Biography
In 1601, Pope Clement VIII associated Count Luigi Bevilacqua and his two brothers, Conte Bonifazio IV (1571-1627) and Conte Alfonso II (1565-1610), with his own family granting them use of his family’s Aldobrandini Coat of Arms and the right to appoint courts and judges in their territories. They were also made Counts of the Palace and Knights of the Lateran and of the Golden Spur. Luigi also acquired citizenship in Rome, Bologna, Mantua and Montferrat with the Castle of Fontanile, Perugia, and Assisi. In 1607, Pope Paul V appointed him Captain of the Curiasses and the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando I gave him the Leadership of the Helmets. In addition, Clement made Bonifazio a cardinal in 1599.
Bonifazio was a “secret waiter” of Pope Gregory XIII in his youth, and received his doctorate in law at the University of Padua. Later, Bonifazio became Archdeacon of Ferrara and the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople.
Bonifazio was also elected Governor of Fano, and Governor of the Duchy of Camerino which were part of the Papal States at the time. During the conclave of Pope Gregory XV, Bonifazio formed strong alliances on the side of the French against Cardinal Guido Bentivoglio and the Spanish. When Gregory became pope, he gave Bonifazio citizenship in the Republic of Lucca. Due to the political animosity among the cardinals during his election, Pope Gregory XV abolished these abuses by making the balloting secret with no cardinal able to vote for himself.
When Bonifacio was made Cardinal, he was in charge of the diocese of Sabina, and Perugia, both in Umbria. He was also made the Prefect of the Cardinal’s Consul, Referendario of the Cardinal’s Senate, and elected Prefect of all of the Catholic Church’s Assemblies. Pope Clement VIII bestowed his own family name, Aldobrandini, with all hereditary rights to Bonifazio since he loved him like a son. Bonifazio had the sepulchral monument of Torquato Tasso built in the church of S. Onofrio al Gianicolo in memory of one of his closest and dearest friends. Bonifacio is buried in a beautiful tomb in the Chapel of Saint Sebastiano Martire in the Church of Saint Andrea della Valle in Rome.
The Bevilacqua family exercised a tremendous amount of power within the Catholic Church through Cardinal Bonifacio and his aunt. Countess Isabella Bevilacqua (1519-1589) married Cavaliere Lorenzo Sfondrati, the Patrizio of Cremona. Lorenzo’s brother, Francesco, was made a cardinal by Pope Paul III in 1544. Francesco was a Senator of Milan and when his wife, Sigismonda d’Este, died, he became a cardinal. Francesco’s son, Niccolò, became Pope Gregory XIV on December 5, 1590 and the next year made his nephew Paolo Emilio Sfondrati a cardinal.
Read more about this topic: Bonifazio Bevilacqua Aldobrandini
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