Gaspare Visconti (1538 – 12 January 1595) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1584 to 1595.

Early life

Born in 1538 to the noble family of Visconti, Gaspare Visconti earned a doctorate in utroque iure 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 ...

, where he became a professor of law. Entered in the ecclesiastic career, he moved to Rome where he was appointed ''auditor'' (judge) of the Roman Rota. In 1580

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 ...

appointed Visconti as own legate to investigate and to settle a dispute in the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic Church, Cathol ...

about the contested deposition of the Grand Master Jean de la Cassière. Returned in Italy from

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

in 1583, on 4 November 1584 Visconti was appointed

bishop of Novara The Diocese of Novara () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Vercelli.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 ...

to the pope.

Archbishop of Milan

The Archbishop of Milan Charles Borromeo died during the night of 3/4 November 1584, and the following 28 November the pope transferred Gaspare Visconti from the diocese of Novara, where he was not yet entered, to

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 ...

. He was consecrated

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 ...

on 13 December 1584 by Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio. He made his formal entrance in Milan on 22 July 1585. During his tenure as archbishop many

religious institute In the Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public religious vows, vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, a ...

s opened their convents in the archdiocese, such as the Camaldoleses in 1590 and the Camillians in 1594. In 1594 he published the new edition of Ambrosian Missal which preparation was started under Charles Borromeo. Following the footsteps of Charles Borromeo, Visconti convened six diocesan

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

s, started the pastoral visit to all the diocese, erected new churches such as Santa Maria al Paradiso in Milan and the church of Montevecchia and established the hospital of Fatebenefratelli in Milan. Visconti found difficulties in his action as bishop, which cannot stand comparison with Charles Borromeo's one. Gaspare Visconti died on 12 January 1595 in Milan, and his remains were buried in the South

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of the Cathedral of Milan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Visconti, Gaspare 1538 births 1595 deaths 16th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Bishops of Novara Archbishops of Milan Gaspare Burials at Milan Cathedral