Birth. August 15, 1682, Urbino. Of a distinguished Italian family, descendant of refugees from Albania in the fifteenth century. Nephew of Pope Clement XI, and brother of Cardinal Alessandro Albani (1721). Other cardinals of the family include Gian Girolamo Albani (1570), Gian Francesco Albani (1747), and Giuseppe Albani (1801).
Education. Seminario Romano, Rome (1700-1706).
Early life. Granted permission to receive the benefices of a canonry in the patriarchal Vatican basilica in absentia while studying, for a triennium, February 25, 1702. Privy chamberlain of His Holiness. Protonotary apostolic supernumerary, 1705. President of the Apostolic Chamber, August 8, 1707. Nuncio extraordinary before the emperor and other Catholic princes meeting to achieve the peace, July 22, 1709. Procurator of the Holy See to the imperial diet of Frankfurt for the election of a new emperor, August 15, 1711. Nuncio in Cologne during the absence of Giovanni Battista Bussi, archbishop-bishop of Ancona, nuncio in that region, September 2, 1711.
Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of December 23, 1711. Archpriest of the patriarchal Vatican basilica and prefect of the Reverend Fabric of St. Peter's, January 4, 1712. Received the red hat and the deaconry of S. Eustachio, March 2, 1712. Received the diaconate, September 18, 1712. Governor of Frascati and of the territory of Castelgandolfo, December 1, 1712 until 1726 when, because of disagreements with Cardinal Niccolò Paolo Andrea Coscia, he retired to Urbino and wrote the biography of his uncle, Pope Clement XI, 1727. Secretary of Memorials, 1712. Opted for the deaconry of S. Maria in Cosmedin, June 8, 1716. Director of the English hospital of S. Giovanni in Gerusalemme, March 18, 1719. Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, March 29, 1719 until February 23, 1747. Ambassador of Austria before the Holy See, July 1720 until April 1748. Participated in the conclave of 1721, which elected Pope Innocent XIII. Opted for the order of priests and the title of S. Clemente, July 6, 1722.
Priesthood. Ordained, October 28, 1722. Participated in the conclave of 1724, which elected Pope Benedict XIII. Participated in the conclave of 1730, which elected Pope Clement XII.
Episcopate. Opted for the order of cardinal bishops and the suburbicarian see of Sabina, July 24, 1730. Consecrated, August 15, 1730, chapel of the choir of the patriarchal Vatican basilica, Rome, by Cardinal Francesco Barberini, bishop of Ostia e Velletri, dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, prefect of the S.C. of Bishops and Regulars, assisted by Tommaso Cervini, titular archbishop of Nicomedia, and by Raniero Felice Simonetti, titular archbishop of Nicosia. Retained in commendam his title. Participated in the conclave of 1740, which elected Pope Benedict XIV. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Porto e Santa Rufina, September 9, 1743. Vice-dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals.
Death. October 21, 1751, at 1 p.m., Rome. Exposed in the basilica of Ss. XII Apostoli, Rome, where the capella papalis took place on October 23, 1751; transferred in the evening to the patriarchal Vatican basilica and buried, by disposition of Pope Benedict XIV, in the chapel of S. Clemente, martyr (1). He was an arts and ecclesiastical literature patron and collector, as well as a numismatist. His library, paintings and sculptures, and coin collection were added to the Vatican's collections after his death.
Links. The Albani family, in English; his episcopal lineage, in English; his engraving by Pietro Nelli, Museo di Roma, Rome; and his engraving by Martin Bernigeroth.
(1) This is according to Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, V, 27, but Cardella, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa, VIII, 118, says that he was buried in the old sacristy of the Vatican basilica which was demolished and rebuilt in the pontificate of Pope Pius VI and that his remains were transferred to its cemetery and in the place of his burial was placed an elegant inscription, furono trasportate nel cimetero di quella, e al lugo di sua sepoltura fu aposta una elegante iscrizione.
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