Francesco Carafa della Spina di Traetto (29 April 1722,

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

- 20 September 1818,

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

) was an Italian cardinal.

Family

He belonged to the family of

pope Paul IV Pope Paul IV (; ; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559), born Gian Pietro Carafa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death, in August 1559. While serving as papal nuncio in Spain, he developed ...

and of

pope Paul V Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...

via his mother. He was the great-great uncle of cardinal

Domenico Carafa della Spina di Traetto Domenico is an Italian given name for males and may refer to: People * Domenico Alfani, Italian painter * Domenico Allegri, Italian composer * Domenico Alvaro, Italian mobster * Domenico Ambrogi, Italian painter * Domenico Auria, Italian a ...

(1844). The other cardinals in the family were Filippo Carafa della Serra (1378),

Oliviero Carafa Oliviero Carafa (10 March 1430 – 20 January 1511), in Latin Oliverius Carafa, was an Italian cardinal and diplomat of the Renaissance. Like the majority of his era's prelates, he displayed the lavish and conspicuous standard of living that w ...

(1467), Gianvincenzo Carafa (1527),

Carlo Carafa Carlo Carafa (29 March 1517 – 6 March 1561) was an Italian cardinal, and Cardinal Nephew of Pope Paul IV Carafa, whose policies he directed and whom he served as papal legate in Paris, Venice and Brussels. Early years He was born at Naple ...

(1555), Diomede Carafa (1555); Alfonso Carafa (1557),

Antonio Carafa Antonio Carafa may refer to: *Antonio Malizia Carafa (died 1437) *Antonio Carafa (cardinal) (1538–1591) *Antonio Carafa (general) (1642–1693) *Antonio Carafa (bishop of Ugento) (died 1704) {{hndis, Carafa, Antonio ...

(1568),

Decio Carafa Decio Carafa (1556–1626) was an Archbishop of Naples who had previously served as papal nuncio to the Spanish Netherlands (1606–1607) and to Habsburg Spain (1607–1611). Life Carafa was born in Naples in 1556, the son of Ottaviano Carafa, l ...

(1611),

Pier Luigi Carafa Pier Luigi Carafa or Pierluigi Carafa may refer to: *Pier Luigi Carafa (1581–1655), cardinal *Pier Luigi Carafa (bishop) Pier Luigi Carafa (died 7 August 1672) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Tricarico (1646–1672). ''(i ...

(1645), Carlo Carafa della Spina (1664),

Fortunato Ilario Carafa della Spina Fortunato, the Italian form of the Latin Fortunatus, may refer to: * Saint Fortunatus (disambiguation), ''San Fortunato'' People Surname * Andrea Fortunato (1971–1995), Italian footballer * Bartolomé Fortunato (born 1974), American major lea ...

(1686), Marino Carafa di Belvedere (1801) and

(1844).

Life

He was made

titular archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

in 1760, before being sent to the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

. He became secretary to the

Congregation of Bishops The Dicastery for Bishops, formerly named Congregation for Bishops (), is the department of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church that oversees the selection of most new bishops. Its proposals require papal approval to take effect, but are usu ...

in 1766. He was made a cardinal by

pope Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV (; ; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in September 1774. At the time of his elec ...

in the consistory of 19 April 1773. He took part in the papal conclave of 1774 which elected

pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI (; born Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio called Giovanni Angelo or Giannangelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to hi ...

and that of 1799-1800 which elected

pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

. He was then made prefect of the Congregation of Bishops and sent as legate to

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

. He was imprisoned by the French and finally banished to Naples. He was a member of the ''Congregzione deputata per gli acquisti fatti nel tempo della rivoluzione''. During the French occupation of Rome between 1809 and 1814, he took refuge in the convent of Saint Philip of Neri Montalbaddo in

Marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a state's "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diffe ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carafa di Traetto, Francesco 1722 births 1818 deaths 18th-century Italian cardinals Apostolic nuncios to the Republic of Venice

Francesco Francesco, the Italian language, Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis (given name), Francis", is one of the List of most popular given names, most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name inclu ...

19th-century Italian cardinals