Ercole Cardinal Consalvi
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Ercole Consalvi (June 8, 1757 – January 24, 1824) was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
[edit] Biography
He was born in Rome, and died there also. His mother was Claudia Carandini, a noblewoman. He was educated at the seminary founded in Frascati by Cardinal York, who would have been King of the United Kingdom (as Henry IX and Henry I of England) had the law of primogeniture been observed after the death of his aunt Queen Anne. He became a favorite of the Cardinal's and was helped by him to obtain high office in the Roman Curia while still a young man.
After the French invaded Italy in 1798, Consalvi was jailed, but he later escaped and joined Pope Pius VI in exile. An able diplomat, he was nominated secretary of the conclave that met in Venice to elect Pope Pius VII, the successor of Pius VI.
Ercole Consalvi was created Cardinal in the concistoro secreto of 11 August 1800 and received the red hat in the public consistory of the 14 August 1800. On the 20 October 1800 he was assigned to the diaconia of Sant'Agatha in Suburru, and eventually transferred to that of Santa Maria ad Martyres on 28 July 1817.
Pius VII ordained Consalvi to the subdiaconate and to the diaconate in his private chapel on 20 and 21 December 1801.
The new pope named him Cardinal Secretary of State, and in this capacity he negotiated a concordat with Napoleon that greatly improved the position of the Church in France. He also reformed the administration of Rome and to some extent modernized the city.
After the fall of Napoleon, he represented the Pope at the Congress of Vienna and was able to convince the victorious powers to restore the Papal States almost entirely (although the Papacy had been forced to accept the French annexation of Avignon). For the remainder of the pontificate of Pius VII, Consalvi was the virtual ruler of Rome, and his government was characterized by good sense, moderation and concern for the poor. He retired when Pius died in 1823. Yet he still headed the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith at the time of his death the following year, 1824. Although a consummate diplomat and man of the world, Consalvi was both honest and pious and has been called "one of the purest glories of the Church of Rome" (Schaeffer).
He died in 1824 and was buried in the church of San Marcello al Corso.
