Giulio Cesare Sacchetti (1586 – 28 June 1663) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and was twice unsuccessfully nominated by France for election as Pope.
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Sacchetti was born in 1586,[1] the second surviving son of Giovanni Battista Sacchetti and Francesca Altoviti, both Florentine patricians who had moved to Rome in the late sixteenth century. His elder brother, Marcello Sacchetti, was papal treasurer to Pope Urban VIII and a prominent patron of the arts until his death in 1629. From 1633, the Sacchetti joined the ranks of the Roman nobility. Giulio was the uncle of Cardinal Urbano Sacchetti.
Educated at the University of Perugia and the University of Pisa, he was ordained in 1623 and elected Bishop of Gravina. He became a cardinal only three years later.
Sacchetti was elevated to cardinal on 19 January 1626 and was named Cardinal-Priest of Santa Susanna. He was appointed as papal legate to Ferarra from 1627 to 1631 [2] and to Bologna from 1637 until 1640.
He held a number of senior positions within the Holy See including Prefect of the Sacred Consulta of Religious Immunity, the Sacred Consulta of Rites and the Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature of Justice. From 1641 to 1642 he was appointed Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals.[3]
In 1652 he was appointed Cardinal-Priest of Frascati, a position he held until 1655 when he was appointed Cardinal Priest of Sabina.[4]
He was appointed to the special council assembled to fight the plague in the papal states and was Prefect of the Tridentine Council from 1661 until his death.
Sacchetti was presented by Antonio Barberini, at the instruction of Cardinal Mazarin) the French first minister, as the French nomination for the papacy at the papal conclave of 1644. He was not a popular choice with the people of Rome who were afraid he would pursue Barberini policies and practices if elected. To this end they devised a slogan: 'Don't make Sacchetti pope or Rome will fall to pieces'.[5] Spain, fearing he would be pro-French vetoed his nomination via its representative Cardinal Gil de Albornoz. The conclave instead elected Giovanni Battista Pamphili who took the papal throne as Pope Innocent X. Mazarin attempted to use the French veto against Pamphili who apparently favoured the Spanish, but it arrived too late.[6] Despite his close association with the Barberini family who suffered under Innocent X, Giulio Sacchetti's career continued to flourish.
When Innocent X died, Sacchetti was again presented as the French candidate at the papal conclave of 1655 but when it became apparent that he did not have a majority, he asked Mazarin to give his support to Fabio Chigi who was duly elected and took the name of Pope Alexander VII.[7]
Sacchetti died 28 June 1663 in Rome and was buried at the Florentine church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini in Rome.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Scipione Cobelluzzi |
Cardinal Priest of Santa Suzanna 1626–1652 |
Succeeded by Giovanni Battista Spada |
| Preceded by Federico Baldissera Bartolomeo Cornaro |
Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals 1641–1642 |
Succeeded by Giandomenico Spinola |
| Preceded by Carlo de' Medici |
Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati 1652–1655 |
Succeeded by Antonio Barberini |
| Preceded by Bernardino Spada |
Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina 1655–1663 |
Succeeded by Marzio Ginetti |