- Alessandro Orsini
Alessandro Orsini (1592-1626) was an Italian Cardinal. He was a patron of
Galileo , who dedicated his 1616 work on thetides to him [ [http://galileo.rice.edu/chron/galileo.html The Galileo Project | Chronology | Galileo Timeline ] ] , and requested that he pass it on toPope Paul V [ [http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/galileo.htm Galileo ] ] . He belonged to the ducal family ofBracciano .He was brought up at the court of the
Grand Duke Ferdinand I of Tuscany , and in 1615 was created a cardinal by Paul V. Aspapal legate toRavenna underPope Gregory XV , he distinguished himself in 1621 by his charity on the occasion of the outbreak of an epidemic. Upon his return to Rome, he devoted himself to religion and to the practice of an austereasceticism . He asked permission of the pope to resign the cardinalate and to enter theJesuit Order , but this was refused. [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11325b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Orsini ] ]Notes
External links
* [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1615.htm#Orsini Biography]
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