(29) 1. HRZÁN Z HARASOVA, František de Paula (1735-1804)

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of July 12, 1779; received the red hat and the title of S. Girolamo degli Schiavoni, December 11, 1780. Opted for the title of Ss. Nereo ed Achilleo, September 13, 1782. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, March 10, 1788 until March 30, 1789. Opted for the title of S. Croce in Gerusalemme, April 7, 1788. Participated in the conclave of 1799-1800, which elected Pope Pius VII; presented the veto of Holy Roman Emperor Franz II against the election of Cardinals Giacinto Sigismondo Gerdil, B. and Carlo Bellisomi.

Episcopate. Elected bishop of Szombathely, May 12, 1800. Consecrated, Sunday May 18, 1800, convent of S. Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, by Pope Pius VII, assisted by Antonio Despuig y Dameto, Latin patriarch of Antioch, and by Cesare Brancadoro, titular archbishop of Nisibi.

Death. June 1, 1804, Vienna. Exposed and buried in the cathedral of Szombathely.

Bibliography. Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen VI (1730-1799). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 33, 43, 47 and 56; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen VII (1800-1846). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, p. 328.

Link. The Herzan Family, in Czech; and his portrait, Museo di Roma, Rome.

(30) 2. MATTEI, Alessandro (1744-1820)

Birth. February 20, 1744, Rome. Of one of the most ancient families of the Roman aristocracy. Son of Prince Girolamo Mattei, duke of Giove, and his second wife, Maria Caterina Altieri. Related, on his mother's side to Pope Clement X. Nephew of Cardinal Luigi Mattei (1753). Brother of Cardinal Lorenzo Girolamo Mattei (1833). Other cardinals of the Mattei family were Girolamo Mattei (1586); Gaspare Mattei (1643); Orazio Mattei (1686); and Ruggero Luigi Emidio Antici Mattei (1875). Another cardinal of the Altieri family was Giambattista Altieri (1643).

Education. La Sapienza University, Rome (doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law, June 30, 1768).

Early life. He dedicated himself from a young age to the ecclesiastcial career. Received from Pope Benedict XIV the priorate of S. Maria in Abbatissis and the abbey of S. Croce. Canon of the chapter of the patriarchal Vatican basilica, November 15, 1766. Named privy chamberlain by Pope Clement XIII.

Priesthood. Ordained, February 27, 1768. Entered the Roman prelature as domestic prelate of His Holinees, July 13, 1768; and later, on July 21, 1768, as referendary of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace. Relator of the S.C. of Good Government, 1770. Apostolic visitor of the abbey of Farfa. Prelate of the S.C. of the Tridentine Council, 1775. Auditor of the cardinal camarlengo of the Holy Roman Church, 1776. Canon of the chapter of the patriarchal Vatican basilica. Deacon of the Pontifical Chapel.

Episcopate. Elected archbishop of Ferrara, February 17, 1777. Consecrated, February 23, 1777, church of S. Maria in Aracoeli, Rome, by Cardinal Bernardino Giraud, former archbishop of Ferrara, assisted by Marcantonio Conti, titular archbishop of Damasco, and by Giuseppe Maria Carafa, bishop of Mileto. Assistant at the Pontifical Throne, March 9, 1777.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal reserved in pectore in the consistory of July 12, 1779; published in the consistory of May 22, 1782; received the red hat and the title of S. Balbina in the consistory celebrated in Imola, May 27, 1782. Opted for the title of S. Maria in Aracoeli, April 3, 1786. The French army occupied Ferrara on June 22, 1796; after the ephimeral occupation, Ferrara was annexed to the Cisalpine Republic by the Austrian troops of General Wurmser; the legate a latere Cardinal Francesco Maria Pignatelli left and Cardinal Mattei assumed, temporarily in August 1796, the post and as such, the government and of the province; he reestablished the papal uthority. Called by Napoléon Bonaparte on August 18, 1796 to his general headquarters in Brescia, the cardinal was imprisoned, relegated to Milan as a hostage and later to Brescia again; freed on October 30, 1796, he was allowed to return to Ferrara, remaining in the hands of the French. Napoléon saw Cardinal Mattei again in Ferrara and engaged him to obtain from Pope Pius VI to start peace negotiations. Chosen by the pope to negotiate, he had to sign the disastrous Treaty of Tolentino on February 17, 1797; by this treaty, the Holy See abandoned the legations; the cardinal returned to Ferrara and had to resign his post for having refused to take the oath of the Cisalpine Republic. Participated in the conclave of 1799-1800, which elected Pope Pius VII. Opted for the order of cardinal bishops and the suburbicarian see of Palestrina, April 2, 1800; he kept the administration of the see of Ferrara until August 24, 1807. Named examiner of bishops in theology before June 22, 1805. Named protector of the Capuchins before July 25, 1807. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Porto e Santa Rufina, March 27, 1809. Sub-dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals. After the French occupation of Rome, he was named pro-datary on March 26, 1808. Expelled from Rome on June 10, 1809 by order of the French authorities as a reprisal for posting the bull of excommunication against Emperor Napoléon; he was exiled to Paris; he refused to attended Napoleon's wedding to Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria on April 2, 1810, and because of this he was prohibited by Napoleon to wear red cardinalitial habit and became one of the thriteen "black cardinals". He was relegated to Rhetel by order of the emperor; he remained there together with Cardinal Pignatelli until the signature of the Concordat of Fontainebleau by Pope Pius VII on January 25, 1813. Reunited with the pope, he was again exiled on January 27, 1814, to Alais; freed by an order of the provisional government on April 2, 1814. He rejoined the pope, who was on his way to Rome, in May 1814; entered the Eternal City with the pontiff on May 24, 1814. Confirmed as pro-datary of His Holiness on June 14, 1814; occupied the post until his death. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Ostia and Velletri, September 26, 1814. Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals and prefect of the S.C. Ceremonial. Archpriest of the patriarchal Vatican basilica and president of the Reverend Fabric of St. Peter's, May 10, 1817. Decorated with the grand cross of the Austrian Order of Sankt Stefan, 1819. He became ill while officiating in St. Peter's basilica on April 14, 1820 and died six days later.

Death. April 20, 1820, Rome. Exposed in the church of S. Marcello, Rome, where the funeral took place, and buried in his family's chapel in the church of S. Maria in Aracoeli, Rome.

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. 419-422; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen VI (1730-1799). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 33, 42, 46 and 215; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recentioris Aevi. Volumen VII (1800-1846). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 37and 38; Storti, Nicola. La storia e il diritto della Dataria Apostolica dalle origini ai nostri giorni. Napoli : Athena Mediterranea Editrice, 1969, p.173.

Link. His image, sitting down, on the painting of the signature of the Treaty of Tolentino; his episcopal lineage, in English; his tomb in the Mattei Chapel, S. Maria in Aracoeli, Rome.

©1998-2008 Salvador Miranda.