Carlo Pio di Savoia

Carlo Pio di Savoia

Carlo Pio di Savoia (7 April 1622 – 13 February 1689) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal of the Pio di Savoia family. He was the nephew of Cardinal Carlo Emanuele Pio di Savoia.

Early life

Pio was born 7 April 1622, the son of Ascanio Pio di Savoia and Eleonora Mattei.

At age 17, Pio went to Rome and then travelled throughout Europe until 1641. Thereafter he joined the army of the Duke of Ferrara as a colonel but was captured by the Florentines in Moncessino. He was released at the end of the war and was appointed treasurer-general of the Apostolic Chamber in 1650. Two years later he bought a position (as was the custom) as personal treasurer to Pope Innocent X.

Ecclesiastic career

On 2 March 1654 he was elevated to cardinal by Pope Innocent and was appointed Cardinal-deacon of the church of Santa Maria in Domnica. Over the subsequent two decades he was appointed to various churches as Cardinal-deacon and Cardinal-priest including:

• Cardinal-deacon of Sant'Eustachio (11 February 1664)
• Cardinal-priest of Santa Prisca (14 November 1667)
• Cardinal-priest of San Crisogono (28 January 1675)
• Cardinal-priest of S. Maria in Trastevere (1 December 1681)
• Cardinal-bishop of Sabina (15 February 1683)

Between 1673 and his death in 1689, he served as Cardinal-protector of Austria.

Bibliography

• Baroni, Pier Giovanni (1969). Un cardinale del Seicento: Carlo Emanuele Pio di Savoia (in Italian). Bologna: Ponte nuovo.
• Cardella, Lorenzo (1793). Memorie storiche de'cardinali della santa Romana chiesa (in Italian). Vol. Vol. VII. Roma: Pagliarini. pp. 115–118. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)