Giulio was born in Rome into the noble and ancient
Savelli family in 1574. He was the son of Bernardino Savelli, Duke of Castel Gandolfo and Lucrezia dei Conti dell'Anguillara. Giulio Savelli was governor of Orvieto in 1605 and from 21 February 1607 governor of Spoleto, then governor of Ancona from 1608 to 1610. In 1609 he became a student at the courts of the Apostolic Signatura. In 1614 he appeared as Extraordinary
nuncio in Piedmont, where he mediated in a dispute between King
Philip III of Spain and
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy.
Pope Paul V admitted him to the
College of Cardinals as a cardinal priest in the consistory of 2 December 1615. He received the red hat three days later and
Santa Sabina as a
Titular church on 11 January 1616. Giulio Savelli was also elected
Bishop of Ancona e Numana on 11 January 1616. He was ordained Bishop on 10 April of the same year in the Roman church of Sant'Andrea in Montecavallo, the predecessor of
Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, by Cardinal
Scipione Borghese; co-consecrators were Archbishop
Guido Bentivoglio, Apostolic Nuncio in France, and
Antonio Grimani, Bishop of Torcello. On 2 December 1619, Giulio Savelli became
Papal legate in
Bologna and remained so until October 1621. He took part in the
1621 papal conclave that elected
Pope Gregory XV. He gave up the Bishopric of Ancona before 2 March 1622. Giulio Savelli took part in the
1623 papal conclave that elected
Urban VIII as Pope. From 7 January 1630 to 8 January 1631, he was
Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals. Following a nomination by King
Philip IV of Spain, Giulio Savelli was appointed
Archbishop of Salerno on 28 January 1630. On 10 November 1636, he moved to the titular church of
Santa Maria in Trastevere. On 28 March 1639, he was promoted to
Cardinal Bishop and the
Suburbicarian Diocese of Frascati. He gave up the archbishopric of Salerno before 15 September 1642. Giulio Savelli died in Rome and was buried in the family tomb in the church of
Santa Maria in Ara Coeli. == Sources ==