Annibale Albani (15 August 1682 – 21 September 1751) was an Italian

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

Annibale Albani was born in

Urbino Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of ...

as a member of the Albani family, of Albanian-Italian origin. His parents were Orazio Albani, brother of

Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI ( la, Clemens XI; it, Clemente XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI w ...

, and Maria Bernardina Ondedei-Zonghi. A nephew of the Pope, he became

Cardinal Bishop of Sabina 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 ...

(1711). He was the elder brother of Cardinal

Alessandro Albani Alessandro Albani (15 October 1692 – 11 December 1779) was a Roman Catholic cardinal, but should be best remembered as a leading collector of antiquities, dealer and art patron in Rome. He supported the art historian, Johann Joachim Winckelmann ...

, an even more famous collector. In 1709 during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

he was appointed

papal nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

in Vienna with the aim of defending the feudal rights of the Holy See and of reclaiming territories occupied by the Empire, an aim eventually foiled by the death of the

Emperor Joseph I , father = Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor , mother = Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg , birth_date = , birth_place = Vienna, Austria , death_date = , death_place = Vienna, Austria , burial_place = Imperial Crypt, Vienna , r ...

in 1711. In 1710 he went to Dresden where he was instrumental in securing the conversion of the future King

Augustus III Augustus III ( pl, August III Sas, lt, Augustas III; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Augu ...

of Poland from Lutheranism to Roman Catholicism. He continued to be active in papal diplomacy until the 1740s. As a patron of ecclesiastical literature, he left a valuable library, a gallery of paintings and sculpture, and a cabinet of coins that eventually was added to the

Vatican collection 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 edited, in two volumes, the letters, briefs, and bulls of Clement XI (1724), the ''Menologium Græcorum'' (1727), and historical memoirs of Urbino (1722–24).

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Albani, Annibale 1682 births 1751 deaths People from Urbino

Annibale Annibale is the Italian masculine given name and surname equivalent to Hannibal. In English, it may refer to : Given name * Annibale Albani (1682–1751), Italian cardinal * Annibale I Bentivoglio, (died 1445), ruler of Bologna from 1443 * Annibal ...

18th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Cardinal-bishops of Porto Cardinal-bishops of Sabina Cardinal-nephews 18th-century Italian cardinals Camerlengos of the Holy Roman Church