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Luca Fieschi[1] (c. 1275 – 31 January 1336) was aGenoese nobleman and from 1300 aRoman Catholic cardinal.
A member of theFieschi family and a relative of thePlantagenets, he held benefices in England and Italy. Although politically aGuelph, he was chosen to be a part of the papal delegation that accompaniedHenry VII of Germany in Italy in 1311–1312. In 1317–1318, he was part of a legation to England and Scotland that failed to end theAnglo-Scottish war. His later years were spent inAvignon, where he amassed great wealth and a large household.
Fieschi was born around 1275 or slightly earlier to Niccolò di Tedisio, count ofLavagna, and Leonora (Lionetta).[2][3] His great uncle wasPope Innocent IV. In 1276, his paternal uncle becamePope Adrian V.[3] Fieschi relations included theMalaspina family and theVisconti of Milan.[2]
He was also related to thePlantagenets, the ruling family of England. In 1301, he was referred to as a kinsman of KingEdward I. The exact relationship is unclear, but was through Fieschi's mother, whose ancestry is uncertain. She must have been descended either from CountThomas I of Savoy or fromGiacomo del Carretto [it]. According to his own testimony in 1300, Fieschi was also related to KingJames II of Aragon, which suggests a Savoyard connection. He was either the third or fourth cousin ofEdward II of England.[4]
By 1297, Fieschi was apapal chaplain andsubdeacon. In 1297, he succeeded his elder brother, Brancaleone, in a canonry of thediocese of Lichfield, being exempted from the requirements of residency and age. In 1298, he was made a canon ofParis.[3] In March 1300,Pope Boniface VIII appointed him to the cardinalate as deacon ofSanta Maria in Via Lata.[2][3] At the same time, he was assigned the churches ofSanti Cosma e Damiano andSan Marcello al Corso, which had been taken from Boniface's personal enemy, CardinalGiacomo Colonna.[5] In 1301, he visited England.[2]
According to a late and unreliable tradition, Fieschi rallied the citizens ofAnagni to rescue Boniface when the latter was imprisoned by conspirators during theAffair of Anagni in 1303.[3]
During the pontificate ofBenedict XI (1303–1304), Fieschi received an English prebend formerly belonging to his cousin,Leonardo Fieschi, and incomes from the monasteries ofMarola [it] andCampagnola. In the1304–1305 papal conclave, he supported CardinalMatteo Rosso Orsini before the latter's death. He travelled toLyon to attend the coronation ofClement V. At the invitation of the Black Guelph faction, he stopped inFlorence along the way and received gifts. Clement granted him new incomes inOrvieto and the right to assign the benefices ofSan Salvatore di Lavagna.[3]
After Clementmoved to Avignon in 1309, Fieschi continued to work in Italy. In the summer of 1311, he was part of the papal delegation sent to meetHenry VII of Germany, who wasmarching into Italy for his imperial coronation. The other delegates were CardinalsArnaud de Faugères [fr] andNiccolò da Prato. The delegation met the emperor at thesiege of Brescia [it], where Fieschi helped negotiate the surrender of the city. The cardinals followed Henry to Genoa in October and toRome, where he was crowned on 29 June 1312.[3] Niccolò anointed Henry, while Arnaud and Fieschi invested him with the mitre, diadem, orb, sceptre and sword on behalf of the absent pope.[6] After the coronation, Fieschi received a gift of money from Henry, whom he followed toTivoli. He left the emperor before thesiege of Florence and went toLucca.[3]
In Lucca, Fieschi was charged by Clement V with safeguarding the papal treasure that the late CardinalGentile da Montefiore had been bringing from Rome to Avignon at his death in October 1312. He and Niccolò da Prato deposited it in theDominican convent there, but in 1314 it was plundered byUguccione della Faggiuola.[3] While still at Lucca in 1313, Fieschi seems to have negotiated with imperial representatives to secure the appointment of himself and his brothers,Carlo and Ottobono, as lords of the castle ofPontremoli, which their father had received as an imperial fief from KingWilliam in 1251.[3][7]
In 1316,Pope John XXII succeeded Clement V. He demanded Fieschi justify his continued absence in writing. He also withheld from him the subsidy granted to the other cardinals on the occasion of his coronation. Fieschi returned to Avignon after five years in Italy on 17 November 1316. In May 1317, he left Avignon with CardinalGauscelin de Jean on alegation to reconcileEdward II of England andRobert I of Scotland and to instruct Edward to turn over the former properties of theTemplars to theHospitallers.[3]
Fieschi and Jean arrived inDover in June 1317 and were inLondon by 17 June. In July, they set out for Scotland.[3] On 1 September 1317, while escorting the bishop-electLouis de Beaumont and his brother,Henry de Beaumont, toDurham for the former's consecration and enthronement, they were robbed byGilbert de Middleton and his men nearRushyford. The Beaumonts were taken captive, while the cardinals were allowed to go on to Durham. Their goods, however, were seized.[8] Some of their entourage were killed. In response, the pope sent them 1,000florins in compensation.[3]Durham Priory granted Fieschi a lifetime pension of 100 florins, according to the chronicle attributed toRobert de Graystanes.[9] The cardinals excommunicated Middleton and his associates and, per theVita Edwardi Secundi, suspended their mission until they had received satisfaction fromParliament. The king gave £346 to Fieschi for his troubles.[10]
The mission to Scotland was a failure, as Robert I refused to make peace with Edward II. The papal truce terms were published by the cardinals in London on 27 November, but were never published in Scotland.[10] On 21 or 21 October, the pope wrote the cardinals warning them of his impendingbullExecrabilis, which would revoke all benefices in England held in plurality forpapal provision.[11] During their legation, Fieschi and Jean also visitedOxford University and intervened in the ongoingCanterbury–York dispute. Fieschi appointed a procurator for his benefices in Lichfield andTirrington for a term of twelve years. He also received some benefices from the king. The legates departed London for Avignon on 18 September 1318.[3]
In 1319–1322, Fieschi reportedly became a close confidant of KingRobert of Naples, who often stayed at Avignon. In 1319, he lent 9,500 florins to the Guelphs of Genoa to help finance their defence against theGhibelline siege. He took theSacro Catino relic as collateral. It was final returned when the loan was repaid in 1340. In 1322, the pope assigned him and CardinalGiovanni Gaetano Orsini to reconcile Robert with KingJames II of Aragon. According to the CatalansVidal de Vilanova andFerrer d'Abella, he was a staunch defender of the Aragonese policy at the time of theconquest of Sardinia in 1323.[3]
In 1321, Pontremoli was captured byCastruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli.[12] In March and May 1325, Fieschi received royal protection from Edward II, but there is no evidence that he visited England.[2]
Fieschi was a patron of the physician andcrusade theoristGalvano da Levanto.[13] Nevertheless, he was opposed to the planned crusade ofPhilip V of France and urged John XXII to spend the assigned money closer to home. He had developed a reputation for extravagant living. He rented eight houses in Avignon, one for twenty years at the time of his death. His household consisted of around a hundred servants, including fifteen chaplains, four physicians and two notaries.[3] One of his household was Manuele Fieschi, author of theFieschi Letter.[14] His library contained around a hundred books, about a third of them pertaining tocanon law.[3] He owned an autograph copy of theDecretals of Innocent IV[3] and a probable autograph copy of Galvano da Levanto's theological treatises.[15]
Fieschi drew up his final will at Avignon on 31 January 1336. He died later that same day. His body was embalmed and brought to Genoa for burial in thecathedral of San Lorenzo. In his will, he endowed a new chapel in San Salvatore di Lavagna and another dedicated to Santa Maria Maggiore inRoccatagliata [it]. He also left money for the construction of two churches in Genoa,Santa Maria in Via Lata [it] and one inCarignano. The rights he inherited in Pontremoli from his brother Federico he left to the descendants of his brother Carlo.[3] His tomb in Genoa was carved by a master connected with the school ofGiovanni Pisano.[16]
Because of the great wealth which he left behind, more is recorded about Fieschi's death than his life.[3] A collection of 24 letters addressed to Fieschi is preserved in theLibrary of the Metropolitan Chapter [cs] ofSaint Vitus Cathedral inPrague. It has been edited and published byZdeňka Hledíková [cs]. Three of the letters concernArmenia,Egypt andBeirut.[17]
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