Pietro Pileo di Prata

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Cardinal Pietro Pileo di Prata, fresco in Padua, around 1505

Pietro Pileo di Prata , often also Pileus de Prato (* around 1330; † December 1401 in Rome ) was an Italian count , bishop, cardinal and papal diplomat.

origin

He came from the family of the Counts of Prata , who lived in northeast Italy, and was born as the son of Biaquino di Prata, Count of Porcia and Brugnera , and his wife Enselgarda da Carrara, from the most important family in Padua. Francesco I da Carrara (1325-1393), mayor of Padua and friend of the poet Francesco Petrarca , was his maternal cousin.

Live and act

The nobleman studied the ecclesiastical sciences customary at the time and became archpriest in the cathedral chapter of Padua .

On June 1, 1358, the Count was elected Bishop of Treviso . On June 12, 1359 he became bishop of Padua ; on January 23, 1370 Archbishop of Ravenna . With Pope Gregory XI. who appointed him his legate on January 3, 1371 , he was in Bologna at that time . In 1375 he made him his nuncio in Bruges .

In the consistory of September 18, 1378 Pope Urban VI raised him . the Cardinal Priest of Santa Prassede what Pietro Pileo di Prata his office as Archbishop of Ravenna resigned. The Pope appointed him a legate in Germany, at the court of Count Ludwig II of Flanders .

Cardinal's tomb in Padua Cathedral
Coffin figure of the cardinal

At the same time he was commissioned to represent the pontiff in Denmark, Sweden and Norway; he corresponded with King Charles V of France and stayed in Mainz in 1380 with the German King Wenzel . For Anne of Böhmen , the sister of the king, di Prata arranged a very happy marriage with the English king Richard II. During his stay in Germany Pietro Pileo di Prata visited many cities, monasteries and churches; for example in 1380 Auerbach in the Upper Palatinate , where a memorial foundation was endowed, or in 1381, for the laying of the foundation stone, the Carthusian monastery in Nuremberg . The prelate arranged ecclesiastical property rights in the papal name, made changes to the jurisdictions ( he proposed the Palatinate village of Merzalben in 1381 from the diocese of Metz to the diocese of Worms ), examined complaints against clerical dignitaries, granted indulgences (e.g. 1380 for the Marienkirche in Tiefenthal / Pfalz and for the Jakobskloster on the Donnersberg ), but also had the Eucharistic miracle examined by Boxtel and allowed the pilgrimage there by decree of June 25, 1380. There are numerous documents from the time of his legation, issued by him in Mainz, Frankfurt am Main , Worms , Speyer , Nuremberg and other places.

Then Pileo di Prata advanced to cardinal proto-priest and legate in England; In 1385, after his return, he was cardinal bishop and shepherd of the suburbicarian diocese of Frascati . Finally he traveled to Naples to meet King Charles III. to reconcile with the Pope.

At the end of 1385 he was one of those five cardinals who issued a circular to the Roman clergy, in which they reported the violence of Pope Urban VI. criticized. Urban had him arrested, but Cardinal di Prata escaped and in 1386 publicly burned his cardinal's hat in protest in the main square of Pavia . He submitted to the antipope Clement VII , who made him administrator of the diocese of Viviers , recognized his cardinal title and sent him a new hat; Urban VI. however, excommunicated him on October 3, 1387. Pietro Pileo di Prata visited the antipope personally in Avignon and he sent him, at the head of an army, in 1388 to northern Italy.

Urban VI died in October 1389. Cardinal di Prata immediately turned away from the antipope Clement VII and submitted to the rightful Pope Boniface IX. This lifted the excommunication, again recognized the cardinal dignity and sent him again a red cardinal hat. Because of the three hats he received, Pietro Pileo di Prata was also called Cardinal "Tricapella" (the three-hated). On February 13, 1391 he was again chief shepherd of the diocese of Frascati. The Pope also commissioned him in 1392 to reorganize the University of Perugia and in 1393 made him his legate in Umbria . In 1394 the cardinal founded the "Collegio Pratense" named after him , a school for poor students in Padua. He also left his entire fortune to this institute in order to secure 20 permanent places in canon law . On January 9, 1397 Cardinal di Prata finally returned to Rome, where the Pope appointed him his vicar general . In 1398 he celebrated Christmas mass at the papal court in the presence of seven cardinals.

He is said to have died in December 1401 (some sources also mention the year 1400). He was buried in the Cathedral of Padua , where the contemporary tomb has been preserved, with its depiction lying on the sarcophagus .

literature

  • Karl Guggenberger: The Legation of Cardinal Pileus in Germany, 1378-1382. Munich 1907, (find information)

Web links

Commons : Pietro Pileo da Prata  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Historical website with names of the Counts of Prata and their castle
  2. ↑ Genealogical side to Mother Enselgarda da Carrara and their parents
  3. ↑ East Bavarian border stamps. Passau yearbook for history, art and folklore. Volumes 12–13, Verlag des Verein für Ostbairische Heimatforschung, 1970, p. 12; (Detail scan)
  4. ↑ Website about the history of Auerbach; to Cardinal Pileo di Prata under the section "The Angel Mass"
  5. ^ Website on the history of Gräfenstein Castle and Merzalben
  6. ^ State Office for the Preservation of Monuments: The Art Monuments of Bavaria. Administrative district Pfalz, VIII. City and district Frankenthal. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1939, p. 474
  7. ↑ PDF document on the pilgrimage of Boxtel with mention of Cardinal Pileo di Prata
  8. ↑ Church history page (Italian) on Cardinal "Tricapella"
  9. ^ Jacob Burckhardt: The architecture of the Renaissance in Italy. CHBeck Verlag, 2000, p. 343, ISBN 3406467628 (Digitalscan)
  10. ↑ Website with photo of the "Collegio Pratense"
predecessor Office successor
Tommaso da Frignano Cardinal Bishop of Frascati
1385-1387
1391-1401 		Enrico Minutoli
Petrocino Casalecchi Archbishop of Ravenna
1370–1387 		Cosimo dei Migliorati
Giovanni Orsini Bishop of Padua
1359-1370 		Elie de Ventadour
Azzone de 'Maggi Bishop of Treviso
1357-1359 		Pierdomenico di Baone
personal data
SURNAME Prata, Pietro Pileo di
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Prata, Pietro Pileo da; Prato, Pileus de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian clergyman, cardinal and papal diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH around 1330
DATE OF DEATH December 1401
Place of death Rome