(13) 1. CARAFA DELLA SPINA DI TRAETTO, Francesco (1722-1818)
Birth. April 29, 1722, Naples. Of one of the premier families of the Neapolitan nobility. Son of Adriano Antonio Carafa della Spina, Palatine count, 1st duke of Traetto, and Maria Vittoria Teresa Borghese, of the princes of Sulmona. Related to Pope Paul IV on his father's side and to Pope Paul V on his mother's side. Great-grand-uncle of Cardinal Domenico Carafa della Spina di Traetto (1844). Other cardinals of the family were Filippo Carafa della Serra (1378); Oliviero Carafa (1467); Gianvincenzo Carafa (1527); Carlo Carafa (1555); Diomede Carafa (1555); Alfonso Carafa (1557); Antonio Carafa (1568); Decio Carafa (1611); Pier Luigi Carafa, seniore (1645); Carlo Carafa della Spina (1664); Fortunato Ilario Carafa della Spina (1686); Marino Carafa di Belvedere (1801); and Domenico Carafa della Spina di Traetto (1844).
Education. La Sapienza University, Rome (doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law, March 22, 1747).
Early life. Privy chamberlain supernumerary of Pope Benedict XIV (1740-1758). Entered the Roman prelature as protonotary apostolic participantium, April 6, 1745; and referendary of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace, April 20, 1747. Vice-legate in the city of Ferrara, 1748-1754. Relator of the SS.CC. of the Sacred Consulta, of the Ecclesiastical Immunity, and of Propaganda Fide. Governor of Città di Castello, 1758-1760. Received the subdiaconate, December 22, 1759; diaconate, January 13, 1760.
Priesthood. Ordained, January 27, 1760.
Episcopate. Elected titular archbishop of Patras, January 28, 1760. Consecrated, February 16, 1760, Rome, by Pope Clement XIII. Nuncio in Venice, January 29, 1760 (1) until December 1766. Assistant at the Pontifical Throne, February 20, 1760. Secretary of the S.C. of Bishops and Regulars, December 1766 until his promotion to the cardinalate.
Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of April 19, 1773; received the red hat and the title of S. Clemente, April 26, 1773. Named examiner of bishops in canon law before May 15, 1773. After the publication of the papal brief Dominus ac Redemptor of July 21, 1773, which suppressed the Society of Jesus, he was named a member of the commission charged with the liquidition of the properties and institutions of the Society, August 6, 1773. Participated in the conclave of 1774-1775. Prefect of the S.C. of Bishops and Regulars, March 29, 1775. Legate in Ferrara, June 1, 1778; reappointed for another triennium, January 10, 1781; ceased, November 7, 1786. Opted for the title of S. Lorenzo in Lucina, September 15, 1788. Cardinal protoprete. He was imprisoned by the French military forces first in Rome and then in Civittavecchia; finally, he was expelled to Naples, and embarked for Palermo. Participated in the conclave of 1799-1800. After the first restoration of the papal government in Rome, he was named, on July 9, 1800, member of the particular congregation for the recovery of the ecclesiastical properties alienated during the French occupation of the city (Congregzione deputata per gli acquisti fatti nel tempo della rivoluzione). Apostolic visitor to the House and archhospital of the S. Spirito in Sassia, Rome, September 12, 1800. Vice-chancellor and sommista of the Holy Roman Church, August 3, 1807 until his death. Opted for the title of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, proper of the vice-chancellor, retaining in commendam the title of S. Lorenzo in Lucina, August 3, 1807. During the French occupation of Rome, 1809-1814, he sought refuge in in the convent of the Oratory of St. Philip of Neri Montalbaddo (or Montelabbate) in the Marches.
Death. September 20, 1818, Rome (2). Exposed and buried in the church of S. Maria in Vallicella, Rome, temporarily. Later, transferred to the basilica of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, Rome, and buried in that church. Last surviving cardinal of Pope Clement XIV.
Bibliography. Boutry, Philippe. Souverain et Pontife : recherches prosopographiques sur la curie romaine à l'âge de la restauration, 1814-1846. Rome : École française de Rome, 2002, pp. 338-339; Karttunen, Liisi. Les nonciatures apostoliques permanentes de 1650 à 1800. Genève : E. Chaulmontet, 1912. (Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemian Toimituksia. Sarja B. Nid.5,; no. 3), pp. 169 and 238; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, VI, 28, 43, 45 and 331; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, VII, 42; 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. 211, 255, 256 and 552; Weber, Christoph. Die päpstlichen Referendare 1566-1809 : Chronologie und Prosopographie. 3 vols. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 2003-2004. (Päpste und Papsttum ;; Bd. 31/1, 31/2, 31/3; Variation: Päpste und Papsttum ;; Bd. 31), II, 516.
Links. His genealogy, A3 B1 C2 D2 E1 F3; his portrait by Anton von Maron; and another portrait, by an anonymous artist, Pinacoteca Civica, Lugo, Italy.
(1) This is according to Ritzler, Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi, VI, 339; Karttunen, Les nonciatures apostoliques permanentes de 1650 à 1800, pp. 169 and 238, indicates that he was named on March 1, 1760.
(2) According to L'Ami de la Religion, in spite of his advanced age (he died at 96) he stayed healthy and had his mental faculties until the end.
(14) 1. ZELADA, Francesco Saverio de (1717-1801)
Birth. August 27, 1717, Rome, of a Spanish family. Son of Juan de Zelada, noble from Murica, and Manuela Rodríguez, noble from Oviedo.
Education. La Sapienza University, Rome (doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law).
Priesthood. Ordained, October 23, 1740. Referendary of the Supreme Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace January 25, 1742. Prelate of the S.C. of the Reverend Fabric of St. Peter's from 1744. Relator of the S.C. of Good Government. Auditor of the Apostolic Chamber. Auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota, March 14, 1760. Secretary of the S.C. of the Tridentine Council from September 26, 1766. Secretary of the S.C. of the Episcopal Visit. Canonist of the Apostolic Penitentiary. Voter of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Grace.
Episcopate. Elected titular archbishop of Petra in Palestina, December 23, 1766. Consecrated, December 28, 1766, Quirinale Palace, Rome, by Pope Clement XIII, assisted by Scipione Borghese, titular archbishop of Teodosia, and by Ignazio Reali, titular archbishop of Atena.
Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of April 19, 1773; received the red hat and the title of S. Martino ai Monti, April 26, 1773. Principal negotiator for the Holy See and composer of the Bull Dominus ac Redemptor of July 21, 1773, that suppressed the Society of Jesus; member of the commission for the execution of the suppression, 1773. Prefect of Studies of Collegio Romano, taken from the Jesuits. Participated in the conclave of 1774-1775. Librarian of the Holy Roman Church, December 15, 1779 until his death. Archpriest of the patriarchal Lateran basilica from 1781 until his death. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, February 17, 1783. Grand Penitentiary, September 8, 1788 until his death. Secretary of State, October 14, 1789 until August 1796. President of the University of Ferrara, October 12, 1790. Opted for the title of S. Prassede, retaining in commendam the title of S. Martino ai Monti, June 17, 1793. Apostolic visitor to the French foundations under the jurisdiction of the church. Participated in the conclave of 1799-1800. Prefect of the S.C. of Bishops. He was a great collector of books, coins, medals and other artistic objects.
Death. December 19, 1801, Rome. Exposed in the church of S. Marcello, Rome, where the funeral took place, and buried in the church of S. Martino ai Monti, Rome, according to his will.
Bibliography. Salamon, Louis Sifrein Joseph Foncrosé de ; Zelada, Francesco Saverio ; Richemont, Eugène Octave Marie Romuald Panon Des Bassayns. Correspondance secrète de L'abbé de Salamon, chargi des affaires du Saint-Siège pendant la Révolution avec le Cardinal de Zelada (1791-1792). Paris : Plon, Nourrit et cie., 1898. Responsibility : publiée par Le Vte. de Richemont Weber, Christoph. Die päpstlichen Referendare 1566-1809 : Chronologie und Prosopographie. 3 vols. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 2003-2004. (Päpste und Papsttum ;; Bd. 31/1, 31/2, 31/3; Variation: Päpste und Papsttum ;; Bd. 31), III, 989.
Link. His episcopal lineage, in English.
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