He was born into a noble family, as the son of the count palatine Cesare Calcagnini, marquess of Fusignano and a relation of cardinal Carlo Leopoldo Calcagnini. He studied at the Collegio dei Nobili di San Carlo at Modena and then at the Sapienza in Rome – at the latter, on 15 May 1747, he gained a doctorate in theology and
in utroque iure. He entered the papal court as private chamberlain to the pope in 1746. ==References==