Giuseppe Renato Imperiali

Giuseppe Renato Imperiali (May 1, 1651 – February 18, 1737) was an Italian cardinal, and known as an avid bibliophile.

He was born in Francavilla Fontana in Apulia, in the Kingdom of Naples, into an aristocratic family which had come from Genoa. In 1662, he was sent to Rome with three brothers to live with his great uncle, Cardinal Lorenzo Imperiali (1612 - 1673). Lorenzo was a son of the Genoese nobleman Michele Imperiali.

In Rome, Giuseppe studied at the Collegio Germanico-Ungarico, and in 1672 he was made referendary of the Segnatura.

In 1688, he entered a religious order. In 1684 he gained the lucrative post of Chierico della Camera Apostolica in the papal finance office; in 1688, he rose to become Treasurer General of the Holy Roman Church. In the Consistory of 13 February 1690, he was made a Cardinal by Pope Alexander VIII, and was assigned the Deaconry of San Giorgio in Velabro on April 10, 1690. He was soon sent to Ferrara as papal legate and remained there for seven years.

Back in Rome, during the Conclave of 1700 Imperiali was part of a group of cardinals who were trying to resist the pressure applied by foreign governments aiming to influence Papal elections, and they obtained the election of cardinal Giovanni Francesco Albani as Pope Clement XI. Clement in turn, rewarded Imperiali in 1701 by appointing him to the powerful position of Prefect of the Congregation of Buon Governo. In this position, he controlled funding for public works projects in the Papal States. Among these he commissioned the acqueduct of Benevento and the new façade of the Cathedral of Poggio Mirteto from Carlo Buratti. Among his other endeavours was his attempt in 1720 to influence the Republic of Genoa to arrest Cardinal Giulio Alberoni.

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