Lelio Falconieri (1585–1648) 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 ...

Catholic 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 ...

Cardinal.

Family and early life

Falconieri was born in 1585 in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, the tenth of the thirteen children of Paolo Falconieri and his second wife Maddalena degli Albizzi. He was the brother of Don

Orazio Falconieri 300 px, The Villa Falconieri in Frascati; renovations were commissioned by Orazio Falconieri Orazio Falconieri (died 1664) was an Italian nobleman from Florence; he was the owner of the Villa Falconieri. His heraldic symbol was a falcon. Fam ...

who purchased the

Villa Falconieri The Villa Falconieri is a villa in Frascati, Italy. History The villa was originally called Villa Rufina, having been was initially built by Monsignor Alessandro Rufini. Later it was enlarged thanks to Pope Paul III, dates back to 1546. In 16 ...

and commissioned Francesco Borromini to renovate it. Orazio later commissioned Borromini to renovate the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini to build a Falconieri family chapel for the burial of the two brothers. He studied law at the

University of Perugia University of Perugia (Italian ''Università degli Studi di Perugia'') is a public-owned university based in Perugia, Italy. It was founded in 1308, as attested by the Bull issued by Pope Clement V certifying the birth of the Studium Generale. Th ...

and went on to take a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

canon and civil law A doctor of both laws, from the Latin ''doctor utriusque juris'', or ''juris utriusque doctor'', or ''doctor juris utriusque'' ("doctor of both laws") (abbreviations include: JUD, IUD, DUJ, JUDr., DUI, DJU, Dr.iur.utr., Dr.jur.utr., DIU, UJD a ...

from the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

. At a young age he went to

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 ...

and became an advocate at the Roman Curia and papal

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

during the pontificate of

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...

. In 1619 he became Governor of San Severino and a

referendary Referendary is the English form of a number of administrative positions, of various rank, in chanceries and other official organizations in Europe. Pre-modern history The office of ' (plural: ', from the Latin ', "I inform") existed at the Byzan ...

of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signatura of Justice and of Grace. He became Governor of

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Spolet ...

(1621), Vice-governor of Benevento (1622) and Governor of the

Campagne and Maritime Province The Campagna and Marittima Province (Latin ''Campaniæ Maritimæque Provincia'', Italian ''Provincia di Campagna e Marittima'') was one of the seven provinces of the Papal States from the 12th century to the end of the 18th. The province was es ...

(1622).

Pontificate of Urban VIII

Maffeo Barberini was elected Pope Urban VIII at the Papal conclave of 1623 and during his pontificate, Falconieri became the relator of the Sacred Consulta and commissary general of

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

and Romagna. In 1634 he was elected Titular Archbishop of Tebe and was consecrated on 10 December of that year at the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini by 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 ...

, brother of his sister-in-law Ottavia Sacchetti.''Ave Papa/Ave Papabile: the Sacchetti family, their art patronage, and political aspirations'' by Lilian H. Zirpolo (Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 2005) Between 1635 and 1637 he was named

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 ...

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

, but after being informed in Liège that the government of

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered ...

opposed his appointment he returned to Rome on grounds of ill health. He was replaced by an acting nuncio, Richard Pauli-Stravius. Pope Urban elevated Falconieri to cardinal in the consistory of 1643 and he was named Cardinal-Priest of

Santa Maria del Popolo it, Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo , image = 20140803 Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo Rome 0191.jpg , caption = The church from Piazza del Popolo , coordinates = , image_size ...

later that year.

Later life

Falconieri participated in the Papal conclave of 1644, which elected Pope Urban's successor,

Pope Innocent X Pope Innocent X ( la, Innocentius X; it, Innocenzo X; 6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death in Januar ...

. Pope Innocent made him

Legate Legate may refer to: *Legatus, a higher ranking general officer of the Roman army drawn from among the senatorial class :*Legatus Augusti pro praetore, a provincial governor in the Roman Imperial period *A member of a legation *A representative, ...

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 ...

but after suffering a very serious illness in Florence Falconieri decided to return to Rome. He died on the way at

Viterbo Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history ...

on 14 December 1648 and was buried in the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falconieri, Lelio 1585 births 1648 deaths 17th-century Italian cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Urban VIII Clergy from Florence Latin archbishops of Thebes Apostolic Nuncios to Flanders