Spada (family)

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Bernardino Spada , the first cardinal in the Spada family

Spada is the name of an Italian noble family from the nearby Bologna located Brisighella .

history

Their rise began with Paolo Spada (1541–1631), who was a successful merchant and was able to make a large fortune over the course of his life. This wealth enabled him to enable his third son, Bernardino Spada, to pursue a career at the Curia that ultimately ended with a cardinal office . Bernardino Spada's actions enabled the family heir Orazio Spada to marry Maria Veralli in 1636 , who was the last offspring of the prestigious Veralli family . From this marriage there were 12 offspring. The second-born son, Fabrizio Spada , also made a career at the Curia, receiving not only the cardinal's hat , but also the influential position of cardinal state secretary . Further branches of the family established themselves in Bologna, Faenza and Spoleto. The Roman branch of the family died out with Clemente Spada in 1759, the inheritance fell to the Bolognese branch. The counts of the Spada, to whom the protagonist of the adventure novel The Count of Monte Christo owes his fabulous wealth, is loosely based on the historical family.

Representative of the family

See also

literature

  • Arne Karsten : Cardinal Bernardino Spada. A career in baroque Rome . Göttingen 2001

Individual evidence

  1. Arne Karsten (ed.): Hunt for the red hat: cardinal careers in baroque Rome . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-525-36277-3 , pp. 206 (304 p., Limited preview in Google Book search).