Michele Mazzarino, or Mazzarini, also known as Michel Mazarin, (

Pescina Pescina () is a township and ''comune'' in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, central Italy. It is a part of the mountain community Valle del Giovenco. Geography Pescina borders on the communes of Celano, Collarmele, Gioia dei Marsi, Ortona d ...

, 1 September 1605 –

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 ...

, 31 August 1648) was an Italian Cardinal and statesman in the service of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Early life

Mazzarino was born in

, Italy, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, but was raised in

. His baptismal name was Alessandro.''Michele al secolo Alessandro Mazzarino''
(Treccani.it, accessed 9 March 2013) His father was

Pietro Mazzarini Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

, and his mother was Ortensia Buffalini, a woman of a noble family of

Città di Castello Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. The city is north of ...

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

, and a god-daughter of

Filippo I Colonna Filippo Colonna (1578 – 11 April 1639), Prince of Paliano, was an Italian nobleman, who was the head of the Colonna family of Rome and the hereditary Gran Connestabile at the court of Naples. Biography He was born in Rome. A nephew of Carlo ...

, the

Grand Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

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 ...

.''Michel Mazarin''
by S. Miranda (

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

, last updated May 2012) He was one of six children, the oldest of whom, Giulio Mazzarino, would become a Cardinal and chief minister under

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

, under the new name of

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

. Mazzarino entered the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

at the convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in

in 1620, at the age of fifteen, and took the new name of ''Michele'' in honor of his grand-uncle Cardinal

Michele Bonelli Carlo Michele Bonelli, Cardinal Alessandrino (25 November 1541– 28 March 1598) was an Italian senior papal diplomat with a distinguished career that spanned two decades from 1571. Biography Born in Bosco Marengo, he was the son of Marco ...

. In 1624 he was sent to complete his studies at the ''studia'' of the Order in

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 ...

and

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 ...

, where he studied theology with Tommaso Turco.

Ecclesiastic career

Mazzarino was ordained a priest in 1628. After his ordination he taught theology at the College of Saint Thomas, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'' in

. Mazzarino became provincial of the

in Apulia in 1635. In 1637 the Master General of the Order of Preachers,

Niccolò Ridolfi Niccolò Ridolfi (1501 – 31 January 1550) was an Italian cardinal. Early life Born in Florence, son of Piero Ridolfi and Contessina de' Medici (the daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici the Magnificent). His father was a Gonfaloniere of Justice. Th ...

, appointed Mazzarino as Vicar of the Province of Rome, and in April 1638 he was elected as Provincial. In 1642 Mazzarino was appointed

Master of the Sacred Palace In the Roman Catholic Church, Theologian of the Pontifical Household ( la, Pontificalis Domus Doctor Theologus) is a Roman Curial office which has always been entrusted to a Friar Preacher of the Dominican Order and may be described as the pope's ...

under Pope Urban VIII. At the suggestion of his brother

, he was made Archbishop of Aix-en-Provence in 1645 by

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 ...

. In October 1647 he was elevated to cardinal and in December of the same year was named as Cardinal-Priest of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. In January 1648 he was appointed

Viceroy of Catalonia This is a list of Spanish viceroys (also called lieutenants) of the Principality of Catalonia from 1479 to 1713. *1479–1493: Enrique de Aragón *1493–1495: Juan de Lanuza y Garabito *1495–1496: Juan Fernández de Heredia *149 ...

and went to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, but fell ill and was forced to leave without formally taking up the post. He returned to Rome as ambassador to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

for France, but died the following month, on 31 August 1648.

Legacy

Mazzarino was the promoter of the "Mazarin district" in Aix-en-Provence located south of the Cours Mirabeau.''Aix-en-Provence Tourism''
(Accessed 9 March 2013)

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazzarino, Michele 17th-century Italian cardinals Italian Dominicans Viceroys of Catalonia 1605 births 1648 deaths Dominican cardinals People from Pescina Academic staff of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas