Madruzzo was born on 5 July 1512 at
Calavino, into a noble family in
Trento. He studied at
Padua and
Bologna, Being only a
subdeacon at the time, he was promoted to the
deaconship,
priesthood and
episcopate in 1542. and shortly afterwards, during the same year, he was raised to the dignity of a cardinal by
Pope Paul III. Having resigned his bishopric at Trento in 1567 in favour of his nephew
Ludovico, he spent the latter years of his life in
Italy, and became
Cardinal Bishop successively of
Sabina,
Palestrina, and
Porto. In addition to his two sees he received in 1546, by the favour of Charles V, a yearly allowance of 2,000
ducats from the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela in
Spain. He died in
Tivoli,
Italy, on 5 July 1578, his 66th
birthday.
Council of Trent As cardinal, Bishop of Trent, and temporal ruler of that principality, he played a prominent part in the
Council of Trent. Among other things, he insisted that the reform of the Church should be taken up in earnest, a matter much desired by Charles V, and by which it was hoped to win the Protestants back to the Church. It was largely due to his efforts that this subject was discussed and enactments of that character were passed in each session, together with decisions on doctrinal matters. During the Council, he opposed
Cardinal Pacheco and others who wanted to ban all
vernacular translations of the Bible. He was also intent upon promoting a truly religious and
Christian life among both the people and the ecclesiastics under his jurisdiction. He was himself cultured and learned, and patronized the liberal arts and learning. ==See also==