Enrico Caetani (6 August 1550 – 13 December 1599) was an Italian

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 ...

Early life

He was born at

Sermoneta Sermoneta is a hill town and ''comune'' in the province of Latina (Lazio), central Italy. It is a walled hill town, with a 13th-century Romanesque cathedral called Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and a massive castle, built by the Caetani f ...

, the second son of Bonifacio, lord of Sermoneta, and Caterina di Alberto Pio, daughter of the lord of

Carpi Carpi may refer to: Places * Carpi, Emilia-Romagna, a large town in the province of Modena, central Italy * Carpi (Africa), a city and former diocese of Roman Africa, now a Latin Catholic titular bishopric People * Carpi (people), an ancie ...

. He was the nephew of Cardinal

Niccolò Caetani Niccolò Caetani di Sermoneta (1526–1585) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and bishop. Biography Niccolò Caetani was born in Rome on 23 February 1526, the son of Camillo Caetani, 3rd duke of Sermoneta, a cousin of Pope Paul III, an ...

, and brother of Camillo Caetani. On 11 Aug 1585, he was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

bishop by

Giulio Antonio Santorio Giulio Antonio Santorio (6 June 1532 – 9 May 1602) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Biography Santorio was born in Caserta. He served as Archbishop of Santa Severina from 1566 until his death.

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 ...

San Bartolomeo all'Isola The Basilica of St. Bartholomew on the Island ( it, Basilica di San Bartolomeo all'Isola , la, Basilica S. Bartholomaei in Insula) is a titular minor basilica, located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 998 by Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor and co ...

, with

Massimiliano Palumbara Massimiliano Palumbara or Massimiliano Palombella (died 23 Jan 1607) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Benevento (1574–1607).

, Archbishop of Benevento, Annibale de Capua,

Archbishop of Naples The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples ( la, Archidioecesis Neapolitana) is a Roman Catholic archdioceses in southern Italy, the see being in Naples. A Christian community was founded there in the 1st century AD and the diocese of Naples wa ...

, and Guillaume Damasi Van der Linden,

Bishop of Roermond The Roman Catholic Diocese of Roermond is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, located in the Netherlands. The diocese is one of the seven suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Utrec ...

, serving as co-consecrators.

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

gave him the title of cardinal on 18 December 1585. In the same year he was appointed as Latin

Patriarch of Alexandria The Patriarch of Alexandria is the archbishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Historically, this office has included the designation "pope" (etymologically "Father", like "Abbot"). The Alexandrian episcopate was revered as one of the three major episco ...

, a position he held until 1587. In 1585 to 1587 he was legate in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= 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 150 different nat ...

, and recommended

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

to the university there in 1588. The chair, however, went to

Giovanni Antonio Magini Giovanni Antonio Magini (in Latin, Maginus) (13 June 1555 – 11 February 1617) was an Italian astronomer, astrologer, cartographer, and mathematician. His Life He was born in Padua, and completed studies in philosophy in Bologna in 1579. Hi ...

Diplomat in France

In 1589 Caetani led the papal diplomatic mission to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

sent to defend the Catholic church position during the

French wars of religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estim ...

. He was accompanied by

Lorenzo Bianchetti Lorenzo Bianchetti (1545–1612) was a Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *' ...

Robert Bellarmine Robert Bellarmine, SJ ( it, Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino; 4 October 1542 – 17 September 1621) was an Italian Jesuit and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was canonized a saint in 1930 and named Doctor of the Church, one of only 37. ...

and others in a strong delegation. Caetani supported the Catholic League and the Spanish interest against

Henry of Navarre Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

. In March 1590 he presided over a ceremony in which militia and city officials took an oath to defend Paris against Henry. He blessed in May the monastic forces raised by

Guillaume Rose Guillaume Rose (born 6 January 1969, Monaco) is a Monegasque politician. Since 2018, he is a member of the National Council of Monaco and the President of the Environment and Quality of Life Commission. Since 2019, he is also an Executive Directo ...

for the defence. He was a defender during the Siege of Paris that year, spending heavily.

Later life

After the death of

William Allen William Allen may refer to: Politicians United States *William Allen (congressman) (1827–1881), United States Representative from Ohio *William Allen (governor) (1803–1879), U.S. Representative, Senator, and 31st Governor of Ohio *William ...

in 1594, there was no generally acceptable candidate as successor, to lead the English mission. Caetani took on the role of Cardinal Protector. He then appointed

George Blackwell Father George Blackwell (c. 1545 – 12 January 1613) was Roman Catholic Archpriest of England from 1597 to 1608. Biography Blackwell was born in Middlesex, England about 1545, perhaps the son of the pewterer Thomas Blackwell. He was admitt ...

archpriest The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogous ...

for England.Paul Arblaster, ''Antwerp and the World: Richard Verstegan and the international culture of Catholic reformation'' (2004), p. 63
Google Books
He served as

legate a latere 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 ...

in Poland from 3 April 1596 until 23 June 1597. He died in Rome in 1599.

References

External links

WorldCat page

treccani.it biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caetani, Enrico 1550 births 1599 deaths

Enrico Enrico is both an Italian masculine given name and a surname, Enrico means homeowner, or king, derived from ''Heinrich'' of Germanic origin. It is also a given name in Ladino. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Henri ( French), Enr ...

People from the Province of Latina 16th-century Italian cardinals 16th-century Italian diplomats Diplomats of the Holy See 16th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops