Agostino Borromeo (born 24 January 1944 in Oreno,

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

) is an Italian

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

, and General Governor of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic order of knighthood under ...

Early life and background

Agostino Borromeo comes from the

aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

House of Borromeo ), type= Noble family, country=, estates= Rocca d'Angera Palazzo Borromeo, Milan Castel of Peschiera BorromeoBorromean Islands Villa Borromeo, Arcore, titles=* Prince of Angera * Marquess of Romagnano * Count of Arona * Count of Peschiera * Lor ...

family. He studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

. He also completed his musical studies in

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, organ and organ

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

. He is married to Beatrice Gonzalez de la Bastida Vergas, and they have three children. He likes playing

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

, and

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

Career

Agostino Borromeo is an author of over 180 publications on the religious history of Southern Europe, musicology and musical criticism. He is an internationally acclaimed expert on the history of the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

. In October 1998, following the opening of the archive of the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible ...

he coordinated the organization of an international symposium on the history of Inquisition held in the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

. He was a Catholic commentator for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

television series Secret Files of the Inquisition. He is also well known in the history of international relations in modern times and religious history of Spain. He teaches Modern and Contemporary

History of the Catholic Church The history of the Catholic Church is the formation, events, and historical development of the Catholic Church through time. The tradition of the Catholic Church claims the Catholic Church began with Jesus Christ and his teachings; the Catholi ...

and other Christian confessions at his alma mater,

, and gives annual courses on the

History of Christianity The history of Christianity concerns the Christianity, Christian religion, Christendom, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various Christian denomination, denominations, from the Christianity in the 1st century, 1st century ...

and of the Churches at the prestigious private university Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta, Rome. Since 1992 president of the Italian Institute of Iberian Studies. Since 2006 President of the "Don Giuseppe de Luca" Association, an institution for the research in the field of religious history.

Catholic Church

Borromeo is an active Catholic for many years. As a young man, he participated in the Catholic scout movement. In 1993 he was elected a president an international Catholic association Circolo di Roma, founded in 1949, which gathers foreign

diplomats A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internatio ...

accredited to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

. In 2002 he was appointed a member of the

Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences The Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences is a division of the Roman Curia established on 7 April 1954 by Pope Pius XII. Background Pope Pius XII created this committee on 7 April 1954 as the successor to the Commission of Cardinals for His ...

. He is vice president of Italian National Union for the Transport of the Sick to Lourdes and International Shrines (Unitalsi). Borromeo has been a member of the

since 1985. From 1995 to 2002 he served as a Member of the Grand Magisterium. From 2002 to 2004 he was the Orders' chancellor. In 2009 Cardinal John Patrick Foley, Grand Master of the Order, appointed him General Governor.

Selected works

Borromeo is the editor and author of hundreds of publications. * Spain in Italy: Politics, Society, and Religion 1500–1700. Edited by Thomas James Dandelet, John A. Marino, American Academy in Rome, 2006. , * L' inquisizione : atti del simposio internazionale: Città del Vaticano, 29-31 ottobre 1998. By Agostino Borromeo. Città del Vaticano : Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 2003. 9788821007613 * Storia religiosa della Spagna. Agostino Borromeo. Milano, Centro Ambrosiano, 1998. 9788880251798 * La Valtellina crocevia dell'Europa : politica e religione nell'età della Guerra dei trent'anni. By Agostino Borromeo; Quintín Aldea. Milano: Mondadori, 1998. OCLC Number: 954608350

Distinctions

* Knight Grand Cross of the First Class of the

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...

(2017) *

(1985) *

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

of Justice of

Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (SMOCG) ( it, Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di San Giorgio, es, Sagrada Orden Militar Constantiniana de San Jorge), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order ...

Order of Saint Januarius ) , clasps = , post-nominals = , established = 3 July 1738 , first_award = , last_award = , founder = Charles VII of Naples , head_title = Grand Master , head = Disputed:Prince P ...

(2002) * Member of the Italian Musicology Association (Società Italiana di Musicologia) (2000) * Academic Correspondent of the Real Academia de la Historia (1988) * Academic Correspondent of the Academia Portuguesa da História (Portuguese Academy of History, Lisbon) (1992)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borromeo, Agostino 1944 births Living people People from Vimercate Agostino Historians of the Catholic Church Historians of Christianity Historians of Spain Historians of Italy 20th-century Italian male writers 21st-century Italian male writers 20th-century Italian historians 21st-century Italian historians Sapienza University of Rome alumni Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome Knights of the Holy Sepulchre Italian historians of religion