Pompeo Aldrovandi
Pompeo Aldrovandi (23 September 1668 – 6 January 1752) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and archbishop of Corneto e Montefiascone. He was born in Bologna and earned a doctorate in canon and civil law in 1691. He joined the Roman Curia and rose through church administration, being ordained a priest in 1710. He served as chargé d’affaires in the Holy See’s nunciature in Spain from 1712 to 1716.
In 1716 he became titular archbishop of Neocaesarea and in 1717 was named Nuncio to Spain, but was recalled to Bologna during political tensions with the Spanish king and after the death of Pope Clement XI. On 23 March 1729 he was named titular Patriarch of Jerusalem. He later served as Governor of Rome and, in 1733, as Vice-Chamberlain of the Apostolic Camera. Aldrovandi was created Cardinal priest on 24 March 1734 by Pope Clement XII, with the title of Sant’Eusebio. That same year he received the archbishopric of Montefiascone with the personal title.
Aldrovandi participated in the 1740 conclave. The process dragged on for forty days because many cardinals voted for him but no two-thirds majority was reached. Cardinal Lambertini, who would become Pope Benedict XIV, reportedly said: “If you wish to elect a saint, choose Gotti; a statesman, Aldrovandi; an honest man, me.” Vincenzo Ludovico Gotti, a leading Thomist and professor, was another candidate mentioned in that time.
From 1740 to 1743 Aldrovandi served as Datary of His Holiness. He died in Montefiascone in 1752 at the age of 83.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:39 (CET).