Flavio Orsini (1532 – 16 May 1581) was a papal bureaucrat, an Italian bishop, and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was son of Ferdinando Orsini, 5th duke of Gravina; and Beatrice Ferrillo, daughter and heiress of Giovanni Alfonso Ferrillo, Conte di Muro Lucano.Notizia storica nella quale brievemente s'espone l'origine ... della nobilissima famiglia Orsini sino al regnante sommo pontefice Benedetto XIII. ... Opera ricavata da' più celebri ... storici da D. A. A. S. P. Venezia: Bartolameo Giavarina 1724), p. ix. Crescimbene, p. 384. Martuscelli (1896), p. 263.
Biography Born in Rome, he was appointed bishop of Muro Lucano by Pope Pius IV (Medici) in consistory on 29 November 1560.Eubel III, p. 251.
He held various offices in the Roman Curia. On 10 July 1561, Flavio Orsini, Bishop of Muro and Auditor of Causes in the Apostolic Camera, transmitted a motu proprio of Pope Pius IV granting a feudal investiture to Baldassare Rangoni of Modena."Le carte Strozziane"," , in: Archivio storico italiano 5 (Florence 1890), p. 738 no. 4. On 3 September 1563, the Bishop of Muro was judge ordinary in the curia, hearing a testamentary dispute from the diocese of Ajaccio.G. Salvi, "La badia di S. Benigno di Capofaro a Genova nel XVI secolo," , in: Rivista storica benedettina 11 (1916), p. 68.
He was transferred to the diocese of Spoleto on 16 December 1562 by Pope Pius IV.Eubel III, p. 303.
In his fourth consistory for the creation of cardinals, on 12 March 1565, Pope Pius IV named Flavio Orsini a cardinal-priest, and on 15 May assigned him the titulus of San Giovanni a Porta Latina. On 17 November 1565, he chose to be moved to ("opted for") SS. Marcellino e Pietro, and on 9 July 1578 to Santa Prisca.Eubel III, pp. 41, no. 36; 64; 65; 69.
On 19 September 1570, Pope Pius V (Ghislieri) appointed a commission of two cardinals, Giovanni Poliziani and Flavio Orsini, to complete the repairs on the Aqua Vergine and connect various fountains, including the Trevi.Raffaele Marchetti (1886), Sulle acque di Roma antiche e moderne ...: libri due ... , Roma: Tipografia Sinimberghi, 1886, pp. 197-199.
Pope Gregory XIII (Boncompagni) sent Bishop Orsini to France in 1572, to attempt to persuade King Charles IX of France to join in a crusade against the Turks. He arrived in Paris on October 8, and was still in France in the second half of December. His mission was a failure.Umberto Benigni (1899), "Documenti e note sulla politica orientale dei papi, II.," , Bessarion Anno III, VOl. 5 (Rome: Loescher 1898-1899). pp 495-496, 499, 504.
On 11 April 1580, he was granted a coadjutor bishop with the right of succession, in the person of his nephew Pietro.Eubel III, p. 303.
Flavio Orsini died in Pozzuoli, near Naples, on 16 May 1581.Benigni (1899), p. 496. Eubel III, p. 41, no. 36.
References
Books
Cardella, Lorenzo (1793). Memorie storiche de' cardinali della santa Romana chiesa. Tomo quinto (5). Roma: Pagliarini. pp. 94-95. Crescimbeni, Giovanni Mario (1716). L' Istoria della Chiesa di S. Giovanni avanti Porta Latina Roma: Antonio de'Rossi. pp. 384–385. Martuscelli, Luigi (1896). Numistrone e Muro-Lucano: Note appunti e ricordi storici. . Napoli: R. Pesole. pp. 263–265.