Francesco Alciati (2 February 1522 – 20 April 1580) was an Italian

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 ...

and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

Biography

Francesco Alciati was born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

on 2 February 1522. He was a relative of the renowned jurist Andrea Alciato, and studied law under his direction. He soon became one of the most prominent legal scholars in

and was nicknamed ''l'Alciatino'' to distinguish him from Andrea. In his last will, Andrea entitled him as heir, and entrusted him with the task of editing his unpublished works. After the death of Andrea, Francesco was appointed professor of civil law at the

university of Pavia The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...

. His best-known student was

Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo (; ; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic prelate who served as Archdiocese of Milan, Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. He was made a Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal in 156 ...

. Alciati was a close friend of

Gerolamo Cardano Gerolamo Cardano (; also Girolamo or Geronimo; ; ; 24 September 1501– 21 September 1576) was an Italian polymath whose interests and proficiencies ranged through those of mathematician, physician, biologist, physicist, chemist, astrologer, as ...

and advocated his candidacy to the chair of the theory of medicine at Bologna in 1562. Cardano at once named AIciato as his personal representative in Bologna, with the power to arrange the details of salary. Alciati excelled in science and literature and was a model of erudition. Called to Rome by Pius IV, he was appointed apostolic referendary, and

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 ...

to the king of Bohemia; he was then appointed

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, datary, pro-camerlengo, Cardinal deacon of Santa Maria in Campitelli and Cardinal priest of Santa Susanna. He became Protector of the Order of the Carthusians and Protector of the kingdoms of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. Under St Pius V he became vice-penitentiary and later grand penitentiary. He died in office and was buried in Rome in the Carthusian Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. Alciati published nothing of his own. A manuscript collection of his letters is preserved in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, while his juridical works, preserved in four manuscript volumes in the Biblioteca Trivulziana, were destroyed during the air-raids of August 1943. His scholarship was highly praised by Piero Vettori and Ludovico Antonio Muratori.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * 1522 births 16th-century Italian cardinals Clergy from Milan Carthusians 16th-century Italian jurists Cardinal-nephews 1580 deaths Members of the Sacred Congregation of the Council {{Italy-RC-cardinal-stub