Ercole Rangoni or Ercole Rangone (died 25 August 1527) was a

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 ...

and religious leader of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

for 10 years.

Biography

He served as

Bishop of Adria The Italian Catholic Diocese of Adria-Rovigo ( la, Dioecesis Adriensis-Rhodigiensis), in the Triveneto, has existed under this name since 1986. It is a Latin suffragan to the Patriarchate of Venice.Bishop of Modena A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

from 1509 until his death. He was made a cardinal in July 1517 by Pope

Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

. This was during his fifth

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistory ...

. Not much information is known about Ercole, but he served as a cardinal for the

, in

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

. When his mother became a widow in 1500, she took the family back to Modena. When he finished his studies, he went to Rome and entered the service of Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici, future Pope Leo X. When the cardinal, who was papal legate, was taken prisoner by the French in

1512 Year 1512 ( MDXII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * Mid-January – Following the death of Svante Nilsson, Eric Trolle is elected the new ...

. In

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

, Ercole who was 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 ...

, was sent by his mother to assist the cardinal with gifts and help; he wanted to remain with the cardinal and share with him his prison but the latter did not allow it and asked Ercole to return to the Medicis; when the cardinal was being transported to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, helped by Andrea Guidone, a Modenese, he escaped and went to Piacenza and then to Modena, where Donna Bianca received him in ''Palazzo Rangone'' and gave him vestments, money, horses and a considerable sum of silver; the cardinal was later elected to the pontificate and then invited her to Rome and treated her as if he was her own son. The new pope named Ercole his privy chamberlain and gave Andrea Guidone the title of chamberlain. Soon afterward, Ercole was named “protonotary apostolic”.

References

16th-century Italian cardinals Bishops of Modena Bishops of Adria 1527 deaths Year of birth unknown 1491 births {{italy-RC-cardinal-stub