Onofrio de Santa Croce (died 20 October 1471) 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

bishop of Tricarico The Italian Catholic Diocese of Tricarico ( la, Dioecesis Tricaricensis) is in Basilicata. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo.Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

. He was born at Rome, and died there. In 1467, he was sent as

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

Pope Paul II Pope Paul II ( la, Paulus II; it, Paolo II; 23 February 1417 – 26 July 1471), born Pietro Barbo, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 August 1464 to his death in July 1471. When his maternal uncle Eugene IV ...

to mediate between the expanding

Duchy of Burgundy The Duchy of Burgundy (; la, Ducatus Burgundiae; french: Duché de Bourgogne, ) emerged in the 9th century as one of the successors of the ancient Kingdom of the Burgundians, which after its conquest in 532 had formed a constituent part of the ...

and the

Prince-Bishopric of Liège The Prince-Bishopric of Liège or Principality of Liège was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that was situated for the most part in present-day Belgium. It was an Imperial State, Imperial Estate, so the List of ...

in the second Liège war over the desire of the latter for

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

. Onofrio had enjoyed previous successes as a diplomat, and was armed with firsthand knowledge of the situation acquired when he accompanied the legate

Paul Ferri Paul J. Ferri (born December 21, 1937 in Rome, Italy) is the founder and general partner of Matrix Partners, a venture capital firm. Early life In 1944, Ferri and his family immigrated to the United States where they settled in Virginia. His fat ...

to the city of

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

in 1463. Despite "tireless efforts," Onofrio failed, and a third Liège war, in October 1468, saw

Charles the Bold Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

and

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revo ...

began a siege that would end in the destruction of Liège. Onofrio's

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

is considered "one of the most important 'outside' sources" on the war and events leading up to it. In another attempt to explain the circumstances and consequences of the war, he commissioned the Italian humanist poet

Angelo Sabino Angelo Sabino or in Latin Angelus Sabinus (''fl.'' 1460s–1470s) was an Italian Renaissance humanist, poet laureate, classical philologist, Ovidian impersonator, and putative rogue. Sabino's real name was probably Angelo Sani di Cure, with the top ...

to compose an historical epic, ''De excidio civitatis Leodiensis'' ("The Fall of the City of Liège"). Onofrius died without having regained his good standing at the

papal court The papal household or pontifical household (usually not capitalized in the media and other nonofficial use, ), called until 1968 the Papal Court (''Aula Pontificia''), consists of dignitaries who assist the pope in carrying out particular ceremoni ...

.Eugène Bacha, "Deux écrits de Mathieu Herbenus sur la destruction de Liège par Charles-le-Téméraire," ''Bulletin de la Commission Royale d'Histoire (de la Belgique)'' 75 (1907) 385–39
online.
/ref> The name Onofrio (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Onofrius) will also be found as Onufrio (Onufrius).

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Stanislas Bormans Stanislas Marie Bormans (1835–1912) was a Belgian archivist and historian. Life Bormans was born in Hasselt on 2 February 1835. When he was a few months old, his father, Jean-Henri Bormans, was appointed a professor at the University of Ghent. T ...

, ed., ''Mémoire du legat Onufrius''. Brussels, 1885. Full tex
online.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onofrio De Santa Croce Bishops in Basilicata 15th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Diplomats of the Holy See Italian memoirists 1471 deaths Year of birth unknown Clergy from Rome

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Further reading

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