David I. Kertzer - The Pope Who Would Be King: The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe

A NTONELLI, G IACOMO ( C ARDINAL) Born in 1806 in Sonnino, in the southern part of the Papal States, he came from a family of peasant origins, his father having become a wealthy country merchant. Antonelli entered the prelature, but he was never ordained and could not say mass. As a young man, his administrative abilities and elegant manner brought him to the attention of higher prelates as he was called on to perform ever more responsible positions in the government of the Papal States. Pius IX, who made him a cardinal in 1847, at age forty-one, increasingly came to rely on Antonelli, his opposite in so many ways, and it would be Antonelli, as his secretary of state, who would mastermind the popes turn to Austria and reaction.

D ELLA G ENGA, G ABRIELE ( C ARDINAL) Born in Assisi in 1801, nephew of Pope Leo XII, made cardinal at age thirty-four, Della Genga was one of the leaders of the reactionaries of the Sacred College and widely despised by the people of Rome. On the retaking of the city, in July 1849, Pius IX named Della Genga one of the three members of the governing commission to rule Rome until the popes return. His strong personality ensured that he would be its driving force.

L AMBRUSCHINI, L UIGI ( C ARDINAL) Born in 1776, he was a Barnabite monk who became archbishop of Genoa and then nuncio to Paris. Lambruschini was closely identified with Pope Gregory XVI, serving as his secretary of state from 1836 until the popes death a decade later. Reviled by the Romans, he ended up hiding under a pile of hay in a horse stall before fleeing the city in November 1848. A man of the old school, an inflexible champion of theocracy, despotic by nature, he nursed a deep hatred for modern ideas of freedom.

P IUS IX ( G IOVANNI M ASTAI F ERRETTI) Born in 1792 to local nobility in Senigallia, in the middle of the Papal States, Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti suffered from epilepsy as a youth and had a limited seminary education before being ordained a priest in 1819. Eight years later he was made archbishop of Spoleto and then Imola, both in the Papal States. In 1840 he became a cardinal, and in June 1846, on the death of Gregory XVI, he was elected to the papacy, taking the name Pius IX. Initially feeding popular hopes that he would not only be the champion of reform and modernization in the Papal States but also help lead the battle for Italian independence, he would soon find himself in an impossible position, caught between his desire to be loved by his subjects and his fears that he was betraying the trust placed in him by the cardinals and by God.

R OSMINI, A NTONIO ( A BBOT) Born in 1797 to a noble family in Rovereto, then part of Austrian-ruled northeastern Italy, Rosmini studied law and theology at the University of Padua and was ordained a priest in 1821. A prolific author and well-regarded philosopher and theologian, Rosmini urged the church to adapt to modern times and called on the pope to embrace the cause of Italian independence. Pius IX thought highly of Rosmini and initially valued his advice. Serving briefly as King Charles Alberts envoy to the pope in the summer of 1848, Rosmini later joined the pontiff in exile. He had a formidable adversary in Cardinal Antonelli.

B ELGIOJOSO, C RISTINA ( P RINCESS) Born in 1808 as Cristina Trivulzio to one of Milans wealthiest families, she married Prince Emilio Barbiano di Belgiojoso at age sixteen. They separated four years later. A great patron of the Italian national cause, she hurried to Rome with the proclamation of the Roman Republic and was placed in charge of the medical services for the injured. She would not take well to being called a prostitute by the pope.