Francesco Maria Brancaccio (15 April 1592, in Canneto, near Bari – 9 January 1675) was an Italian

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cardinal."Francesco Maria Cardinal Brancaccio"
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''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 26 August 2016

Naples

Brancaccio was born on 15 April 1592, the son of Baron Muzio II Brancaccio, governor of Apulia and

Zenobia Septimia Zenobia ( Palmyrene Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; AD 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the city ...

in the Kingdom of Naples. He was educated by the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. He was ordained there as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

in 1619 and was rose through local ecclesiastic ranks until 1627 when he became Bishop of Capaccio which was then within the Kingdom of Naples. On 8 Sep 1627, he was consecrated bishop by Cosimo de Torres,

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

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, with Giuseppe Acquaviva,

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of ''Thebae'', and Francesco Nappi (bishop), Bishop of Polignano, serving as co-consecrators. While a bishop, he came into conflict with the local '' foot guards'' with whom he had a disagreement about local ecclesiastic

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.''Pope Alexander the Seventh and the College of Cardinals'' by

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, edited by

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(reprint; 2009) When the disagreement was elevated to armed conflict, a ''castrato'' in Brancaccio's employ killed the captain of the guard. The Vice-KingNote: usually a local count or other noble charged with the administration of the kingdom. ordered the bishop to stand trial and he obeyed; making arrangements to travel to Naples to give his account. But rather than travel to Naples he fled in a

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towards Rome and upon arrival sought an audience with Pope Urban VIII to explain his side of the story. Urban agreed to defend the bishop and a furious Kingdom of Naples took custody of all the wealth and assets of Brancaccio's bishopric. Pope Urban absolved Brancaccio of any crime and ordered that he be returned to Capaccio but the Vice-King opposed it and urged the pope to send him elsewhere. The Pope, in need of more cardinals loyal to 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 ...

cause, instead kept Brancaccio in Rome and he was elevated to the rank of cardinal in his consistory of 28 November 1633.

Cardinalate

Now as a cardinal, there were few who would publicly speak ill of Brancaccio, though they may have wanted to. He was restored to his bishopric where he remained until 1635 when yet another conflict with yet another Vice-King saw him resign. While in Naples he worked closely with cardinals Francesco Boncompagni and Ippolito Aldobrandini. He became

Bishop of Viterbo The Diocese of Viterbo ( la, Dioecesis Viterbiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in central Italy. From the 12th century, the official name of the diocese was the Diocese of Viterbo e Tuscania. In 1 ...

in 1638; then he became cardinal-bishop of

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(1666–68), of

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(1668–71), and finally of Porto e Santa Rufina (1671–75). He attended the papal conclaves of

1644 It is one of eight years (CE) to contain each Roman numeral once (1000(M)+500(D)+100(C)+(-10(X)+50(L))+(-1(I)+5(V)) = 1644). Events January–March * January 22 – The Royalist Oxford Parliament is first assembled by King ...

1655 Events January–March * January 5 – Emperor Go-Sai ascends to the throne of Japan. * January 7 – Pope Innocent X, leader of the Roman Catholic Church and the Papal States, dies after more than 10 years of rule. * Februar ...

1667 Events January–March * January 11 – Aurangzeb, monarch of the Mughal Empire, orders the removal of Rao Karan Singh as Maharaja of the Bikaner State (part of the modern-day Rajasthan state of India) because of Karan's dereli ...

and

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, which elected popes

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, Alexander VII,

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and

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respectively.

Patron of the arts

During his time in Rome he formed the ''Biblioteca Brancacciana'' (which later moved to Naples and became that city's first public library – it is now part of the National Library of Naples) and housed the artist Salvator Rosa. In 1642

Giovanni Gentile Giovanni Gentile (; 30 May 1875 – 15 April 1944) was an Italian neo-Hegelian idealist philosopher, educator, and fascist politician. The self-styled "philosopher of Fascism", he was influential in providing an intellectual foundation for ...

dedicated a teaching-collection of music entitled ''Solfeggiamenti et ricercari a due voci'' (''

Solfège In music, solfège (, ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a music education method used to teach aural skills, pitch and sight-reading of Western music. Solfège is a form of solmization, though the tw ...

s and

ricercar A ricercar ( , ) or ricercare ( , ) is a type of late Renaissance and mostly early Baroque instrumental composition. The term ''ricercar'' derives from the Italian verb which means 'to search out; to seek'; many ricercars serve a preludial funct ...

i for two voices'' – Lodovico Grignani, Rome, 1642) to him. The frontispiece gives him as "CARD. FRANCESCO MARIA / BRANCACCIO. / VESCOVO DI VITERBO" ("Cardinal Francesco Maria Brancaccio,

bishop of Viterbo The Diocese of Viterbo ( la, Dioecesis Viterbiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in central Italy. From the 12th century, the official name of the diocese was the Diocese of Viterbo e Tuscania. In 1 ...

") and in the appendices is a

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in two voices "Cavato dalle lettere vocali del nome, e cognome / DELL'EMINENTISSIMO E REVERENDISSIMO / CARDINALE BRANCACCIO" ("Based on the vocal letters of the name and surname of the most eminent and most reverend / cardinal Brancaccio").

Episcopal succession

References and notes

External links

Dedication by G. Gentile, to Cardinale Brancaccio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brancaccio 1592 births 1675 deaths 17th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Cardinal-bishops of Frascati Cardinal-bishops of Porto Cardinal-bishops of Sabina Cardinals created by Pope Urban VIII Bishops of Viterbo 17th-century Italian cardinals