Adriano Castellesi

Adriano Castellesi, also known as Cardinal Adrian, Corneto, Adrian of Castello or Adriano de Castello (c. 1460 - c. 1521) was an Italian cardinal and writer.

Biography

Castellesi was born at Corneto.

He was sent by Innocent VIII to reconcile James III of Scotland with his subjects. While in England, in 1503 he was appointed by Henry VII to the see of Hereford, and in the following year to the more lucrative diocese of Bath and Wells, but he never resided in either. Returning to Rome, he became secretary to Alexander VI and was made by him cardinal (May 31, 1503). A man of doubtful reputation, Alexander's confidant and favourite, he paid the pope a large sum for his elevation.

He bought a "vigna" in Borgo near the Vatican, and thereon erected a sumptuous palace after designs by Bramante (today it is known as "Palazzo Castellesi-Giraud-Torlonia"); and it was here, in the summer of 1503, that he entertained the pope and Cesare Borgia at a banquet that went on till nightfall despite the unhealthy season of the year, when ague in its most malignant form was rife. Of the three, Cardinal Adrian was the first to fall ill, the pope succumbing a week after. The story of the poisoning of the pope is to be relegated to the realm of fiction.

Soon after the election of Pope Leo X the cardinal was implicated in the conspiracy of Cardinal Petrucci against the pope, and confessed his guilt; but, pardon being offered only on condition of the payment of 25,000 ducats, he fled from Rome and was subsequently deposed from the cardinalate. As early as 1504 he had presented his palace to Henry VII as a residence for the English ambassador to the Holy See; and on his flight Henry VIII, who had quarrelled with him, gave it to Cardinal Campeggio.

Adrian first fled to Venice. Of his subsequent history nothing is known for certain. It is said that he was murdered by a servant when on his way to the conclave that elected Pope Adrian VI.

As a writer, he was one of the first to restore the Latin tongue to its pristine purity. Among his works are "De Vera Philosophia ex quatuor doctoribus ecclesiae" (Bologna, 1507), "De Sermone Latino" (Basel, 1513), and a poem, "De Venatione" (Venice, 1534).

References

*1911