(19) 1. DELGADO VENEGAS, Francisco Javier (1714-1781)

Birth. December 18, 1714, Villanueva del Ariscal, priorate nullius of San Marcos de León, Spain.

Education. Colegio Mayor Santo Tomás, University of Sevilla, Sevilla (philosophy and theology); University of Alcalá, Alcalá (doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law, 1734).

Priesthood. Ordained (no information found). Canon magistral of the cathedral chapters of Badajoz and of Córdoba. Did research in paleology while helping Fr. Enrique Flórez in the monumental work España Sagrada. Theatro geográphico-historico de la iglesia de España. Origen, divisiones, y términos de todas sus provincias. Antiguedad, traslaciones, y estado antiguo y presente de sus sillas, en todos los dominios de España, y Portugal. .

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Canarias, May 25, 1761. Consecrated, July 26, 1761, Córdoba, by Martín Barcia Carrascal, bishop of Córdoba. Transferred to the see of Sigüenza, December 19, 1768. Promoted to the metropolitan see of Sevilla, May 20, 1776. Promoted to the patriarchate of the West Indies while retaining the archdiocese of Sevilla, March 30, 1778.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 1, 1778; never received the red hat and the title.

Death. December 10, 1781, Madrid. Temporarily buried in the church of Our Lady of Copacabana, Sevilla, while a mausoleum was being built in the metropolitan cathedral of that city. But in 1808, before the transfer, the French invaders dispersed his remains and no burial could ever take place.

(20) 2. LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, Dominique de (1712-1800)

Birth. September 12, 1712, Castle of Saint-Elpise, St. Chély d'Apcher, diocese of Mende, France. He belonged to a minor and impoverished branch of that famous family and received the protection of Cardinal Frédéric-Jérôme de La Rochefoucauld de Roye (1747). He was the eighth of the eleven children of Jean-Antoine de La Rochefoucauld, seigneur of Saint-Ilpize de Cusson, and of Rochegonde, and Marie-Madeleine de la Champ.

Education. Seminary of Clermont, Clermont; Saint-Sulpice Seminary, Paris (licentiate in theology).

Priesthood. Ordained (no date found), Paris. Cardinal La Rochefoucauld de Roye called him to Bourges and named him vicar general.

Episcopate. Elected archbishop of Albi, May 29, 1747. Consecrated, June 29, 1747, in the chapel of the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice, by Gabtiel Florentine de Choiseul Beaupré, bishop of Mende; he took the oath of fidelity to King Louis XV on July 12, 1757. Abbot comendatario of Cluny from 1757. Resigned pastoral government of the archdiocese, April 30, 1759. Transferred to the metropolitan see of Rouen, June 2, 1759; he took possession of the see on July 28, 1759.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 1, 1778; never received the red hat and the title. Abbot commendatario of Fécamp in 1780. Pope Pius VII named him commander of the Order of Saint-Esprit in 1780. Presided over the Assemblies of the Clergy of 1780 and 1782 and the one in the General Estates of 1789, in which he unsuccessfully opposed the union of the three estates and, in general, all other revolutionary measures. Remained in France until September 1792 when he went to Maastricht, and then to Brussels; since July 1794 resided in Münster, Westphalia. Did not participate in the conclave of 1799-1800, which elected Pope Pius VII.

Death. September 23, 1800, after receiving the Holy Sacraments, in Münster. Exposed and buried in the cathedral of Münster. In April 1876, his remains were transferred to Rouen and buried in the crypt of the archbishops in the metropolitan cethedral.

Links. Biography, in French; and his engraving and arms.

(21) 3. FRANKENBERG, Johann Heinrich von (1726-1804)

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 1, 1778; never received the red hat and the title. Strongly and actively, yet diplomatically, defended the rights of the church and opposed "Josephinism", the politico-ecclesiastical system of Emperor Joseph II of Austria that gave the state absolute supremacy. For three years he disputed the government's decision of establishing a General Seminary in Louvain with a study plan that was not acceptable to the church. When the revolution against Austria succeeded, he was a member of the States-General, and when the Austrian government was reestablished, he respectfully accepted it. When the French occupied Belgium, he refused the oath of obedience imposed on the clergy and was expelled to Emmerich, Prussia, in 1797. He was old, in bad health and had to depend on the charity of the faithful. Did not participate in the conclave of 1799-1800, which elected Pope Pius VII. Resigned pastoral government of the archdiocese, November 20, 1801 to facilitate the implementation of the 1801 Concordat between France and the Holy See. Forced to leave Emmerich by the Prussians, he retired to Borken, Münster in 1801; and when that principality was suppressed, went to Breda.

Death. June 11, 1804, Breda. Exposed and buried in Breda.

Bibliography. Frankenberg, Johann Heinrich von. Observations sur la Déclaration de Son Eminence le cardinal archevêque de Malines : touchant l'enseignement du Séminaire général de Louvain, &c. : avec le texte de cette Déclaration, dans lesquelles on fait voir, par la Déclaration même, que l'enseignement de Louvain, bien loin d'être de quelque chef non orthodoxe, est tout-à-fait irrépréhensible. [Belgium? : s.n.], 1789; Romberg, Winfried. Johann Ignaz von Felbinger und Kardinal Johann Heinrich von Franckenberg : Wege der religiösen Reform im 18. Jahrhundert. Sigmaringen : J. Thorbecke, 1999. (Arbeiten zur schlesischen Kirchengeschichte ; Bd. 8); Theiner, Augustin. Der Cardinal Johann Heinrich Gras von Frankenberg, und Sein Kampf für die Freiheit der Kirche und die bischöslichen seminarien. Freiberg : Herder, 1850; Theiner, Augustin. Jean Henri, comte de Frankenberg, cardinal archevêque de Malines, primat de Belgique, et sa lutte pour la liberté de l'Église et pour les séminaires épiscopaux, sous l'empereur Joseph II. Paris : Firmin Didot frères, 1852. Translation of : Der Kardinal Johann Heinrich Graf von Frankenberg, by Paul de Geslin.

Link. Biography, in English.

(22) 4. BATTHYÁNY, József de (1727-1799)

Link. Biography, in Hungarian; another biography, also in Hungarian, with his portrait; and his engraving by Antonio Capellan, Museo di Roma, Rome.

(23) 5. GHILINI, Tommaso Maria (1718-1787)

Birth. August 5, 1718, Alessandria della Paglia.

Education. University of Turin, Turin (doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law, June 8, 1745); Pontifical Academy of Ecclesiastical Nobles, 1745.

Early life. Governor of the cities of Todi and Oriveto. Received the diaconate, December 22, 1759.

Priesthood. Ordained, March 22, 1760. Referendary of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace. Relator of the Sacred Consulta.

Episcopate. Elected titular archbishop of Roda, July 18, 1763. Consecrated, July 24, 1763, Rome, by Pope Clement XIII. Nuncio in Belgium, July 30, 1763. Secretary of the Sacred Consulta, November 1775.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 1, 1778; received the red hat and the title of S. Callisto, July 20, 1778. Opted for the title of S. Maria sopra Minerva, February 17, 1783.

Death. April 3, 1787, after midnight, in the convent of the Conventual Franciscans, Turin. Exposed and buried (no information found).

(24) 6. FILIPPA DELLA MARTINIANA, Carlo Giuseppe (1724-1802)

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 1, 1778; received the red hat and the title of S. Callisto, April 2, 1800. Transferred to the see of Vercelli, July 12, 1779. Participated in the conclave of 1799-1800, which elected Pope Pius VII. A meeting he had with Napoleon in 1800 was the prelude to the new attitude of the French government toward the Church which resulted in the 1801 Concordat with the Holy See.

Death. December 7, 1802, Vercelli. Exposed and buried in the cathedral of Vercelli.

(25) 7. ROHAN-GUÉMÉNÉE, Louis-René-Eduard de (1734-1803)

Birth. September 25, 1734, Paris, France. Third child of Hercule-Mériadec de Rohan, prince of Montbazon, and Louise-Gabrielle-Julie de Rohan. Grand-nephew of Cardinal Armand Gaston Maximilien de Rohan de Soubise (1712), bishop of Strasbourg (1704-1749). Nephew of Cardinals Armand-Jules de Rohan-Soubise-Ventadour (1747), bishop of Strasbourg from 1749 to 1756, and Louis-César-Constantin de Rohan-Guéménée-Montbazon (1761), bishop of Strasbourg from 1757 to 1779.

Early life. Destined to the clerical state in childhood. Canon of the cathedral chapter of Strasbourg, April 20, 1743.

Education. Collège du Plessis, Paris; Saint-Magloire Seminary, Paris (licentiate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law).

Priesthood. Ordained (no information found). Granted dispensation to be elected coadjutor bishop of Strasbourg in spite of being five years younger than the canonical age, June 22, 1759. Elected by the cathedral chapter of Strasbourg, November 22, 1759.

Episcopate. Preconized titular bishop of Canopus and appointed coadjutor of Strasbourg, with right of succession, March 24, 1760. Consecration, May 18, 1760, cathedral of Paris, by Christophe de Beaumont, archbishop of Paris, assited by Jean-Georges Le Franc de Pompignan, bishop of Le Puy, and by Gilbert de May de Termont, bishop of Blois. Member of the Académie Française, April 27, 1761; received, June 11, 1761. French ambassador to Austria, 1771-1774. Grand almoner of France, 1778.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 1, 1778, with dispensation for having an uncle in the Sacred College of Cardinals; never received the red hat and the title. Succeeded to the see of Strasbourg, March 11, 1779. In the secret consistory of February 13, 1786, the pope published to the cardinals the decree suspending his cardinalate because of the politico-financial scandal of the necklace of Queen Marie-Antoinette of France (1). In the secret consistory of September 18, 1786, the pope announced to the cardinals that he had given Cardinal Rohan six months to amend himself and that a prorogation of six months, starting September 4, 1786, had been granted to him. In the consistory of December 18, 1786, the pope reinstated him to the cardinalate. Member of the Assembly of the Clergy, 1789. Opposed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, had to leave France and went to live in Ettenheim in the German part of his diocese. Did not participate in the conclave of 1799-1800, which elected Pope Pius VII. To facilitate the implementation of the 1801 Concordat between France and the Holy See, resigned the government of his diocese, November 29, 1801.

Death. February 16, 1803, Ettenheim, Baden. Exposed and buried in Ettenheim.

Bibliography. Chamier, J. Daniel. The dubious tale of the diamond necklace. London : E. Arnold & Company, 1939; Chapeau, O.S.B. André and Fernand Combaluzier, C.M. Épiscopologe français des temps modernes, 1592-1973. Paris : Letouzey et Ané, 1974, p. 471-472; Ehrhard, L. L'ambassade du prince-coadjuteur Louis de Rohan a la cour de Vienne (1771-1774). Strasbourg : Impr. de L'Elsaesser, 1901; Le Roy de Sainte-Croix, François Noël. Les quatre cardinaux de Rohan (évêques de Strasbourg) en Alsace. Strasbourg : Hagemann et cie, 1880. (Grande collection alsacienne), pp. 81-169.

Links. Biography, in German; his engraving and biography, in French; and another biography, also in German, with his portrait and additional pictorial information.

(1) The cardinal, wishing to regain the favor of the queen, who hardly appreciated him, was convinced by a intrigant that he had returned to her grace and that she wanted him to buy on her behalf a costly diamond necklace. The jewel was never received by the queen, who, made aware of the scandal, had him arrested in August 1785 in Versailles, taken to the Bastille, and assigned the introduction of a process to the Paris parliament. He was acquitted by the parliament but his prestige had been damaged.

(26) 8. SOUSA E SILVA, Fernando de (1712-1786)

Link. Brief biographical data in Os Cardeais Portugueses - Nota Histórica, in Portuguese.

(1) Grande Enciclopédia Portuguesa e Brasileira, vol. 29, p. 871, indicates that he was born on November 27, 1712 and died on April 7, 1786.

(27) 9. CORNARO, Giovanni (1720-1789)

Birth. June 30, 1720, Venice. Son of Niccolò Cornaro and Alba Giustiniani. Of the San Mauirizio branch of the family, different from that of the other Cornaro cardinals: Marco Cornaro (1500); Francesco Cornaro, seniore (1527); Andrea Cornaro (1544); Luigi Cornaro (1551); Federico Cornaro, seniore, O.S.Io.Hieros. (1585); Francesco Cornaro, iuniore (1596); Federico Baldissera Bartolomeo Cornaro (1626) and Giorgio Cornaro (1697).

Education. (No information found).

Early life. Entered the Roman prelature. Protonotary apostolic participantium, April 12, 1742. Referendary of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace, January 24, 1743. Vice-legate in Bologna, September 22, 1744 until 1747. Relator of the Sacred Consulta. Auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota for the Republic of Venice, March 21, 1759.

Sacred orders. Received the subdiaconate, June 1, 1765. Governor of Rome and vice-camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, December 2, 1775 until June 1, 1778.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of June 1, 1778; received the red hat and the deaconry of S. Cesareo in Palatio, July 20, 1778.

Priesthood. Ordained, February 27, 1779.

Death. March 29, 1789, Rome. Exposed in the church of S. Marco, Rome, where the funeral took place, and buried in his deaconry.

Bibliography. Del Re, Niccolò. Monsignor governatore di Roma. Rome : Istituto di Studi Romani Editore, 1972, p. 119; 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. 160, 362 and 597.

(28) 10. GUIDI, Romoaldo (1722-1780)

Link. His tomb in the church of S. Giorgio in Velabro, Rome.

©1998-2008 Salvador Miranda.