Giuseppe Renato Imperiali (1 May 1651 – 18 February 1737) was an Italian cardinal, and known as an avid

bibliophile Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. A bibliophile or bookworm is an individual who loves and frequently reads and/or collects books. Profile The classic bibliophile is one who loves to read, admire and collect books, often ama ...

Biography

He was born in

Francavilla Fontana Francavilla Fontana ( Francavillese: ) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Brindisi and region of Apulia, in southern Italy. It is also called the town of the "Imperiali", after the Imperiali, a family of feudal lords who ...

in Apulia, in the Kingdom of Naples, into an aristocratic family which had come from

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

. In 1662, he was sent 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 ...

with three brothers to live with his great uncle, Cardinal Lorenzo Imperiali (1612 - 1673). Lorenzo was a son of the Genoese nobleman Michele Imperiali. In Rome, Giuseppe studied at the Collegio Germanico-Ungarico, and in 1672 he was made

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 Segnatura. In 1688, he entered a religious order. In 1684 he gained the lucrative post of ''Chierico della Camera Apostolica'' in the papal finance office; in 1688, he rose to become Treasurer General of the Holy Roman Church. In the Consistory of 13 February 1690 he was made a Cardinal by

Pope Alexander VIII Pope Alexander VIII ( it, Alessandro VIII; 22 April 1610 – 1 February 1691), born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 1689 to his death in February 1691. He is to date the las ...

, and was assigned the Deaconry of

San Giorgio in Velabro San Giorgio in Velabro is a church in Rome, Italy, dedicated to St. George. The church is located next to the Arch of Janus in the rione of Ripa in the ancient Roman Velabrum. According to the founding legend of Rome, the church was built ...

on 10 April 1690. He was soon sent to Ferrara as papal legate and remained there for seven years. Back in Rome, during the Conclave of 1700 Imperiali was part of a group of cardinals who were trying to resist the pressure applied by foreign governments aiming to influence Papal elections, and they obtained the election of cardinal Giovanni Francesco Albani as Pope Clement XI. Clement in turn, rewarded Imperiali in 1701 by appointing him to the powerful position of Prefect of the ''Congregation of Buon Governo''. In this position, he controlled funding for public works projects in the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

. Among these he commissioned the aqueduct of Benevento and the new façade of the Cathedral of Poggio Mirteto from Carlo Buratti. Among his other endeavours was his attempt in 1720 to influence the Republic of Genoa to arrest Cardinal

Giulio Alberoni Giulio Alberoni (30 May 1664 OS – 26 June NS 1752) was an Italian cardinal and statesman in the service of Philip V of Spain. Early years He was born near Piacenza, probably at the village of Fiorenzuola d'Arda in the Duchy of Parma. His fat ...

. Upon the death of Benedict XIII in 1730, Cardinal Imperiali was touted as a candidate for the Papacy. In the Conclave of 1730, however, the opposition of the cardinals of the French and Spanish interest ensured that Imperiali failed to obtain the two-thirds required to be elected as pope, and instead Lorenzo Corsini was chosen and took the name Pope Clement XII. Imperiali continued to serve the Vatican in prominent roles until he died in Rome in 1737, at the age of 85. He was buried in the church of Sant'Agostino. His nephew, Cosimo Imperiali (1685–1764), also became a cardinal.

Formation of the Imperiali Library

Renato's grand-uncle, Cardinal Lorenzo Imperiali, had amassed the nucleus of a collection of books in his Palazzo della Casa di Loreto in Campo Marzio. He also left money for its expansion and maintenance. In 1711, the catalogue of the library listed nearly 15,000 manuscripts, including large collections of books on law, philosophy, and literature. The palace also contained artworks by the painters

Carlo Maratta Carlo Maratta or Maratti (13 May 162515 December 1713) was an Italian painter, active mostly in Rome, and known principally for his classicizing paintings executed in a Late Baroque Classical manner. Although he is part of the classical tradition ...

, Domenico Maria Muratori, and Francesco Ferrandi. Under Renato, the library was moved to the Palazzo Nicolini del Bufalo. He enriched the library by buying collections from Jean Gautier de Sluse and monsignor Marcello Severoli in 1689-1690. However, the library, though dispersed, is remembered because of the catalogue prepared in 1711 by its librarian,

Giusto Fontanini Giusto Fontanini (30 October 1666 in San Daniele del Friuli – 17 April 1736 in Rome) was a Roman Catholic archbishop and an Italian historian. Biography A prelate and attentive bibliophile, in 1697 became a stubborn and reactionary defender ...

(1666-1736). This voluminous achievement was begun in 1697, and continued by his successor, Domenico Giorgi. Unfortunately, the heirs of Imperiali were not able to keep the entire library together; portions have made their way into the National Library in Rome. By 1829, portions of the collection were selling in England, having been acquired in Rome by the Earl of Guilford.Cochran, page 49-50.

Citations

General sources

* F. Cancedda, ''Figure e fatti intorno alla biblioteca del cardinale Imperiali, mecenate del '700'', Roma, Bulzoni, 1995. * Bibliotheca Imperiali: Giusto Fontanini. Bibliothecae Josephi Renati Imperialis Catalogus, in A. Serrai, ''Storia della Bibliografia'', Roma, Bulzoni, V (1993), pp. 659–665. * "I cataloghi delle biblioteche cardinalizie", in A. Serrai, ''Storia della Bibliografia'', Roma, Bulzoni, VII (1997), pp. 603–819. {{DEFAULTSORT:Imperiali, Giuseppe Renato 1651 births 1737 deaths Cardinals created by Pope Alexander VIII 18th-century Italian cardinals Italian librarians People from Francavilla Fontana Imperiali family