Guido Luca Ferrero was born in
Turin on 18 May 1537, the son of Sebastiano Ferrero,
signore of
Casalvolone and
Villata, and his wife Maddalena Borromeo, daughter of Federico Borromeo, 6th
count of
Arona and a member of the
House of Borromeo. He was the grand-nephew of Cardinals
Gianstefano Ferrero and
Bonifacio Ferrero; the nephew of Cardinals
Filiberto Ferrero and
Pier Francesco Ferrero; and the cousin of Cardinal
Charles Borromeo. He was also Abbot of S. Michele in Gaviano, where he founded a seminario in 1571. From 1570 to 1585 Guido Ferrero was Prior of Chamonix. He was elected
Bishop of Vercelli on 2 March 1562 and he was subsequently
consecrated as a bishop. In 1564, he became
nuncio to the
Republic of Venice. He received the
red hat and the
deaconry of
Sant'Eufemia (a
titular church declared a deaconry
pro illa vice) on 8 February 1566. He resigned the government of the Diocese of Vercelli sometime before 17 October 1572, and was given in exchange the Monastery of S. Silvestro di Nonantola, near Modena (1573–1582). He was governor of
Spoleto from 1572 to 1578. Cardinal Guido owned the Villa Ruffinella in Frascati from 1578 to 1585. On 10 May 1585 he donated the villa (reserving lifetime tenancy) to a college of scholars which he had founded in Torino. He also was the possessor of the remains of the Baths of Constantine, where later was built the Consulta and the Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi. He died in
Rome on 16 May 1585. ==References==