 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Italian. (March 2021)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Fabrizio Dionigi Ruffo | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal-Deacon ofSanta Maria in Via Lata | |
 | |
| Other posts | Treasurer of theApostolic Chamber (1785–1794) Cardinal-Deacon ofSant'Angelo in Pescheria (1794–1800) |
| Orders | |
| Created cardinal | 26 September 1791 byPope Pius VI |
| Rank | Cardinal deacon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Fabrizio Dionigi Ruffo dei duchi di Bagnara e Baranello (1744-09-16)16 September 1744 |
| Died | 13 December 1827(1827-12-13) (aged 83) |
| Denomination | Roman Catholicism |
| Coat of arms |  |
Fabrizio Dionigi Ruffo (16 September 1744 – 13 December 1827) was an Italiancardinal and politician, who led the popular anti-JacobinSanfedismo movement (whose members were known as theSanfedisti).
Ruffo was born atSan Lucido, inCalabria Citra (today inprovince of Cosenza), then part of theKingdom of Naples. His father,Litterio Ruffo, was aCalabrian aristocrat, holder of the title ofduke of Baranello, while his mother, Giustiniana, was of theRoman family ofColonna. Fabrizio owed his education to his uncle, cardinalTommaso Ruffo, thendean of the College of Cardinals. In early life he secured the favour of Giovanni Angelo Braschi, who in 1775 becamePope Pius VI. Ruffo was placed by the pope among thechierici di camera, the clerks who formed the papal civil and financial service. He was later promoted to treasurer-general, a post which carried with it the ministry of war. Ruffo's conduct in office was diversely judged.Pietro Colletta, the historian of Naples, speaks of him as corrupt, andJomini repeats the charge, but these can be dismissed as part of a hostile tradition, as they both participated in favour of France. In fact, he was widely regarded as a reformer.
Ruffo's biographer, Sachinelli, says that he incurred hostility by restricting the feudal powers of some of the landowners in thePapal States. In 1791 he was removed from the treasurership, but was created cardinal on 2 September, though he was not in orders and in fact never became a priest. Ruffo went to Naples, where he was named administrator of theroyal domain of Caserta, and received the abbey ofSanta Sofia, Beneventoin commendam.
On account of the equity of his fiscal norms he made an enemy of the Roman aristocracy, which put pressure upon the Pontiff. In 1791, Pope Pius VI removed Mgr. Ruffo from his office and offered to create him a cardinal (according to the traditionalLatin proverbpromoveatur ut amoveatur). On 21 February 1794 Ruffo was created cardinal of the Roman deaconry ofSant'Angelo in Pescheria and charged with the administration of theAger Romanus.
He also announcedPope Leo XII's election in the papalconclave of 1823.
When in December 1798 the French troops advanced on Naples, Ruffo fled toPalermo with the royal family. He was chosen to head a royalist movement inCalabria, where his family, though impoverished by debt, exercised large feudal powers. On 8 February 1799, he landed at La Cortona with a small following, and began to raise the so-called "army of the faith" in association with Michele Pezza, "Fra Diavolo", and other brigand leaders. Backed by the Russian fleet ofAdmiral Ushakov, Ruffo had no difficulty in upsetting theParthenopean Republican government established by the French, and by June had advanced to Naples. Possibly exceeding his authority, he promised the Neapolitan republicans immunity from reprisals and obtained their surrender in June 1799. In the meantime Rear-AdmiralHoratio Nelson, sent from Palermo by King Ferdinand, appeared in the Bay of Naples with his fleet; he called the cardinal to task for his leniency, and revoked the terms of surrender. The republicans, it was asserted, had surrendered under terms that were unclear. One of the main republican figures, former AdmiralFrancesco Caracciolo, was ignominiously executed on 30 June, and widespread reprisals and executions of other republican sympathizers in Naples followed.
After having received the title of King's General Official, Ruffo weighed anchor fromPalermo and landed inCalabria on February 8.[1] His feuds ofScilla andBagnara were the first places to be used for a massive enlistment of 25,000 farmers skilled to arms. They formed the Christian and Real Army, also known asEsercito della Santa Fede in Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo, and conqueredCrotone moving to theBasilicata andApulia regions (Altamura andModugno), and finally in thePrincipato Ultra. At the head of his army, cardinal Ruffo participated to the battles of theSecond anti-French Coalition which defeatedNaples on 15 June 1799. Ruffo appointed the member of the State juncta that processed the rebels for the crime ofLèse-majesté.[2]
While Ruffo was a personal confidant of theking of Naples, the queen preferred the admiralHoratio Nelson to him.[3] On 24 June Ruffo arrived in the roadstead. The following day, when the first Jacobins were waiting to be boarded, the English admiral informed that the pact of pacification partially enacted by the cardinal, was "infamous" and that he would never allow its execution.[3] Eventually, an English official decided the destiny of the Neapolitan prisoners: they were entrusted to Bourbon justice and 124 of them were put to death.
The campaign gave rise to much controversy among nineteenth-century historians. Ruffo appears to have lost favor with the king by showing a tendency to spare the republicans. He resigned the vicar-generalship, which he had been granted on 25 January 1800, to the prince of Cassero, and during the second French occupation and the reigns ofJoseph Bonaparte andJoachim Murat he lived quietly in Naples. Some notice was taken of him byNapoleon, but he never held an important post. After the restoration of the Bourbons he was received into favor. During therevolutionary troubles of 1822 he was consulted by the king, and was even in office for a very short time as a loyalist minister.
After the conquest of Naples, Ruffo decided to send some military companies within theRoman Republic, led by the general Gian Battista Rodio. This represented the first act of invasion of the Republican State. After the defeat of the Roman Republic, on 11 August 1800 Ruffo entered in theUrbe and changed his cardinal diacony with the one of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. In 1801, after having been resigned from the role of general vicarious of the king of Naples, for a short time he filled the role of minister of Naples in Rome and then accepted the government ofJoseph Bonaparte in the Neapolitan territory.In September 1805, he escaped inAmelia, Umbria, and then he was hoised for a second time byFerdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his court inPalermo, who appointed him as ambassador at the Parisian court.On 2 April 1810 Ruffo was present at his marriage with the duchessMarie Louise of Austria[4][5][citation needed]. After this gesture, he become part of the so-called "red cardinals", a restricted circle of high prelates who weren't punished by the French emperor and got the right to continue to publicly profess their religious functions. The emperor instituted a commission with the duty to formulate abrief indicating the conclusive decrees of the Council of Paris which was held in 1811. It was formed by Ruffo,Giuseppe Doria Pamphili and Aurelio Roverella. The main objective was to persuadePope Pius VII, who was jailed inSavona, to counterfirm the act. It was a favour to the French emperor, who decorated him with the Cross of theLegion of Honour.[6][7]
In May 1814, Ruffo returned to Rome where the population and theCollege of Cardinals received him with indifference, so that he decided to move to Naples and to establish himself there. On 8 February 1815 Pope Pius VII recalled Ruffo to Rome and appointed him Prefect of theAnnona and of Grascia, a role responsible for the procurement of meat, fat, and oil. On 8 May 1817 he become Great Prior of theOrder of Malta within the Pontifical State. From 29 March 1819 to 21 February 1820, he wasCamerlengo of the Holy Roman Church until his appointment in the Prefect of the Congregation for Water,Pontine Marshes and ofChiani. In March 1821, he came back to Naples, which was afflicted by the popular rebellion against the Austrian military forces. On 27 June he chose the diacony of Santa Maria in Via Lata and held the title ofCardinal Protodeacon. In August 1823, Ruffo took part in thepapal conclave which electedPope Leo XII.[8] At the end of the year, Ruffo went back to Naples.
He died in Naples on 13 December 1827 and was buried in his familiar chapel, consecrated to SaintCatherine of Alexandria, within theSan Domenico Maggiore Basilica, not distant from the Aquinos' chapel.[9]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ruffo, Fabrizio".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 819.
