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Alfonso Litta

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Alfonso Litta
Cardinal Archbishop of Milan
Painting by Giovanni Battista Gaulli
ChurchCatholic Church
SeeMilan
Appointed17 June 1652
Term ended28 August 1679
PredecessorCesare Monti
SuccessorFederico Visconti
Other post(s)Cardinal Priest of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme
Orders
Consecration24 June 1652 (Bishop)
by Giulio Roma
Created cardinal15 February 1666
Personal details
Born(1608-09-19)19 September 1608
Milan
Died28 August 1679(1679-08-28) (aged 70)
Rome
BuriedCathedral of Milan

Alfonso Michele Litta (19 September 1608 – 28 August 1679) was an Italian cardinal and the archbishop of Milan from 1652 to 1679.

Early life

Alfonso Litta was born in Milan on 19 September 1608,[1] second-born to marquess Pompeo of the House of Litta. His mother, widow in 1609, married in 1622 with Antonio Ferrer, great-chancellor of the Duchy of Milan (at the time under the Spanish government), who brought along Alfonso in Spain at the court of Philip IV.[2] In Spain Alfonso studied canon law at the University of Salamanca, and later completed his studies earned a doctorate in utroque iure at the University of Bologna in 1628.[3]

Entered in 1628 in the order of lawyers of Milan and in the clerical state, in 1630 he moved to Rome where Pope Urban VIII appointed him referendary of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature. Entered in the administration of the Papal States, he served as governor of Orvieto in 1637, Spoleto from 1638 to 1639, Camerino from 1639 to 1643, Vice-legate of Bologna, Ferrara and Romagna in 1643,[3] Commissary general of the papal army in 1643, Governor of Ascoli in 1645 where he crushed a civil disorder.[2]

In 1646 he was appointed governor of the Campagne and Maritime Province, at the time of the revolt of Masaniello. In such occasion he sided with the Spanish government, disclosing the scheme hatched by the French and the Barberini. For such act he gained the esteem of the Spanish government, but made enemies in Rome.[2] In 1648 he became governor of the Marche.

Archbishop of Milan

On 17 June 1652 Alfonso Litta was appointed Archbishop of Milan. He was consecrated bishop on 24 June 1652 in Rome by the hands of Cardinal Giulio Roma,[3] and he made his solemn entrance in Milan as Archbishop on next 17 November 1652.[4]

As bishop Alfonso Litta followed in Saint Charles's footsteps: he convened two diocesan synods, in 1659 and 1669, and made some pastoral visit to the pieves far away from Milan.[5] He was a strenuous guardian of the Ambrosian rite, of whom he edited in 1679 the editions of the Missal and of the Breviary.[5] He made restored the crypt of the Cathedral of Milan.

During the 1655 invasion of the Duchy of Milan by Thomas Francis of Savoy, Alfonso Litta organised a militia of 900 armed clerics.[6][2] He defended the rights of the Church against the lay government: his frequent collisions with the Spanish rulers regarded mainly the right of asylum in the churches, the ruling of some foundations who had been settled with religious purposes (such as hospitals) and some cases of etiquette.

Due to his firm and determined nature,[7] and to his many enemies, Alfonso Litta had to wait for a long time to be created Cardinal. He was created Cardinal in pectore only on 14 June 1664 and formally appointed Cardinal Priest of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme on 15 February 1666.[1] He participated in the Conclaves of 1667, 1669 and 1676.

In 1675 Alfonso Litta moved to Rome in order to participate to the jubilee of that year, and because of his health problems and his clashes with the Spanish government he was thought to resign from the Archbishopric of Milan: he however never resigned but was not able to return to Milan.[4] He died in Rome on 28 August 1679, and his remains were buried first in the Roman church of San Carlo al Corso, and later translated to the definitive burial in the North nave of the Cathedral of Milan.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b David Cheney. "Alfonso Michele Cardinal Litta". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d Signorotto, Gian Vittorio (2005). "Litta, Alfonso". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 65. Treccani.
  3. ^ a b c Salvador Miranda. "Litta, Alfonso Michele". Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  4. ^ a b Zardin, Danilo (1989). "Litta, Alfonso (1608-1679)". Dizionario della Chiesa Ambrosiana (in Italian). Vol. 3. Milano: NED. p. 1737–1738. ISBN 88-7023-102-X.
  5. ^ a b c Cazzani, Eugenio (1996). Vescovi e arcivescovi di Milano (in Italian). Milano: Massimo. pp. 240–242. ISBN 88-7030-891-X.
  6. ^ Dell'Oro, Giorgio (2007). Il regio economato : il controllo statale sul clero nella Lombardia asburgica e nei domini sabaudi (in Italian). Milano: F. Angeli. p. 140. ISBN 9788846489654.
  7. ^ Pagani, Fabrizio (2007). "Un episcopato poco conosciuto: Federico Visconti arcivescovo di Milano". Carlo Donato Cossoni nella Milano spagnola : atti del convegno internazionale di studi : Conservatorio di Como, 11-13 giugno 2004. Lucca: Libreria musicale italiana. p. 67. ISBN 887096485X. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)

External links

Media related to Alfonso Litta at Wikimedia Commons

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