Everything about Giulio Alberoni totally explained
Giulio Alberoni (
May 30,
1664 OS -
June 26 NS,
1752) was an
Italian cardinal and
statesman in the service of
Philip V of Spain.
Early years
He was born near
Piacenza, probably at the village of
Fiorenzuola d'Arda in the
Duchy of Parma.
His father was a gardener, and he himself became first connected with the church in the humble position of a
bellringer and
verger in the
Duomo of Piacenza; he was twenty-one when the judge Ignazio Gardini, of Ravenna, was banished, and he followed Gardini to Ravenna where he met the vice-legate
Giorgio Barni, who was made bishop of Piacenza in 1688 and appointed Arberoni chamberlain of his household. Alberoni took priest's orders, and afterwards accompanied the son of his patron to
Rome.
During the
War of the Spanish Succession Alberoni laid the foundation of his political success by the services he rendered to
Louis-Joseph, duc de Vendôme, commander of the French forces in Italy, to whom the
duke of Parma had sent him; and when these forces were recalled in 1706 he accompanied the duke to
Paris, where he was favourably received by
Louis XIV. That a low-ranking priest was used as envoy was due to the duke's rude manners: the previous envoy had quit because the duke had wiped his buttocks in front of him:
Saint-Simon in his Mémoires relates that Alberoni gained Vendôme's favor when he was received in the same way, but reacted adroitly by kissing the duke's buttocks and crying "O culo di angelo!". The duke was amused, and this joke started Alberoni's brilliant career.
Middle years
In
1711 he followed Vendôme into
Spain as his secretary. He was very active in furthering the accession of the French candidate for the throne of Spain,
Philip V. Two years later, Vendôme having died in the interval, Alberoni was appointed consular agent for Parma at Philip's court, where he was the royal favourite, being raised at the same time to the dignity of count. On his arrival at
Madrid he found the
princesse des Ursins (Orsini, born de la Trémoille) all but omnipotent with the king, and for a time he judged it expedient to use her influence in carrying out his plans. Upon the death of the Queen (
Maria Luisa of Savoy), Alberoni in concert with La Trémoille arranged for a marriage in 1714 between the widowed King and
Elisabetta Farnese, daughter of the Duke of Parma.
The influence of the new queen being actively exerted on Alberoni's behalf (the princesse des Ursins had been chased by the new queen), within not much more than a year he was made a duke and
grandee of Spain, a member of the king's council, appointed
bishop of Málaga, and in
1715 prime minister, and was made cardinal by
Pope Clement XI, under pressure from the court of Spain, in July
1717. His vigorous internal policy mixed the economic reforms of
Colbert for Louis XIV with some conservative Spanish aspects: a regular mail service to the Americas was instituted, yet the school of navigation he founded was reserved for the sons of the nobility. By a series of decrees in 1717, Alberoni reduced the powers of the grandees in royal councils. His main purpose was to produce an economic revival in
Spain by abolishing internal custom-houses, throwing open the trade of the Indies and reorganizing the finances along lines that had been established by the French economist
Jean Orry.
With the resources thus gained he undertook to enable Philip V to carry out an ambitious foreign policy to undo the
Treaty of Utrecht, with the aim of countering the
Habsburgs and recovering Spanish possessions in
Italy, where he was responsible for unwarranted invasions of
Sardinia (November 1717) and
Sicily (July
1718), in spite of promises made to the Pope, while pressing Spanish causes in France with the
Cellamare conspiracy. Another extravagant scheme of Alberoni's was the plotted restoration of the Stuarts to the British throne in two
Jacobite expeditions to Scotland in the spring of
1719. By provoking
England,
France,
the Netherlands and the
Empire to form the
Quadruple Alliance, his hasty and ambitious plans brought a flood of disaster to Spain, for which Alberoni was held responsible. On
December 5,
1719, with Philip V fast becoming the common enemy of all Europe, Alberoni was ordered to leave Spain, Elizabeth herself having taken an active part in procuring the decree of banishment.
Later years
He went to Italy, escaped from arrest at Genoa, and had to take refuge among the
Apennines,
Pope Clement XI, who was his bitter enemy, having given strict orders for his arrest. On the death of Clement in
1721, Alberoni boldly appeared at the conclave, and took part in the election of
Innocent XIII, after which he was for a short time imprisoned by the new pontiff on the demand of Spain, but was cleared of all charges by a commission of his fellow Cardinals. At the next election (
1724) he was himself proposed for the papal chair, and secured ten votes at the conclave that elected
Benedict XIII.
Benedict's successor,
Clement XII (elected
1730), named him legate of
Ravenna, where he erected the Porta Alberoni (
1739), a magnificent gateway that formerly provided access to the city's dockyards, and has since been moved to the entrance of the Teatro Rasi). That same year, the strong and unwarrantable measures he adopted to subject the puny republic of
San Marino to the papal states incurred the pope's displeasure, and left a historical scar in that place's memory. He was soon replaced by another legate in
1740, and he retired to
Piacenza, where in 1730 Clement XII appointed him administrator of the hospital of San Lazzaro, a medieval foundation for the benefit of
lepers. Since leprosy had nearly disappeared in Italy, Alberoni obtained the consent of the pope to suppress of the hospital, which had fallen into great disorder, and replaced it with a seminary for the priestly education of seventy poor boys, under the name of the Collegio Alberoni, which it still bears. The Cardinal's collections of art gathered in Rome and Piacenza, housed in his richly appointed private apartments, have been augmented by the Collegio. There are remarkable suites of Flemish tapestries, and paintings, among which the most famous is the
Ecce Homo by
Antonello da Messina (
1473), but which also include panels by
Jan Provoost and other Flemish artists, oil paintings by
Domenico Maria Viani and
Francesco Solimena.
Alberoni was a gourmet. Interspersed in his official correspondence with Parma are requests for local delicacies
triffole (
truffles),
salame, robiola cheeses, and
agnolini (kind of pasta). The pork dish
"Coppa del Cardinale", a specialty of Piacenza, is named for him. A
"Timballo Alberoni" combines maccaroni, shrimp sauce, mushrooms, butter and cheese.
Death and legacy
He died leaving a sum of 600,000 ducats to endow the seminary he'd founded, and the residue of the immense wealth he'd acquired in
Spain to his nephew. Alberoni left a large quantity of manuscripts. The genuineness of the Political Testament, published in his name at
Lausanne in
1753, has been questioned.
Sources
Further Information
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