Early Career and Pazzi Conspiracy
Born in poverty in Savona, Riario was the son of Antonio Sansoni and Violante Riario, a niece of Francesco della Rovere, who became Pope Sixtus IV in 1471.
Being the relative of a nepotist pontiff, he was created Cardinal of San Giorgio in Velabro on 10 December 1477 and received several dioceses (diocese of Cuenca, diocese of Pisa, diocese of Salamanca, diocese of Treguier, diocese of Osma). He was then only sixteen years old and a student of canon law at the University of Pisa. While returning to Rome in the spring of 1478, Riario halted in Florence, where he became a witness to the Pazzi Conspiracy against the Medici. Despite his innocence, Rafaelle was arrested by the Florentine authorities due to his relation to Girolamo Riario, his mother’s brother and the head of the plot, and Francesco Salviati. He was released a few weeks later, after the reconciliation of Sixtus IV and Lorenzo de' Medici. On 22 June 1478 he was received formally as a cardinal by the Pope in Siena and four days later he was sent as legate to Perugia.
It was not until 1480 that Raffaele was ordained priest and received the title of San Lorenzo in Damaso.
Read more about this topic: Raffaele Riario
Famous quotes containing the words early, career and/or conspiracy:
“Make-believe is the avenue to much of the young child’s early understanding. He sorts out impressions and tries out ideas that are foundational to his later realistic comprehension. This private world sometimes is a quiet, solitary
world. More often it is a noisy, busy, crowded place where language grows, and social skills develop, and where perseverance and attention-span expand.”
—James L. Hymes, Jr. (20th century)
“The 19-year-old Diana ... decided to make her career that of wife. Today that can be a very, very iffy line of work.... And what sometimes happens to the women who pursue it is the best argument imaginable for teaching girls that they should always be able to take care of themselves.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)