Bernardino Spada
Sabina (1652–1655) | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of Bologna University of Perugia |
Bernardino Spada (21 April 1594 – 10 November 1661)Roman Catholic Church and a patron of the arts whose collection is housed in the Palazzo Spada in Rome.
Early life
Spada was born in
Papal Curia
from 1617.
Ecclesiastic career
On 8 December 1623, he was consecrated bishop in the church of
titular archbishop of Tamiathis. He served as nuncio until 1627, when he became papal legate in Bologna. He was made a cardinal 19 January 1626 by Pope Urban VIII. When the plague
epidemic hit Bologna in 1630/1631, he helped organize the health care system there.
From 1631 he served again in Rome, filling several influential positions in the
Regola, facing Piazza Capo di Ferro with a garden looking over the Tiber, and commissioned Francesco Borromini to modify it for him in a more Baroque style, to house his growing collections.[2]
War of Castro
During the
Duchy of Parma, together with his brother Virgilio. Spada successfully negotiated a truce but when the pope's military leaders became aware that the dukes were massing troops to counter their troops (in case discussions with Spada came to nought), Urban VIII declared the articles of peace null and void and claimed Spada had negotiated them without his consent.[3] Spada was furious and later published a manifesto detailing his version of events which, according to contemporary John Bargrave
, many accepted to be the truth.
Andrea Casale
In his profile of Spada, from his own observations and those of others, Bargrave also recounts Spada's dealings with
30 Years' War
where he was captured. While a prisoner, Casale inherited a large estate which Spada then came to manage on behalf of Casale's relatives (who expected Casale to never return). Casale was eventually released and returned to Bologna where he had great difficulty proving he was, in fact, Andrea Casale. But a nurse who had treated Casale as a young man came forward and identified him from specific marks on his body. Nonetheless, Spada had the man imprisoned where he was beaten to death. Bargrave recounted that the story had been told to him in Rome, "much to the Cardinal's disadvantage".
Later ecclesiastic career
Spada was successively
Sabina and Palestrina.[2] Bernardino supported the church careers of several of his family members. His nephew Giovanni Battista Spada became cardinal in 1654 and his great-nephew Fabrizio Spada became cardinal in 1675 and Cardinal Secretary of State in 1691. He died in Rome in 1661 and was interred in the family grave in the church of San Girolamo della Carità.[citation needed
]
Literary influence and patronage
Spada was the patron of
Martha Marchina, an Italian soapmaker who wrote poetry in Latin, for ten years. Spada recognized her literary talents after exchanging epigrams about the plague that was ravaging Italy at that time.[4] Spada was largely responsible for the publication of Musa Posthuma, a collection of Marchina's poetry, though it was first published after his death in 1662. Spada included some of his own poetry, including a dedicatory poem written in Latin, addressed to the former queen of Sweden, Christine.[5] Several of Spada's letters to Marchina and to his brother Vergilius Spada are also included in Musa Posthuma, which are written in Italian and Latin. Several of Marchina's poems written about Spada are also included in the book.[6]
Episcopal succession
| Episcopal succession of Bernardino Spada |
|---|
|
While bishop, he was the principal consecrator of:[2]
He also ordained John Leyburn (1646) as priest.[2] |
References
- ^ Miranda – Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Bernardino Spada
- ^ [self-published]
- ^ a b Pope Alexander the Seventh and the College of Cardinals by John Bargrave, edited by James Craigie Robertson (reprint; 2009)
- ^ Rossi, Gian Vittorio (1645–1648). Pinacotheca imaginum illustrium, doctrinae vel ingenii laude, virorum. Amsterdam. p. 238.
- ^ Marchina, Martha (1662). Musa Posthuma. Rome. p. 7.
- ^ Marchina, Martha (1662). Musa Posthuma. Rome.
- Arne Karsten (2004). "Bernardino Spada". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 23. Nordhausen: Bautz. cols. 1410–1412. ISBN 3-88309-155-3.
- The Spada chapel Archived 7 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine in the church of San Girolamo della Carità, Rome
Books
- Arne Karsten: Kardinal Bernardino Spada; Eine Karriere im barocken Rom, Goettingen 2001 (German) ISBN 3525362498
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