Pietro Gravina

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Pietro Gravina (born December 26, 1749 in Montevago , Sicily , † December 6, 1830 in Palermo ) was an Italian clergyman, Archbishop of Palermo and cardinal of the Roman Church .

Life

Origin and early years

His family was of Spanish origin and was one of the leading families in the patriciate of Palermo. He was the son of Giovanni Gravina Moncada, Duke of San Michele, 3rd Duke of Montevago and Grandee of Spain, and his wife Eleonora Napoli di Montaperto from the family of the Princes of Resuttana Monteleone. His brother Federico Gravina (1756-1806), Spanish Grand Admiral, was in command of the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, he was seriously wounded and died in March 1806 as a result of his injuries. Another brother, Gabriele Gravina OSB (1753-1840), was Bishop of Catania .

After attending the Theatiner seminar in Palermo, Pietro Gravina studied at the Collegio Clementino in Rome, which he completed in 1769 with a thesis on Praepositiones philosophicae . At the Roman University of La Sapienza he obtained the degree of Doctor iuris utriusque and at the Pontifical Academy for the Ecclesiastical Nobility he completed his studies. He received the minor orders on September 7, 1778 in Palermo. On April 5, 1781, he entered the service of the Curia as a trainee lawyer at the tribunals of the Apostolic Signature . Pope Pius VI appointed him successively governor of Città di Castello (1783), of Fano (1785), of Jesi (1789) and of Spoleto (1790). Pietro Gravina was ordained a priest on April 7, 1792 . He then became Governor of Ancona in 1793 and Apostolic Protonotary in 1794 .

bishop

On September 12, 1794, Pope Pius VI appointed him titular bishop of Nicaea . He received his episcopal consecration on September 14, 1794 in Rome, the Cardinal Secretary of State , Francesco Saverio de Zelada ; Co-consecrators were Archbishop Nicola Buschi and Bishop Michele Di Pietro . From September 16, 1794 to 1800, Pietro Gravina was nuncio in Switzerland. Before the advancing troops of the Paris Directory and after expulsion by the Helvetic Directory , he fled from Lucerne to Basel in the spring of 1798 and to Constance in 1799, later he went - together with Annibale della Genga, the later cardinal and as Leo XII. Pope - to Augsburg and finally to Munich.

After the first restoration of the papal state , he was recalled to Rome in 1802 to become consultor of the Congregation for Indulgences . From March 1, 1803 until his cardinal elevation, he was nuncio in Spain. There he came into conflict with the Cortes of Cádiz and with the Archbishop of Toledo Luis María Cardinal de Borbón y Vallábriga from 1812 to 1813 because of the privileges of the clergy and the abolition of the Inquisition tribunals . In July 1813, he went into exile in Portugal and returned in July 1814, during the Restoration of Ferdinand VII , and finally left Spain on July 15, 1817.

cardinal

In the consistory of March 8, 1816 Pope Pius VII raised Pietro Gravina to cardinal priest , he received the cardinal's hat and the titular church of San Lorenzo in Panisperna on November 15, 1817. King Ferdinand I of Sicily defeated him on July 10, 1816 as Archbishop of Palermo in front, and on 23 September of the same year Pietro Gravina was the Pope präkonisiert . In spring 1818 he took possession of the archbishopric.

Last years and death

Pietro Gravina was a participant in the 1823 conclave that Pope Leo XII. chose. The newly elected Pope appointed him honorary Maggiordomo Maggiore . After the death of Leo XII. Pietro Gravina took part in the conclave of 1829 , from which Pius VIII emerged as Pope.

He died in Palermo and was buried in the cathedral there.

literature

  • Marco Maiorini:  Gravina, Pietro. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 58:  Gonzales-Graziani. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2002.
  • Philippe Bountry: Le sacré collège des cardinaux . In: Souverain et pontife. Recherches prosopographiques sur la Curie Romaine à l'âge de la Restoration (1814–1846) . École française de Rome, Rome 2002, margin no. 387–388 (French, online edition [accessed March 18, 2018]).

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ so coincidentally Marco Maiorini, Philippe Bountry and Urban Fink, in the entry Gravina, Pietro. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website ), on the other hand, is December 16 as the date of birth and December 26 as the day of baptism
predecessor Office successor
Raffaele Mormile Archbishop of Palermo
1816–1830 		Gaetano Maria Giuseppe Benedetto Placido Vincenzo Trigona e Parisi
personal data
SURNAME Gravina, Pietro
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian clergyman, cardinal of the Roman Church
DATE OF BIRTH December 16, 1749
PLACE OF BIRTH Montevago
DATE OF DEATH December 6, 1830
Place of death Palermo