archdiocese of Milan, February 7, 1560 (1). Legate in Bologna and Romandiola for two years, April 26, 1560. Opted for the title of S. Martino ai Monti, pro illa vice declared deaconry, September 4, 1560.

Sacred orders. Received the subdiaconate and the diaconate, December 21, 1560. Named secretary of State, 1560. Governor of Civita Castellana, before June 1, 1561. Governor of Ancona, June 1, 1561. Proclaimed honorary citizen of Rome, July 1, 1561. Founded the Accademia Vaticana, 1562. Governor of Spoleto, December 1, 1562. Opted for the order of cardinal priests, June 4, 1563, and his deaconry was restored to title.

Priesthood. Ordained, September 4, 1563, at the patriarchal Liberian basilica, by Cardinal Federico Cesi (2). He used his influence as secretary of State to reopen the Council of Trent and participated in its sessions, 1562-1563; at the consistory of January 26, 1564, the pope confirmed the council's decrees. Prince of Orta, 1563. Member of the Holy Office.

Episcopate. Consecrated, December 7, 1563, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, by Cardinal Gianantonio Serbelloni, assisted by Tolomeo Galli, archbishop of Manfredonia, and by Felice Tiranni. President of the commission of theologians charged by the pope, at the end of 1563, with the elaboration of the Catechismus Romanus; at the same time, he also worked on the revision of the Missal and Breviary and was a member of a commission for the reform of church music. Preconized archbishop of Milan, May 12, 1564. Governor of Terracina, June 3, 1564. Archpriest of the patriarchal Liberian basilica, Rome, October 1564. Opted for the title of S. Prassede, November 17, 1564. Palatine count, 1564. Prefect of the S.C. of the Tridentine Council, 1564 until September 1565. Legate in Bologna, Romandiola, August 17, 1565. Legate a latere and vicar general in spiritualibus for all Italy, August 17, 1565. Penitentiary major, November 7, 1565 until December 12, 1572. Participated in the conclave of 1565-1566, which elected Pope Pius V; he asked the new pope to take that name. As protector of the Swiss Catholic cantons, he visited them several times trying to reform the lives and customs of both the clergy and laymen. In September 1569, he was involved in a violent incident with the canons of the collegiate church of S. Maria della Scala who refused to accept his jurisdiction (3) and sought the support of the civil authority for their claim; when the archbishop tried to conduct a visitation to communicate to the canons their excommunication, their supporters opened fire and the cross he was carrying was damaged; a few months later, the canons asked for his forgiveness and on February 5, 1570, he granted them his absolution before the door of the cathedral (4). For his introduction of strict ecclesiastical discipline, some disgruntled monks of the Order of the Humiliati planned his murder; they hired a lay brother who shot at him on the evening of October 26, 1569 at the entrance of the house chapel but he escaped the bullet of his would-be assassin. Participated in the conclave of 1572, which elected Pope Gregory XIII. Member of the Apostolic Penitentiary, May 1572. During the plague of 1576, he assisted sick and buried the dead, while the city officials fled in terror from Milan; in gratitude for his assistance, a 15-meter-high statue was built on a hill over Arona. Pope Gregory XIII granted the cardinal authorization to establish the Oblates of St. Ambrose, April 26, 1578. Gave the first communion to Luigi Gonzaga, future Jesuit saint, July 22, 1580. Apostolic visitor to all Swiss dioceses and territories under Swiss control, November 27, 1582. He celebrated five provincial and eleven diocesan synods. To help the Swiss Catholics, he founded the Collegium Helveticum.

Death. November 3, 1584, at 8:30 p.m., of febbre continua , Milan; his physician was Bartolomeo Assandri. Buried at night in the place he had chosen in the metropolitan cathedral of Milan (5). On November 7, Cardinal Nicolò Sfondrato, bishop of Cremona, later Pope Gregory XIV, celebrated the requiem mass; the funeral oration was delivered by Francesco Panicarola, O.F.M.Obs., future bishop of Asti. The pope expressed his sadness for the death of the cardinal in the consistory of November 14, 1584. In his will, he named the Hospital Maggiore of Milan as his heir. On September 21, 1751, his body was transferred from the metropolitan cathedral of Milan to a chapel built by Count Renato Borromeo in piazza S. Maria Podone, Milan.

Sainthood. Processes for his cause of beatification were started in Milan, Pavia and Bologna; his cause was sent to the S.C. of Rites in 1604; and he was canonized by Pope Paul V on November 1, 1610. His feast is celebrated on November 4.

Bibliography. Bescapè, Carlo. Vita e opere di Carlo, arcivescovo di Milano, cardinale di S. Prassede. Milano : O.D.C, 1965; Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, V, 4-8; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1630, II, col. 1654-1655; Del Re, Nicola. "I cardinali prefetti della sacra congregazione del concilio dalle origini ad oggi (1564-1964)." Apollinaris, XXXVII (1964), p. 108-109. Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1935; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, III, 37, 240; Katterbach, Bruno. Referendarii utriusque Signaturae a Martino V ad Clementem IX et Praelati Signaturae Supplicationum a Martino V ad Leonem XIII. Città del Vaticano 1931. (Studi e Testi 55), pp. 121 and 125; Weber, Christoph. Legati e governatori dello Stato Pontificio : 1550-1809. Roma : Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali, Ufficio centrale per i beni archivistici, 1994. (Pubblicazioni degli archivi di Stato. Sussidi; 7) pp. 114, 150, 212, 364, 385, 398 and 518; The life of St. Charles Borromeo. Edited by Edward Healy Thompson. New York ; Philadelphia : P.J. Kenedy , [n.d.]; Orsenigo, Cesare. Life of St. Charles Borromeo. Translated by Rudolph Kraus. St. Louis ; London : B. Herder, 1943; Paschini, Pio ; Borromeo, Carlo. Il primo soggiorno di S. Carlo Borromeo a Roma. Torino : Soc. ed. internaz., 1935; Yeo, Margaret. Reformer: St. Charles Borromeo. Milwaukee : Bruce, 1938.

Links. Biography, in English; biography, in Italian; biography, in German; biography, in French; another biography in English; picture gallery and biography, in Italian;his episcopal lineage, in English; his statue by Bernardo Falconi and Siro Zanelli in 1697, Sacro Monte San Carlo, Arona; brief biographical data in Italian and his portrait by Giovanni Battista Gennari, Pinacoteca di Cento; his portrait, Seminary of Milan; his engraving by Thomas de Leu, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States; his portrait by Alekseij Lazykin; his statue, Seminary of Milan; his portrait by Trevisani in Galleria Camerino; biography in German and portrait by Ambrogio Figino; his statue, by Dionigi Bussola, piazza Borromeo, Milan; his statue, façade of the church of S. Carlino, Rome; his bust, church of S. Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, Rome; and his posthumous portrait by Carlo Dolci, Palazzo Pitti, Florence.

(1) He remained in Rome and delegated his functions to auxiliary bishops Sebastiano Donati (1561) and Girolamo Ferragata (1562); he resided in his see from 1565 following the directives of the Council of Trent.
(2) He was ordained secretly because his relatives were pressuring him to marry after the death of his eldest and childless brother, Count Federigo, who had died on November 28, 1562. He celebrated his first mass on August 15 at the altar of the Confession of the patriarchal Vatican basilica; and his second mass, in his house, next to the Jesuit Gesù Church, in the oratory where St. Ignatius Loyola had usually celebrated. At this time his confessor was Fr. Giovanni Battista Ribera, S.J.
(3) According to his biography in English in The Catholic Encyclopedia, linked above, in 1531 Pope Clement VII had granted the canons exemption from the jurisdiction of the local archbishop if the prelate consented but Archbishop Ippolito d'Este never did and therefore, the exemption did not became effective.
(4) In spite of his pardon, absolution and efforts to spare the lives of those who had attempted against him, four of the conspirators were sentenced to death and executed.
(5) In 1576, when he wrote his testament, he chose a spot on the pavement of the cathedral in front of the steps of the main altar. At that time, he composed his epitaph (text transcribed by Andrea Vittorelli in his addition to Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 1655): CAROLVS. CARDINALIS. TIT. S. PRAXEDIS. ARCHIEPISCOPVS. MEDIOLANI. FREQVENTIRIBVS. CLERI. POPVLIQ. ET DEVOTI. FOEMINEI. SEXVS. PRECIBVS. SE. COMMENDATVM. CVPIENS. HOC. LOCO. SIBI. MONVMENTVM. VIVENS. ELEGIT. This is the text of the epitaph that was placed on his tomb, taken from the same source, col. 1654: CAROLVS. TT. S. PRAXEDIS. S. R. E. PRESBYTER. CARDINALIS. ARCHIEPISC. MEDIOLANENSIS. FREQVENTIORIBVS. CLERI. POPVLI. DEVOTIQVE. FÆMINEI. SEXVS. PRECIBVS. SE. COMMENDATVM. CVPIENS. HOC. LOCO. SIBI. MONVMENTVM. VIVENS. ELEGIT. HVMILITAS. VIXIT. ANNOS. XLVI. MENS. I. DIEM. I. PRÆFVIT. ECCLESIÆ. MEDIOLANENSI. ANNOS. XXIV. MENSES VIII. DIES. XXIII. OBIIT. III. NONAS. NOVEMBRIS. MDLXXXIV.

(3) 3. MEDICI, iuniore, Giovanni de' (1544-1562)

Birth. September 29, 1544, Florence. Son of Cosimo I Medici, duke of Florence and grand duke of Tuscany, and Leonor Álvarez de Toledo. Brother of Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici (1563). Other cardinals of the family were: Giovanni de' Medici, seniore (1489), future Pope Leo X; Giulio de' Medici (1513), future Pope Clement VII; Luigi de' Rossi (1517); Ippolito de' Medici (1529); Carlo de' Medici (1615); Gian Carlo de' Medici (1644); Leopoldo de' Medici (1667); Francesco Maria de' Medici (1686).

Education. (No information found).

Early life. Cleric from Florence.

Sacred orders. (No information found).

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of January 31, 1560; received the red hat and the deaconry of S. Maria in Domnica, April 26, 1560; Cardinals Guido Ascanio Sforza and Louis de Lorraine de Guise brought the red hat to him in Florence.

Episcopate. Administrator of the archdiocese of Pisa, June 19, 1560. Was never preconized or consecrated because he died at 18, long before reaching the canonical age. The archdiocese was governed by Ludovico Beccatelli, archbishop of Ragusa (1).

Death. November 20, 1562 (2), of malaria, Livorno. Transferred to Florence, was buried in the sacristy of the church of S. Lorenzo in that city (3). The news of his death reached Rome on November 22, 1562.

Bibliography. Cardella, Lorenzo. Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa. Rome : Stamperia Pagliarini, 1793, V, 2-4; Chacón, Alfonso. Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm ab initio nascentis Ecclesiæ vsque ad Vrbanvm VIII. Pont. Max. 2 volumes. Romae : Typis Vaticanis, 1630, II, col. 1653-1654; Eubel, Conradus and Gulik, Guglielmus van. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Münich : Sumptibus et Typis Librariae Regensbergianae, 1935; reprint, Padua : Il Messagero di S. Antonio, 1960, III, 37, 74 and 274.

Links. His portrait as a child by Agnolo Bronzino; his portrait with his mother, also by Agnolo Bronzino; two portraits as a cardinal, also by Agnolo Bronzino.

(1) This is according to Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 1653; Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, V, 2-3, citing P. Mattei's work on the history of the church of Pisa, indicates that the see was governed by Girolamo di Vecchiano, bishop of Vulturara.
(2) This is according to Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, III, 37; Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 1653, indicates that he died on December 12, 1562, in Pisa; Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, V, 3, says that Chacón is wrong concerning the date of the death of the cardinal and that he died in November according to a letter from Pope Pius IV mentioned by P. Mattei in work on the church of Pisa.
(3) This is the inscription in his tomb taken from Chacón, Vitæ, et res gestæ Pontificvm Romanorum et S. R. E. Cardinalivm, II, col. 1653: MARIA. SALVIATA. COSMI. MEDICIS. FLORENTIÆ. ET. SENARVM. DVCIS. MATER. ET. IOANNES. S. R. E. CARDINALIS. VNA. CVM. GARSIA. FRATRE. AMBO. MIRIFCÆ. INDOLIS. ADOLESCENTES. ET. EIVSDEM. COSMI. FILII. HIC. AD. TEMPVS. QVIECVNT.

©1998-2009 Salvador Miranda.