Agostino Rivarola or Rivaròla (14 March 1758 – 7 November 1842) was an Italian

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cardinal. He is known for his vigorous defence of papal authority during and after the

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of mi ...

invasion.

Biography

He was born in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. He may be related to Cardinal

Domenico Rivarola Domenico Rivarola (1575–1627) was a Roman Catholic cardinal. Biography On 28 Dec 1608, he was consecrated bishop by Michelangelo Tonti, Cardinal-Priest of San Bartolomeo all'Isola, with Metello Bichi, Bishop Emeritus of Sovana, and Valeri ...

(1575-1627). He rose to become governor of

San Severino Marche San Severino Marche is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about southwest of Macerata. History From prehistory to Roman age The oldest remains of human ...

in 1793-1797, then apostolic protonotary in 1800. He fled from French forces until the restoration of Papal authority in 1814. By 1817, he had been named cardinal. During 1824-1826, he pursued

Carbonari The Carbonari () was an informal network of Secret society, secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Urugua ...

revolutionaries in the province of Ravenna. Over 500 were imprisoned in 1825, including 5 capital punishments (all commuted). In 1826, he returned to Rome. However prior to returning to Rome, on 23 July 1826, while his carriage was on the streets of Ravenna, a pair of Carbonari attempted to assassinate him by firing into his cab. A fellow passenger of his entourage, Canon Muti, died from the gunshot. A later investigation under

Pope Leo XII Pope Leo XII (; born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiorre Girolamo Nicola della Genga; 2 August 1760 – 10 February 1829) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 28 September 1823 to his death in February 1829. ...

was concluded on 26 April 1828 with five death sentences, which putatively were carried out in Ravenna on 13 May 1828. They included Leonida Montanari and Angelo Targhini. Rivarola participated in the conclave of 1829 and

conclave of 1830-1831 A conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the pope of the Catholic Church. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Concerns around po ...

.Biographies of Cardinals
, hosted at Florida International University.

In the Media

Cardinal Rivarola has been played by: *

Ugo Tognazzi Ottavio "Ugo" Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the most important faces of Italian comedy together with Vittorio Gassman, Nino Manfredi, Marcello Mastr ...

in the movie

Nell'anno del Signore ''The Conspirators'' (Italian: ''Nell'anno del Signore'') is a 1969 Italian historical drama film written and directed by Luigi Magni and starring Nino Manfredi, Enrico Maria Salerno and Claudia Cardinale. It is based on the actual story of th ...

(1969); *

Nino Manfredi Saturnino "Nino" Manfredi (22 March 1921 – 4 June 2004) was an Italian actor, voice actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, comedian, singer, author, radio personality and television presenter. He was one of the most prominent Italian ac ...

in the movie

La Carbonara ''La Carbonara'' is a 2000 Italian period comedy-drama film written and directed by Luigi Magni.Franco Montini, Piero Spila, ''Il mondo di Luigi Magni : avventure, sogni e disincanto''. Rai Eri, 2000. . Plot Roman Campagna, early 1800. Cecilia ...

(2000);

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivarola Agostino 1758 births 1842 deaths Clergy from Genoa 19th-century Italian cardinals Apostolic pronotaries Carbonari Recipients of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Cardinals created by Pope Pius VII