Fabio Mignanelli
Fabio Mignanelli was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal.Biography
Fabio Mignanelli was born in Siena ca. 1486, the son of Pietro Paolo Mignanelli and Onorata Saraceni. He attended the University of Siena, becoming a doctor of both laws. He then became a professor of law at the University of Siena.
In 1533, he moved to Rome, becoming a consistorial advocate. He was married to Antonina Capodiferro, the sister of Cardinal Girolamo Recanati Capodiferro and had a son. After Antonia died, Mignanelli entered the church. In 1537, he was sent as ambassador to the Republic of Venice to encourage Venice to break its alliance with the Ottoman Empire and to go to war against the Ottomans. In October 1537, Pope Paul III sent him as ambassador to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor to present him with the brief postponing the Council of Trent for a second time. In spring 1538, he traveled to Nice with the pope to negotiate the end of the Italian War of 1536–1538; shortly thereafter, they traveled to Geneva to meet the emperor. On September 3, 1538, he was appointed nuncio to Ferdinand, King of the Romans, holding this position until 1539. In 1540, he became an auditor of the Roman Rota. He was also a protonotary apostolic and the pope's domestic prelate.
On November 15, 1540, he was elected Bishop of Lucera. He was appointed governor and vice-legate in Bologna on April 14, 1541. From July 22, 1543 to August 2, 1544, he was nuncio to the Republic of Venice. He was present at the opening of the Council of Trent on December 13, 1545. In 1546, he was vice-legate in Marche. On September 20, 1546, the pope sent him as nuncio to the emperor. In 1548, he was vice-legate in Ascoli Piceno. On June 10, 1551, he was appointed commissary of the Adriatic ports.
Pope Julius III made him a cardinal priest in the consistory of November 20, 1551. He received the red hat and the titular church of San Silvestro in Capite on December 4, 1551. Shortly thereafter, he became Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura. On August 13, 1552, the pope made him legate a latere to pacify Siena. On May 17, 1553, he resigned the government of his diocese, becoming administrator of Grosseto; he resigned in favor of his nephew, Giacomo Mignanelli on October 2, 1553. Pope Julius III then made him Prefect of the Papal States.
He was a participant in both the papal conclave of April 1555 that elected Pope Marcellus II and the papal conclave of May 1555 that elected Pope Paul IV.
He opted for the titular church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo on June 12, 1556.
He died in Rome on August 10, 1557. He was buried in Santa Maria della Pace.
