Cardinal Scipione Borghese
| Scipione Borghese | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal Bishop of Sabina | |
 |
|
| See | Bologna |
| Installed | 25 October 1610 |
| Term ended | 2 April 1612 |
| Predecessor | Alfonso Paleotti |
| Successor | Alessandro Ludovisi |
| Other posts | Grand Penitentiary |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 7 August 1605 |
| Consecration | 8 December 1610 |
| Created Cardinal | 18 July 1605 |
| Rank | Cardinal Priest of S. Crisogono, then Cardinal Bishop of Sabina |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
1 September 1577 Artena, Papal State? |
| Died | 2 October 1633 (aged 56) Rome, Papal State |
| Buried | Liberian Basilica |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Parents | Francesco Caffarelli, Ortensia Borghese |
| Coat of arms |  |
Scipione Borghese (1 September 1577 – 2 October 1633) was an Italian Cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts. A member of the Borghese family, he was the patron of the painter Caravaggio and the artist Bernini. His legacy is the establishment of the art collection at the Villa Borghese in Rome.
Originally named Scipione Caffarelli, he was born in Artena, the son of Francisco Caffarelli and Ortensia Borghese. His father ran into financial difficulties, so Scipione's education was paid for by his maternal uncle Camillo Borghese. Upon Camillo's election to the papacy as Pope Paul V in 1605, he quickly conferred a cardinalship on Scipione and gave him the right to use the Borghese name and coat of arms.
In the classic pattern of papal nepotism, Cardinal Borghese wielded enormous power as the Pope's secretary and effective head of the Vatican government. On his own and the Pope's behalf he amassed an enormous fortune through papal fees and taxes, and acquired vast land holdings for the Borghese family.
Scipione received many honours from his uncle. He became superintendent general of the Papal States, legate in Avignon, archpriest of the Lateran and Vatican basilicas, prefect of the Signature of Grace, Abbot of Subiaco and San Gregorio da Sassola on the Coelian, and librarian of the Roman Catholic Church. He also assumed the offices of Grand Penitentiary, secretary of the Apostolic Briefs, Archbishop of Bologna, protector of Germany and the Habsburg Netherlands, of the Orders of Dominicans, Camaldolese and Olivetans, of the Shrine of Loreto and of the Swiss Guard, and numerous other ecclesiastical positions. In each of these offices the cardinal received stipends. His income in 1609 was about 90,000 scudi, and by 1612 it had reached 140,000 scudi. With his enormous wealth, he bought the villages of Montefortino and Olevano Romano from Pier Francesco Colonna, Duke of Zagarolo for 280,000 scudi.
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