Cornelio Malvasia, '' Marquis di Bismantova'' (1603 - 1664) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

aristocrat, patron of

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

and

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

leader.

Early life

Malvasia was born in 1603 to an aristocratic family of

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

and was the cousin of

Carlo Cesare Malvasia Carlo Cesare Malvasia (1616–1693) was an Italian scholar and art historian from Bologna, best known for his biographies of Baroque artists titled ''Felsina pittrice'', published in 1678. Life and career Malvasia is the Bolognese equivalen ...

.''Malvasia's Life of the Caracci'' by Carlo Cesare Malvasia (conte) & Anne Summerscale (Reprint - Penn State Press, 2000)

Military career

During the Wars of Castro he led papal army cavalry against the

Dukes of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a historical state of Northern Italy, which existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859. The Duke of Parma was also Duke of Piacenza, excep ...

. He became close to the nephews of Pope Urban VIII and his later correspondence and publications carried the

Barberini The House of Barberini are a family of the Italian nobility that rose to prominence in 17th century Rome. Their influence peaked with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623, as Pope Urban VIII. Their urban palace ...

crest; three bees. His cousin Carlo later received assistance, in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, from Barberini loyalist, Cardinal Marzio Ginetti. Despite the

Duchy of Modena A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between ...

having sided with the Dukes of Parma during the Wars of Castro, Malvasia later became a military advisor to

Alfonso IV d'Este, Duke of Modena Alfonso IV d'Este (2 February 1634 – 16 July 1662) was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1658 until his death. He was the father of Mary of Modena, consort of James II of England. Alfonso was born in Modena, the eldest son of Francesco I d' ...

. He was later named ''Marechal'' of the French army in Italy while

Francesco II d'Este Francesco II d'Este (6 March 1660 – 6 September 1694) was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1662 to 1694. Biography He was born in Modena to Alfonso IV d'Este, duke of Modena, and Laura Martinozzi, niece of Cardinal Mazarin. His sister, Mary o ...

(later Duke of Modena after his father) was

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

of that army. In 1656 he visited

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and received honours from King

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

- a 400 ''doppie'' annual pension for his position of Marechal and a gift of a

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

bottoniera from

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

Patron of astronomy

Throughout his military career, Malvasia maintained a strong general interest in astronomy,

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultrav ...

and scientific

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

. He is credited with having contributed to the invention of the

reticle A reticle, or reticule also known as a graticule, is a pattern of fine lines or markings built into the eyepiece of an optical device such as a telescopic sight, spotting scope, theodolite, optical microscope or the screen of an oscilloscop ...

or "cross-hairs" during the 1620s; final credit is usually ascribed to Robert Hooke. Malvasia was elected a Senator of

and began construction of the privately owned Panzano Observatory in the early 1640s. In 1645 Malvasia invited

Giovanni Domenico Cassini Giovanni Domenico Cassini, also known as Jean-Dominique Cassini (8 June 1625 – 14 September 1712) was an Italian (naturalised French) mathematician, astronomer and engineer. Cassini was born in Perinaldo, near Imperia, at that time in the ...

to Bologna and offered him a position in his observatory, which was close to completion. Most of their time was spent calculating newer, better, and more accurate

ephemerides In astronomy and celestial navigation, an ephemeris (pl. ephemerides; ) is a book with tables that gives the trajectory of naturally occurring astronomical objects as well as artificial satellites in the sky, i.e., the position (and possibly ...

for astrological purposes using the rapidly advancing astronomical methods and tools of the day. 17 years later, in 1662, their collaborative work, ''Ephemerides novissimae motuum coelestium'', was published by Malvasia. It was dedicated to Cardinal

Giulio Cesare Sacchetti Giulio Cesare Sacchetti (1586 – 28 June 1663) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and was twice included in the French Court's list of acceptable candidates for the Papacy, in 1644 and 1655. Early life Sacchetti was born in 1586, the second su ...

- twice nominated by

Antonio Barberini Antonio Barberini (5 August 1607 – 3 August 1671) was an Italian Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Reims, military leader, patron of the arts and a prominent member of the House of Barberini. As one of the cardinal-nephews of Pope Urban VIII ...

as the French candidate for

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

- and included a rather laudatory dedication in which Malvasia claimed he could trace Sacchetti's ancestry back to Ancient Roman gods. Malvasia corresponded with a number of other contemporary astronomers during his development of new methods.National Central Library of Florence:
Correspondence from Carlo Manzini to Malvasia in 1650

References and notes

Works

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Malvasia, Cornelio 1603 births 1664 deaths Nobility from Bologna Marquesses 17th-century condottieri Military personnel from Bologna 17th-century Italian astronomers 17th-century Italian nobility