Lorenzo Pucci (18 August 1458 – 16 September 1531) was an Italian cardinal and bishop from the Florentine Pucci family. His brother Roberto Pucci and his nephew Antonio Pucci also became cardinals.

Biography

Pucci was born in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. He began his career as a professor of law at the Studio di Pisa. On becoming a clergyman, he was elected Bishop-Coadjutor of Pistoia in 1509, assuming the diocese in September 1518 but resigning it that November in favour of his nephew Antonio Pucci. He was also bishop-administrator of the diocese of Melfi from 1513 to 1528 and participated in the Fifth Lateran Council.

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...

made him a cardinal in the 23 September 1513 consistory (with the titulus of Santi Quattro Coronati) and chose him as his personal secretary, in which role he was sent on several ambassadorial missions, especially to Florence, where the pope wanted gonfaloniere-for-life Piero Soderini to retire from office. On 10 August 1521, Leo made Pucci the Commendatore of the monastery of San Giovanni in Fiore. He also served as administrator of the Diocese of Vannes (1513–1514), of the Archdiocese of Amalfi (in 1516 – 1519), the Diocese of Montefiascone (March – April 1519) and the Diocese of Capaccio (September 1522 – June 1523). From 1514 he was the Holy See's protector of the Poles and from 1520 to 1529 Major Penitentiary. He was a patron of the arts, notably of

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

and

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

, whilst in 1520 he also became the dedicatee of

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

' edition of the ''Works of St. Cyprian''. Under

pope Adrian VI Pope Adrian VI (; ; ; ), born Adriaan Florensz Boeyens (2 March 1459 – 14 September 1523), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 January 1522 until his death on 14 September 1523. The only Dutch people, Du ...

, Pucci was accused of fraud in connection with the sale of indulgences, but he escaped punishment thanks to the intercession of Cardinal Giulio Medici, who after his election to the papacy in 1523 as

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

cleared Pucci of all charges. In 1526 Clement entered on the

War of the League of Cognac The War of the League of Cognac (1526–1530) was fought between the Habsburg dominions of Charles V—primarily the Holy Roman Empire and Spain—and the League of Cognac, an alliance including the Kingdom of France, Pope Clement VII, the Re ...

against

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

, in which Clement was defeated and captured and Rome sacked. Upon the post-war rapprochement which Clement and Charles soon reached, Pucci was one of the keenest advocates of quickly reconquering Florence from Republican rebels. He then served as Cardinal-Bishop of Albano (1524) and

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon ...

(1524–1531). He died in Rome on 16 September 1531, shortly after the siege of Florence which definitively restored the Medici to power in Florence.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pucci, Lorenzo 1458 births 1531 deaths Lorenzo Clergy from Florence Bishops in Tuscany 16th-century Italian cardinals Cardinal-bishops of Palestrina Cardinal-bishops of Albano Major Penitentiaries of the Apostolic Penitentiary Bishops of Montefiascone Bishops of Vannes Bishops of Melfi Academic staff of the University of Pisa