(1) 1. ANTONELLI, Leonardo (1730-1811)

Birth. November 6, 1730, Senigallia. Younger of the three children of Count Flippo Antonelli and his second wife, Cattarina Castracani. The other siblings were Angelo and Bernardino; he had a half-sister, Vittoria, daughter of his father and his first wife, Vittoria Marazzani. Nephew of Cardinal Niccolò Maria Antonelli (1759).

Education. (No information found).

Sacred orders. Received the subdiaconate on March 11, 1764.

Priesthood. Ordained (no information found). Canon of the patriarchal Vatican basilica. Prefect of archives of Castello Sant'Angelo, Rome. Secretary of the Sacred College of Cardinals. Assessor of the S.C. of the Roman and Universal Inquisition.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of April 24, 1775; received the red hat on April 27, 1775; and the title of S. Sabina, May 24, 1775. Prefect of the S.C. of Propaganda Fide and its printing press, May 2, 1780 until February 27, 1795. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, June 25, 1784 until 1785. After the Revolution broke out in France, he was asked to join, along with Cardinals Gian Francesco Albani, Vitaliano Borromeo, Filippo Campanelli, Guglielmo Pallotta and Gregorio Salviati, the Congregation for the Affairs of France, which was to examine the situation that followed the promulgation of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy; and oriented the hard decisions of the pope. Supported France's Civil Constitution of the Clergy of July 12, 1790, to avoid the suspension of religious services.

Episcopate. Opted for the order of bishops and the suburbicarian see of Palestrina, February 21, 1794. Consecrated, March 19, 1794, chapel of Collegio of Propaganda Fide, Rome, by Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Albani, assisted by Ottavio Boni, titular archbishop of Nazianzo, and by Simone de Magistris, titular bishop of Cirene. Named prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Justice, February 27, 1795. Participated in the conclave of 1799-1800, which elected Pope Pius VII. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Porto e Santa Rufina, April 2, 1800. Sub-dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals. Secretary of the S.C. of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, November 8, 1800 until his death. Participated in the preparation of the 1801 Concordat between France and the Holy See. Grand penitentiary, December 22, 1801 until his death. Prefect of the S.C. of the Index. Archpriest of the patriarchal Lateran basilica. Accompanied Pope Pius VII to Paris in 1804. Opted for the suburbicarian see of Ostia e Velletri, proper of the dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, August 3, 1807. Pro-secretary of Apostolic Briefs. When the French banished him from Rome, he went to Spoleto and later to Senigallia. He was a protector of letters and litterati; he possessed a large personal library.

Death. January 23, 1811, Senigallia. Exposed in the cathedral of Senigallia and buried in his family's chapel in that cathedral. In his will, he left funds to support twelve Armenian students in Collegio Urbano of Prpaganda Fide.

Bibliography. Moroni, Gaetano. Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica da S. Pietro sino ai nostri giorni. 103 vols. in 53. Venezia : Tipografia Emiliana, 1840-1861, II, 217; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recientoris Aevi. Volumen VI (1730-1799). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 30, 40 and 48; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recientoris Aevi. Volumen VII (1800-1846). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 37 and 38; Weber, Christoph and Becker, Michael. Genealogien zur Papstgeschichte. 6 v. Stuttgart : Anton Hiersemann, 1999-2002. (Päpste und Papsttum, Bd. 29, 1-6), I, 55.

Links. Biography by F. M. Rudge, in English, The Catholic Encyclopedia; and his engraving by Antonio Capellan, Araldica Vaticana.

(2) 1. VECCHI, Bernardino de' (1699-1775)

Birth. June 28, 1699, Siena. He is also listed as Bernardinus de Vechiis. He was the great-grandson of a cousin of Pope Alexander VII, named Alessandro Marsili, through whom he was also related to the Farnese family; and by his wife, who was from the family Bichi, he also descended from the Piccolomini and Petrucci families. His last name is also listed as De Vecchis.

Education. (No information found).

Early life. He entered the ecclesiastical state and went to Rome. Referendary of the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, April 1728. Voter of the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Justice, March 1734; and of the Apostolic Signature of Grace, December 1751. Dean of the voters of the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Justice, 1752. Cleric of the Apostolic Chamber, December 1753. Prefect of the Annona, December 1753; and again in Octuber 1766. President of the Zecca, September 1759. Prefect of the Grascia, November 1761. Abbot commendatario of S.Girolamo di Siena, January 1769. Dean of the clerics of the Apostolic Chamber, 1772). Abbot commendatario of S. Maria di Capolongo, Arezzo, February 1771.

Sacred orders. Ordained (no information found).

Cardinalate. Created cardinal deacon in the consistory of April 24, 1775; received the red hat on April 27, 1775; and the deaconry of S. Cesareo in Palatio, May 29, 1775.

Death. Sunday December 24, 1775, around 9 p.m., after suffering from a grave illness, in Rome. Exposed in the Servite church of S. Marcello, Rome, where the funeral took place on Thursday December 28; and his body was privately transferred to and buried in the church of S. Caterina di Siena, a strada Giulia, Rome. In his will, he named his nephew as his heir; and left an annuity for life to his domestics.

Bibliography. Moroni, Gaetano. Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica da S. Pietro sino ai nostri giorni. 103 vols. in 53. Venezia : Tipografia Emiliana, 1840-1861, XIX, 263; Ritzler, Remigium, and Pirminum Sefrin. Hierarchia Catholica Medii et Recientoris Aevi. Volumen VI (1730-1799). Patavii : Typis et Sumptibus Domus Editorialis "Il Messaggero di S. Antonio" apud Basilicam S. Antonii, 1968, pp. 30 and 50; Weber, Christoph. Senatus divinus : verborgene Strukturen im Kardinalskollegium der frühen Neuzeit (1500-1800). Frankfurt am Main ; New York : Peter Lang, 1996, p. 522, no 756.

Links. Biographical data, in Italian, Gazzetta universale: o sieno notizie istorice, politiche, di scienze, arti, agricoltura, ec., vol. III, num. 1, Martedi 2 Gennajo 1776, p. 7; His engraving, Araldica Vaticana.

©1998-2012 Salvador Miranda.