Alessandro Riario (1543–1585) was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Biography

Alessandro Riario was born in Bologna on 3 December 1543, the son of patricians Palatine Count Giulio Riario, and Isabella Pepoli. He was related by marriage to Pope Gregory XIII. He was educated at the University of Padua and then at the University of Bologna, becoming a doctor of both laws on 11 May 1563. As a young man, he moved to Rome where he became a

protonotary apostolic In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic (PA; Latin: ''protonotarius apostolicus'') is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pop ...

and a Referendary of the

Apostolic Signatura The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura () is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church (apart from the pope himself, who as supreme ecclesiastical judge is the final point of appeal for any ecclesiastical judgment). In additio ...

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...

made him a

domestic prelate Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

. On 1 May 1562 he became secretary apostolic. He served as auditor general of the Apostolic Signatura from 3 April 1565 to 1578. On 8 November 1570 he was elected Titular Patriarch of Alexandria. He accompanied Cardinal Michele Bonelli in 1571 on his

legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, minister. Ambassadors diplomatic rank, out ...

to Spain, the

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal ( la, Regnum Portugalliae, pt, Reino de Portugal) was a monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also kno ...

, and the Kingdom of France designed to promote a league against the Ottoman Empire. Riario was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

as a bishop in the Sistine Chapel on 24 August 1572 by Cardinal

Benedetto Lomellini Benedetto Lomellini (1517 – 24 July 1579) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and bishop. Biography Benedetto Lomellini was born in Genoa in 1517, the son of a rich noble family. He received a doctorate in law. He practiced as a lawyer a ...

assisted by

Antonio Elio Antonio Elio or Antonio Helius (1506–1576) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Capodistria (1572–1576), ''(in Latin)'' Titular Patriarch of Jerusalem (1558–1572), ''(in Latin)'' and Bishop of Pula (1548–1566). ''(in Lat ...

, Titular Patriarch of Jerusalem, and

Giovanni Ambrosio Fieschi Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * '' Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend ...

, Bishop of Savona. Pope Gregory XIII made him a cardinal priest in the consistory of 21 February 1578. He received the

red hat Red Hat, Inc. is an American software company that provides open source software products to enterprises. Founded in 1993, Red Hat has its corporate headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina, with other offices worldwide. Red Hat has become ass ...

and the titular church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli on 3 March 1578. Along with Cardinal

Francesco Crasso Francesco Crasso (1500–1566) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal. Biography Francesco Crasso was born in Milan in 1500, the son of Pietro Antonio Crasso, a Milanese noble related to the '' signoria'' of Zibido San Giacomo and Lambro. He wa ...

and other prelates, he was charged with reforming the Roman Curia. On 23 March 1580 he was named legate ''a latere'' before

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

. He became Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in May 1581. He became legate ''a latere'' to the

on 25 October 1581 and served as legate ''a latere'' in Perugia and Umbria from 25 October 1581 to 1583. He participated in the papal conclave of 1585 that elected

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

. He died in Rome on 18 July 1585. He was initially buried in Santi Apostoli. His remains were later transferred to Bologna and buried in the Church of San Giacomo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riario, Alessandro 1543 births 1585 deaths 16th-century Italian cardinals Clergy from Bologna