Raffaele Riario

Raffaele Sansoni Galeoti Riario (3 May 1461 – 9 July 1521) was an Italian

adolescent to be elevated in the College of Cardinals in the history of the Holy See.^[1]

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.^[2]

Being the relative of a

Francesco Salviati. His release a few weeks later was arranged by 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 entitlement of San Lorenzo in Damaso. He was named Camerlengo in 1483.

Riario in the Papal Court

In 1484, Riario was engaged in the war which broke out between the

Sixtus IV. In 1488, Pope Innocent VIII sent Cardinal Riario as a legate to his maternal uncle Girolamo Riario, at the time governor of Forlì and Imola, who was revolting against the Holy See. Meanwhile, the Cardinal had already commissioned the erection of his palace beside the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso

(1486).

It is said that

Innocent VIII, lost in one single night 15,000 ducats at a card game which took place in Raffaele's residence. When the Pope

asked the Cardinal to return his son's money, the latter answered that he was sorry, but he had already used it to finance the construction of his palace.

As

Bishopric of Cartagena

as a reward for his support.

During

Bishopric of Ostia and Velletri

.

Engagement in the plot against Leo X and death

In June 1517,

Giulio de' Medici, Vice-Chancellor of the Holy See, who rendered it the seat of the Apostolic Chancery. Thus the Palazzo Riario is henceforward known as Palazzo della Cancelleria

.

Riario died in

Basilica dei Santi Apostoli

in Rome.

Art patronage and reputation

A lover of

the Sleeping Cupid

was treacherously sold to him as an ancient piece: the aesthetic prelate discovered the cheat, but was so impressed by the quality of the sculpture that he invited the artist to Rome, where Michelangelo worked on the three major commissions of his career.

Raffaele Riario is generally considered a prelate typical of his era: indifferent in religious matters, rather a statesman than a priest, rather a

Maecenas

than a theologian.

In popular culture

Raffaele Riario appears in seasons 2 and 3 of the 2016 Medici tv series. He is played by Francesco di Raimondo in season 2 and Loris De Luna in season 3. He is played by American actor Scott William Winters in all three seasons of the Borgia television series, which aired in 2011 to 2014. In this adaptation he is a close conspirator of his distant cousin Giuliano della Rovere against Rodrigo Borgia and others in the Borgia family, though his political skill and usefulness lets him rise to Vice Chancellor of the church under Alexander's reign.

Raffaele Riario is a major character in the manga Cesare: Creator of Destruction, which focuses on Cesare Borgia's year studying at the University of Pisa in the year before his father was elected as Pope Alexander VI. In the manga, Riario is the Archbishop of Pisa, and Cesare lives with him in his palace. In the 2023 stage musical adaptation, Riario was played by Haruki Kiyama.

References

^ "15th century overview - 06". Augnet (reference site to Saint Augustine of Hippo and the Order of Saint Augustine). Spirit Media Australia. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
^
OCLC 53276621
.

^ Conradus Eubel, Hierarchia catholica medii aevi II, editio altera (Monasterii 1914), p. 66.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Giacopo Venier	Bishop of Cuenca 1479–1482	Succeeded by Alonso de Burgos
Preceded by Francesco Salviati	Archbishop of Pisa 1493–1521	Succeeded by Onofrio Bartolini de' Medici
Preceded by Christophe du Châtel	Bishop of Tréguier 1480–1483	Succeeded by Robert Guibé
Preceded by Gonzalo de Vivero	Bishop of Salamanca 1482–1493	Succeeded by Diego de Deza
Preceded by Pedro González de Mendoza	Bishop of Osma 1483–1493	Succeeded by Alfonso de Fonseca
Preceded by Alfonso de Fonseca	Bishop of Cuenca 1493–1518	Succeeded by Diego Ramírez de Fuenleal
Preceded by Matteo Cybo	Bishop of Viterbo 1498–1506	Succeeded by Ottaviano Visconti Riario
Preceded by Lorenzo Cybo de Mari	Cardinal-bishop of Albano 1503–1507	Succeeded by Bernardino López de Carvajal
Preceded by Girolamo Basso della Rovere	Cardinal-bishop of Sabina 1507–1508	Succeeded by Giovanni Antonio Sangiorgio
Preceded by ?	Bishop of Savona 1508–1516	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by Cosimo dei Pazzi	Bishop of Arezzo 1508–1511	Succeeded by Girolamo Sansoni
Preceded by Jorge da Costa	Cardinal-bishop of Porto 1508–1511	Succeeded by Domenico Grimani
Preceded by Oliverio Carafa	Cardinal-bishop of Ostia 1511–1521	Succeeded by Bernardino López de Carvajal
Preceded by Oliverio Carafa	Dean of the College of Cardinals 1511–1521	Succeeded by Bernardino López de Carvajal
Preceded by Leonardo Grassi-Della Rovere	Bishop of Lucca 1517	Succeeded by Francesco Riario-Sforza
Preceded by Diego Ramírez de Fuenleal	Bishop of Málaga 1518-1521	Succeeded by César Riario

[1] "15th century overview - 06". Augnet (reference site to Saint Augustine of Hippo and the Order of Saint Augustine). Spirit Media Australia. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.

[Miranda-2] 
OCLC 53276621
.

[3] Conradus Eubel, Hierarchia catholica medii aevi II, editio altera (Monasterii 1914), p. 66.

[1]

[2]

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	Germany Belgium United States Czech Republic Vatican
People	Italian People Deutsche Biographie
Other	IdRef