(1) 1. LUDOVISI, Ludovico (1595-1632)

Birth. October 27, 1595, Bologna. Son of Count Orazio Ludovisi and Lavinia Albergati. Nephew of Pope Gregory XV (1621-1623). Cousin of Cardinal Niccolò Albergati-Ludovisi (1645)

Education. Collegio Germanico, Rome; University of Bologna, Bologna (doctorate in canon law, February 25, 1615).

Early life. Archpriest of the chapter of the metropolitan cathedral of Bologna, 1616. Returned to Rome in 1619 and became referendary of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace. Relator of the SS.CC. of Good Government and of the Sacred Consulta.

Sacred orders. (No information found).

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of February 15, 1621; received the red hat and the title of S. Maria in Traspontina, March 17, 1621. Legate in Fermo, 1621. Legate in Avignon, 1621-1623. Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, March 17, 1621 until June 7, 1623.

Episcopate. Elected archbishop of Bologna, March 29, 1621. Consecrated, Sunday May 2, 1621, in the private chapel of his consecrator, near the patriarchal Vatican basilica, Rome, by Galeazzo Sanvitale, former archbishop of Bari, assisted by Cosmo de Torres, titular archbishop of Hadrianopolis, and by Ottavio Ridolfi, bishop of Ariano. Remained in Rome. Granted the faculty to exercise any office in the Roman Curia per substitutum, April 14, 1621. Prefect of the Signature of Apostolic Briefs, March 16, 1622. Prefect of the S.C. of Propaganda Fide, November 12, 1622 until his death. Vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church and sommista of apostolic letters, June 7, 1623 until his death. Opted for the title of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, proper of the vice-chancellor of the Holy Roman Church, June 7, 1623. Abbot commendatario of S. Silvestro di Nonantola, S. Lorenzo in Campo, Urbino, and Saint-Martin des Champs, France. Participated in the conclave of 1623. Resigned the legation in Avignon before October 2, 1623.

Death. November 18, 1632, Bologna. Buried in the metropolitan cathedral of Bologna. Later, transferred, according to his will, to the church of S. Ignazio, Rome.

Bibliography. Combaluzier, Fernand. "Sacres épiscopaux à Rome de 1565 à 1662. Analyse intégrale du Ms. «Miscellanea XIII, 33» des Archives Vaticanes." Sacris Eruduri, XVIII (1967-1968), p. 190.

Links. His portrait by Ottavio Mario Leoni, Museo di Roma, Rome; his episcopal lineage, in English; and his funeral monument by Pierre le Gros in the Church of S. Ignazio, Rome. The angels are from the monument to the last Stuarts by Antonio Canova in St Peter's Basilica.

©1998-2008 Salvador Miranda.