Marcantonio Maffei (29 November 1521 – 22 August 1583) was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Background

Marcantonio Maffei was born in

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

on 29 November 1521, the son of nobles Girolamo Maffei and Antonia Mattei. His older brother Bernardino Maffei was also a cardinal, and his nephews Orazio Maffei and Marcello Lante. He was educated at the University of Ferrara, becoming a doctor of both laws in September 1547. He then moved to Rome and in 1549, became a consistorial lawyer. He also became a canon of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. In 1552, he was vice-governor of Viterbo.

Archbishop of Chieti

He was elected Archbishop of Chieti on 14 July 1553; he succeeded his brother Barnardino Maffei as archbishop. Around 1554, he became a Referendary of the

Apostolic Signatura The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura () is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church (apart from the pope himself, who as supreme ecclesiastical judge is the final point of appeal for any ecclesiastical judgment). In additio ...

. He was the Governor of Viterbo from 27 September 1555 until 1557. From 1560 until January 1566, he was the vicegerent of the Vicar General of Rome; he later served as Vicar General of Rome. Pope Pius V made him his

nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; 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 or ...

before the Kingdom of Poland. In 1566, he was appointed Datary of His Holiness, maintaining that position until 1570. Sometime before 14 January 1568 he resigned the administration of his archbishopric. Following the death of Maffei's brother

Achille Achille is a French and Italian masculine given name, derived from the Greek mythological hero Achilles. It may refer to: People Artists * Achille Beltrame (1871–1945), Italian painter * Achille Calici (c. 1565–?), Italian painter * Achil ...

, Maffei was given his canonry in St. Peter's Basilica on 29 July 1568. He became a Domestic Chaplain of His Holiness in October 1569.

Cardinal Priest

Pope Pius V made him a cardinal priest in the consistory of 17 May 1570. He received the

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and the titular church of San Callisto. He attended the

papal conclave of 1572 The 1572 papal conclave (May 12–13), convoked after the death of Pope Pius V, elected Cardinal Ugo Boncompagni, who took the name ''Gregory XIII''. List of participants Pope Pius V died on May 1, 1572 at the age of 68. Up to date, he is th ...

that elected Pope Gregory XIII. Under the new pope he was the Prefect of the

Chancery of Apostolic Briefs The Secretariat of State (Latin: ''Secretaria Status''; Italian: ''Segreteria di Stato'') is the oldest dicastery in the Roman Curia, the central papal governing bureaucracy of the Catholic Church. It is headed by the Cardinal Secretary of State ...

. He died in Rome on 22 August 1583. He was buried in Santa Maria sopra Minerva.

Episcopal succession

While bishop, he was the principal consecrator of:"Marcantonio Cardinal Maffei"
'' Catholic-Hierarchy.org''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved June 9, 2017 * Angelo Cattani da Diacceto,

Bishop of Fiesole The Diocese of Fiesole ( la, Dioecesis Fesulana) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Tuscany, central Italy, whose episcopal see is the city of Fiesole. Fiesole was directly subject to the pope until 1420, when the archdiocese of Florence was created a ...

(1566); * Paolo Oberti, Bishop of Venosa (1567); * Girolamo Cardinal Rusticucci,

Bishop of Senigallia The Diocese of Senigallia ( la, Dioecesis Senogalliensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the Marche, Italy. It has existed since the sixth century. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Ancona-Osimo.

(1570); * Ludovico de Torres,

Archbishop of Monreale The Italian Catholic Archdiocese of Monreale ( la, Archidioecesis Montis Regalis) is in Sicily. As of 2000 it is no longer a metropolitan see, and is now a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Palermo.principal co-consecrator of: * Giovanni Oliva, Archbishop of Chieti (1568); * Annibal de Ruccellai, Bishop of Carcassonne (1569); and *

Girolamo di Corregio Girolamo di Corregio (1511–1572) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and bishop. Biography Girolamo di Corregio was born in Correggio, Emilia-Romagna in 1511, the son of Giberto X, Count of Correggio and his wife Veronica Gambara. H ...

, Archbishop of Taranto (1570).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mattei, Marcantonio 1521 births 1570 deaths 16th-century Italian cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Pius V Clergy from Bergamo