Flavio Orsini (1532 – 16 May 1581) was a papal bureaucrat, an Italian bishop, and a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He was son of Ferdinando

Orsini Orsini is a surname of Italian origin, originally derived from Latin ''ursinus'' ("bearlike") and originating as an epithet or sobriquet describing the name-bearer's purported strength. Notable people with the surname include the following: * Aaro ...

, 5th duke of Gravina; and Beatrice Ferrillo, daughter and heiress of Giovanni Alfonso Ferrillo, Conte di Muro Lucano.

Biography

Born in

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, ...

, he was appointed

bishop of Muro Lucano The Latin Catholic Diocese of Muro Lucano, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, existed until 1986. In that year it was united into the archdiocese of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo. Wikipedia:SPS, Wikipedia:SPS, History Pope Leo I ...

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV (; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death, in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered itself a b ...

(Medici) in consistory on 29 November 1560. He held various offices in the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

. On 10 July 1561, Flavio Orsini, Bishop of Muro and Auditor of Causes in the Apostolic Camera, transmitted a ''motu proprio'' of

granting a feudal investiture to Baldassare Rangoni of Modena. On 3 September 1563, the Bishop of Muro was judge ordinary in the curia, hearing a testamentary dispute from the diocese of Ajaccio. He was transferred to the diocese of

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; ) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is south of Trevi, north of Terni, southeast of Perugia; southeast of Florence; and north of Rome. H ...

on 16 December 1562 by

. In his fourth consistory for the creation of cardinals, on 12 March 1565, Pope Pius IV named Flavio Orsini a cardinal-priest, and on 15 May assigned him the '' titulus'' of San Giovanni a Porta Latina. On 17 November 1565, he chose to be moved to ("opted for") SS. Marcellino e Pietro, and on 9 July 1578 to Santa Prisca. On 19 September 1570,

Pope Pius V Pope Pius V, OP (; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an ...

(Ghislieri) appointed a commission of two cardinals, Giovanni Poliziani and Flavio Orsini, to complete the repairs on the Aqua Vergine and connect various fountains, including the Trevi.

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII (, , born Ugo Boncompagni; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake ...

(Boncompagni) sent Bishop Orsini to France in 1572, to attempt to persuade King

Charles IX of France Charles IX (Charles Maximilien; 27 June 1550 – 30 May 1574) was List of French monarchs, King of France from 1560 until his death in 1574. He ascended the French throne upon the death of his brother Francis II of France, Francis II in 1560, an ...

to join in a crusade against the Turks. He arrived in Paris on October 8, and was still in France in the second half of December. His mission was a failure. On 11 April 1580, he was granted a coadjutor bishop with the right of succession, in the person of his nephew Pietro. Flavio Orsini died in

Pozzuoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Antiquity Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia ...

, near

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 ...

, on 16 May 1581.Benigni (1899), p. 496. Eubel III, p. 41, no. 36.

References

Books

* *Cardella, Lorenzo (1793). ''Memorie storiche de' cardinali della santa Romana chiesa''.
Tomo quinto (5)
Roma: Pagliarini. pp. 94-95. *Crescimbeni, Giovanni Mario (1716). ''L' Istoria della Chiesa di S. Giovanni avanti Porta Latina'' Roma: Antonio de'Rossi. pp. 384-385. *Martuscelli, Luigi (1896)
''Numistrone e Muro-Lucano: Note appunti e ricordi storici.''
. Napoli: R. Pesole. pp. 263-265. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orsini, Flavio 1532 births 1581 deaths Clergy from Rome Flavio 16th-century Italian cardinals Bishops of Spoleto 16th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops