Olimpia Aldobrandini, Princess of Meldola (1567 - 28 April 1637) was an Italian noblewoman, known by historians as Olimpia Aldobrandini the Elder to distinguish her from her granddaughter
Olimpia Aldobrandini the Younger (1623-1681).
Life
Born in Rome to Pietro Aldobrandini and Flaminia Ferracci, she was a sister of
Pietro Aldobrandini
Pietro Aldobrandini (31 March 1571 – 10 February 1621) was an Italian Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal and patron of the arts.
Biography
Pietro Aldobrandini was a cousin of Cardinal Cinzio Aldobrandini, and uncle of Cardinals Silvestro a ...
(1571-1621), who was made a cardinal in 1593 by their uncle
Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605.
Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...
.
In 1585 she married
Giovanni Francesco Aldobrandini, first prince of Meldola and Sarsina (1545-1601) and had issue:
#
Silvestro (1587 – 1612), cardinal;
#
Margherita (1588 – 1646), married
Ranuccio I Farnese
Ranuccio I Farnese (28 March 1569 – 5 March 1622) reigned as Duke of Parma, Duke of Piacenza, Piacenza and Duchy of Castro, Castro from 1592. A firm believer in absolute monarchy, Ranuccio, in 1594, centralised the administration of Parma and ...
, 4th
Duke of Parma Piacenza, with whom she had nine children;
# Elena (1590 – 1663), married
Antonio Carafa della Stadera, fifth
Duke of Mondragone, with whom she had three children;
#
Giovan Giorgio (1591 – 1637), 2nd prince of Meldola and Sarsina, married Ippolita Ludovisi, with whom he had one child
Olimpia;
# Caterina Lesa (1594 – 1620), married Marino II Caracciolo, 3rd prince of Avellino, with no issue;
#
Ippolito (1596 – 1638), cardinal;
# Pietro (1600 – 1630), duke Carpineto, married
Carlotta Savelli, with whom he had two children;
# Maria (1601 – 1657), married
Giovanni Paolo II Sforza, fifth
Marquess of Caravaggio, with whom she had four children
She died in Rome.
Principality of Rossano and the Lordship of the Aldobrandini
In 1612 the Principality of
Rossano
Rossano is a town and ''frazione'' of Corigliano-Rossano in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy. The city is situated on an eminence from the Gulf of Taranto. The town is known for its marble and alabaster quarry, quarries.
The to ...
, the estate of
Longobucco and the hamlet of
Paludi were bought by her brother Pietro for her son Giorgio Aldobrandini (1591-1637), then under his mother's tutelage. The sale of the Principality of Rossano cost the University 10,000
ducat
The ducat ( ) coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide inter ...
s, but as this sum was not available the estates of Valle dell'Ambra and San Giovanni in Foresta were ceded to Princess Aldobrandini. In 1620 she financed the construction of a new church in
Corigliano-Rossano dedicated to
San Nilo.
[ ] The Principality was owned by the Aldobrandini family until the mid 17th century.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldobrandini, Olimpia
Nobility from Rome
1567 births
1637 deaths
Olimpia