Niccolò Ridolfi (1501 – 31 January 1550) was an Italian cardinal.

Early life

Born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, son of Piero Ridolfi and Contessina de' Medici (the daughter of

Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo ...

the Magnificent). His father was a

Gonfaloniere of Justice Gonfaloniere of Justice () was a post in the government of medieval and early Renaissance Florence. Like Florence's Priori, it was introduced in 1293 when Giano Della Bella's Ordinances of Justice came into force. He was one of the nine citiz ...

. The family was wealthy and prominent.

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

was Niccolò's maternal uncle and granted him a quick ecclesiastical career. He was named governor of

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Spolet ...

in the period 1514-1516 and

protonotary apostolic In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic (PA; Latin: ''protonotarius apostolicus'') is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pop ...

at the age of thirteen. Niccolò became a long time friend of humanist

Gian Giorgio Trissino Gian Giorgio Trissino (8 July 1478 – 8 December 1550), also called Giovan Giorgio Trissino and self-styled as Giovan Giωrgio Trissino, was a Venetian Renaissance humanist, poet, dramatist, diplomat, grammarian, linguist, and philosopher. ...

, who served Leo as his Nuncio in Germany."Ridolfi, Niccolò", Treccani
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Church career

created him

cardinal deacon 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. Co ...

in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church * Consistor ...

of 1 July 1517 at the age of sixteen with the deaconry of SS. Vito e Modesto. Later his uncle appointed him administrator of the see of Orvieto on 24 August 1520 and he kept that post until 3 September 1529. Ridolfi participated in the conclaves of 1521–1522 and 1523.

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

named him

archbishop of Florence The Archdiocese of Florence ( la, Archidioecesis Florentina) is a metropolitan see of the Catholic Church in Italy.

on 11 January 1524. He resigned from that position on 11 October 1532. He served also as administrator of

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a thr ...

from 14 March 1524 until his death. In 1537 he invited the

Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul , image =File:ASP-AngelicheSPaolo.jpg , imag_size = , caption = Emblem ASP , abbreviation = ASP , motto = , formation = , founder = Anthony Mary Zaccaria , fo ...

, where they received the support of the Valmarana family. Ridolfi was administrator of

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via E ...

(16 April 1526 - 7 August 1528). During the Sack of Rome (1527) he was taken hostage to

Hugo of Moncada Hugo de Moncada a.k.a. Ugo de Moncada, ( Chiva, Valencia, circa 1476 - Gulf of Salerno, 28 May 1528) was a Spanish political and military leader of the late 15th and early 16th century. He served as General of Ocean and Land, Viceroy of Sicily ...

with other cardinals. Later he was named administrator of

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 ...

(16 November 1532 – 6 June 1533), administrator of the metropolitan see of Salerno (7 February 1533 - 19 December 1548) and administrator of

Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical ...

(4 August 1533 - 17 May 1546).

opted him for the deaconry of

Santa Maria in Cosmedin The Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin or ''de Schola Graeca'') is a minor basilica church in Rome, Italy. It is located in the rione of Ripa. History According to Byzantine historian Andrew Ekonom ...

on 19 January 1534. He participated in the

Papal conclave, 1534 The 1534 papal conclave (October 11 – October 13) was convened after the death of Pope Clement VII, and elected as his successor Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who became Pope Paul III. Candidates to the papacy Although several Cardinals were ...

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...

appointed him administrator of

again (8 August 1538 - 25 May 1548) and opted him for the deaconry of

Santa Maria in Via Lata Santa Maria in Via Lata is a church on the Via del Corso (the ancient Via Lata), in Rome, Italy. It stands diagonal from the church of San Marcello al Corso. It is the Station days for Tuesday, the fifth week of lent. History The first Christi ...

on 31 May 1540] as he became cardinal protodeacon. He was a member of a special commission of eleven cardinals for reform of the Roman Curia. On 8 January 1543 he was named

Archbishop of Florence The Archdiocese of Florence ( la, Archidioecesis Florentina) is a metropolitan see of the Catholic Church in Italy.

for second time and resigned again on 25 May 1548. After the death of

he was a ''

papabile ''Papabile'' (, also , ; ; or "able to be pope") is an unofficial Italian term first coined by Vaticanologists and now used internationally in many languages to describe a Catholic man, in practice always a cardinal, who is thought a likely ...

'', entered the conclave of 1549 - 1550, but left because of illness. He died on 31 January 1550 of an apoplexy before the new

Pope Julius III Pope Julius III ( la, Iulius PP. III; it, Giulio III; 10 September 1487 – 23 March 1555), born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 February 1550 to his death in March 155 ...

was elected on 7 February 1550. Cardinal Ridolfi was buried in the church of Sant'Agostino. A patron of the arts, Ridolfi had an extensive collection of books, paintings, and sculpture that passed to his brother Lorenzo. A large armorial pitcher, currently held by the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

is believed to have been commissioned by Ridolfi on the occasion of Charles V's coronation in Bologna in 1530.Wilson, Timothy. "Double-spouted armorial pitcher", ''Maiolica: Italian Renaissance Ceramics in the Metropolitan Museum of Art'', MET, 2016. p. 160

References

Bibliography

* ery tangential, of background value only*

Una suprema magnificenza :Niccolo' Ridolfi a Florentine Cardinal in sixteenth-century Rome, by Lucinda Byatt, Ph.D. thesis, European University Institute, 1983. *

External links

The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church - Biographical Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridolfi, Niccolo 1501 births 1550 deaths Clergy from Florence House of Medici 16th-century Italian cardinals Bishops of Forlì Bishops of Orvieto Bishops of Vicenza Bishops of Viterbo Cardinal-nephews 16th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops