Rinaldo d'Este (1618 – 30 September 1672) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Catholic 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 ...

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 ...

Early life and education

Rinaldo d'Este was born in 1618, the son of

Alfonso III d'Este, Duke of Modena Alfonso III d'Este (22 October 1591 – 24 May 1644) was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1628 to 1629. He was the husband of Princess Isabella of Savoy, daughter of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and his wife Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spa ...

, and

Isabella of Savoy Isabella of Savoy (2 March 1591 – 28 August 1626) was a daughter of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and Catherine Michelle of Spain. Her maternal grandparents were Philip II of Spain and Elisabeth of Valois, and her paternal grandparents were ...

. He was the brother of Francesco d'Este who succeeded his father as

Duke of Modena This is a list of rulers of the estates owned by the Este family, which main line of Marquesses (''Marchesi d'Este'') rose in 1039 with Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan. The name "Este" is related to the city where the family came from, Este. ...

. As a boy, he undertook military study in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

but left to answer an ecclesiastic calling.

Early ecclesiastic career

Little is known of his early

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

career but he was elevated to cardinal by

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

at the request of

Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III (Ferdinand Ernest; 13 July 1608 – 2 April 1657) was Archduke of Austria, Kingdom of Hungary, King of Hungary and Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia from 1625, Kingdom of Bohemia, King of Bohemia from 1627 and Holy Roman Emper ...

, in 1641; and this was published in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of 16 December that year. However, the

First War of Castro The Wars of Castro were a series of conflicts during the mid-17th century revolving around the ancient city of Castro (located in present-day Lazio, Italy), which eventually resulted in the city's destruction on 2 September 1649. The conflict ...

broke out between

Barberini The House of Barberini is a family of the Italian nobility that rose to prominence in the 17th century Rome. Their influence peaked with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623, as Pope Urban VIII. Their urban pal ...

Pope Urban and the Farnese

Dukes of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a historical state of Northern Italy. It was created by Pope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese) for his son Pier Luigi Farnese. It existed between 1545 and 1802, ...

. As a result, Rinaldo d'Este refused to travel to

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, ...

to receive his cardinal's hat.''Pope Alexander the Seventh and the College of Cardinals'' by

John Bargrave John Bargrave (1610 – 11 May 1680), was an English people, English author and collector and a canon (priest), canon of Canterbury Cathedral.''Under the Sign: John Bargrave as Collector, Traveler, and Witness'' by Stephen Bann, Michigan, 1995 E ...

, edited by

James Craigie Robertson James Craigie Robertson (1813 – 9 July 1882) was a Scottish Anglican churchman, canon of Canterbury Cathedral, and author of a ''History of the Christian Church''. Life Robertson was born at Aberdeen, where his father was a merchant; his mothe ...

(reprint; 2009) Instead, when Pope Urban died in 1644, he travelled to Rome to participate in the

papal conclave A conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the pope of the Catholic Church. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Concerns around ...

which elected

Pope Innocent X Pope Innocent X (6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death, in January 1655. Born in Rome of a family fro ...

who then conducted the ceremony following his own

papal coronation A papal coronation was the formal ceremony of the placing of the papal tiara on a newly elected pope. The first recorded papal coronation was of Pope Nicholas I in 858. The most recent was the 1963 coronation of Paul VI, who soon afterwards aba ...

. After Pope Innocent's election, though, d'Este had a falling out with members of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

faction of the

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals (), also called the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. there are cardinals, of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Appointed by the pope, ...

who had been the driving force behind the Pope's election against candidates put forward by the French faction. After the falling out, d'Este declared himself for France. As a result, though his family had previously been in conflict with the Barberini, he became their ardent supporters while they were in exile in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He returned to Modena and became temporary ruler when his brother left to fight the

in 1647. Later he returned to Rome upon hearing that the

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

of Castile was visiting as ambassador of the

Kingdom 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 ...

. The Admiral, though, saw every cardinal except for d'Este on the grounds that d'Este had declared himself for France. The slight escalated and both the Admiral and Cardinal d'Este raised 600

men-at-arms A man-at-arms was a soldier of the High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of arms and served as a fully-armoured heavy cavalryman. A man-at-arms could be a knight, or other nobleman, a member of a kni ...

each in preparation for armed conflict; d'Este having pawned jewels to hire

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

as neither his family nor his French supporters had been able to raise funds quickly enough. Eventually, the conflict was quelled when Pope Innocent ordered his own troops to enter Rome to keep the peace, though several militiamen on both sides were killed.

Later ecclesiastic career

He was elected

Bishop of Reggio Emilia A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

in December 1650 and participated in the papal conclave of 1655 which elected

Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII (; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death, in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, and he held various d ...

, the conclave of 1667, which elected

Pope Clement IX Pope Clement IX (; ; 28 January 1600 – 9 December 1669), born Giulio Rospigliosi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 20 June 1667 to his death in December 1669. Giulio Rospigliosi was born into the noble Ro ...

and the conclave of 1669–1670, which elected

Pope Clement X Pope Clement X (; ; 13 July 1590 – 22 July 1676), born Emilio Bonaventura Altieri, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 April 1670 to his death on 22 July 1676. Emilio Bonaventura Altieri, born in Rome in ...

. At various times he returned to Modena to rule in his brother's absence, his nephew

Rinaldo Rinaldo may refer to: *Renaud de Montauban (also spelled Renaut, Renault, Italian: Rinaldo di Montalbano, Dutch: Reinout van Montalbaen, German: Reinhold von Montalban), a legendary knight in the medieval Matter of France * Rinaldo (''Jerusalem Lib ...

being too young to take his father's place. On 24 August 1671 he opted for the ''order of bishops'' and was appointed

Cardinal-Bishop of Palestrina The Suburbicarian Diocese of Palestrina () is a Latin suburbicarian diocese centered on the comune of Palestrina in Italy. The current bishop of Palestrina is Mauro Parmeggiani, who was appointed by Pope Francis on 19 February 2019. Prior to hi ...

. He died on 30 September 1672 in Modena. He was the principal consecrator of

Francesco Casati Francesco Casati (1620 – 16 October 1702) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Titular Archbishop of ''Trapezus'' (1670–1702). ''(in Latin)'' Biography Francesco Casati was born in 1620 in Plaisance. On 2 June 1670, he was appoi ...

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''Trapezus'' (1670).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Este, Rinaldo 1618 births 1672 deaths 17th-century Italian nobility 17th-century Italian cardinals Cardinal-bishops of Palestrina Sons of dukes