Carlo Carafa (29 March 1517[1] – 6 March 1561) was an Italian cardinal,[2] andCardinal Nephew ofPope Paul IV Carafa, whose policies he directed and whom he served aspapal legate in Paris, Venice and Brussels.[3]
| Styles of Carlo Carafa | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Naples |
He was born atNaples into one of the city's most ancient and distinguished families, a younger son of Giovanni Alfonso Carafa, count of Montorio, and his countess, Caterina Cantelma. One brother wasGiovanni Carafa, Duke of Paliano another, Antonio Carafa (1520—1588), was made marchese di Montebello.[4]
Without making a name for himself,[5] he had a long and dubious career as a mercenary soldier inItaly andGermany. He entered the household of CardinalPompeo Colonna at an early age, as a page and was enrolled in theOrder of St John of Jerusalem later, that ofPierluigi Farnese, Duke of Castro (later Duke of Parma), the son ofPaul III. He then fought under theAlfonso d'Avalos, Marchese del Vasto, in Lombardy and Piedmont, and underOttavio Farnese, Duke of Parma, in Flanders and Germany, fighting Protestants in the name of the Emperor. Here an incident occurred that reinforced perceptions among contemporaries for greed, arrogance and a violent nature: his possession of a captive gentleman worth a considerable ransom was challenged by a Spaniard, whose right was upheld by his compatriot, the Duke of Alba; and in the aftermath Carlo, pursuing his adversary to provoke a duel was incarcerated atTrento until he agreed not to pursue the vendetta.[6]
He was subsequently exiled from Naples in 1545 for murder and banditry and, having withdrawn toBenevento, was embroiled in another assassination,[7] and was then alleged to have perpetrated the massacre ofSpanish soldiers as they recuperated in a hospital inCorsica.
Two weeks after Giovanni Pietro Carafa was elected pope, asPaul IV, he raised Carlo to the cardinalate on 7 June 1555. His tenure asCardinal Nephew was not a great success, and he andPaul IV effectively brought thePapacy to a humiliating defeat against the Spanish that nearly resulted in anotherSack of Rome. Carlo's government proved unpopular and he developed a reputation for avarice, cruelty and licentiousness, as well as forhomosexualsodomy (Paul had chastisedCardinal Ghisleri for not sharing his suspicions on this latter point).[8] In January 1559, Paul finally accepted the accuracy of the accusations made and exiled both his nephews from Rome and replaced Carlo asCardinal Nephew with Carlo's own nephewAlfonso Carafa, Cardinal Archbishop of Naples.
In June 1560, Paul's successor,Pope Pius IV arrested the leading members of the family - Carlo, his brother Duke Govanni, and their nephew the Cardinal Archbishop of Naples,[9] seizing their papers, and levying a range of charges relating to abuses of power during Paul's reign. Carlo was charged with murder, sodomy, and the promotion ofProtestantism. After a nine-month trial, he was condemned along with his brother, and was executed by strangulation atCastel Sant' Angelo on the night of 6 March 1561. His execution was considered at the time to have been motivated primarily by political factors such as his pro-French, anti-Spanish policies.
On 26 September 1567, the sentence was declared unjust byPope Pius V. The memory of the victims was vindicated and their estates restored.
