of Cardinal Maffeo Gherardi Maffeo Gherardi was born in
Venice in 1406, the son of
nobles Giovanni Gherardi and Cristina
Barbarigo. He entered the
Camaldolese Order when young, receiving the
habit from Paolo Venerio,
Abbot of the
Monastery of St. Michael on
Murano. Gherardi later became abbot of this monastery, and later
Abbot General of the Camaldolese Order. In April 1466, the
Venetian Senate unanimously elected him to be the
Patriarch of Venice. Ambassadors of the
Republic of Venice presented his selection to
Pope Paul II on 31 October 1467 and the pope confirmed his appointment on 16 December 1468. He received the
episcopal consecration in
San Pietro di Castello on 9 April 1469 by the hands of the
bishop of Torcello, Placido Pavanello. Gherardi subsequently held this position for the rest of his life. His chancellor for many years was
Filippo da Rimini.
Pope Innocent VIII made him a
cardinal priest in pectore in the
consistory of 9 March 1489. On 3 July 1489 the pope declared that his creation would be published in the next consistory at which cardinals were created, and that if the pope died before such a consistory, he would nevertheless be eligible to participate in the next
Papal Conclave. Following the death of Pope Innocent VIII, Gherardi traveled to
Rome, then in the midst of a
sede vacante, arriving on 3 August 1492. At the insistence of the Venetian
Council of Ten, the
College of Cardinals published his creation as a cardinal and allowed him to participate in the
papal conclave of 1492, where he cast the decisive vote in favor of
Pope Alexander VI. He received as
Titular church the
deaconry of
Santi Sergio e Bacco. On his way back to Venice, he died in
Terni on 14 September 1492. He is buried in
San Pietro di Castello in Venice. ==References==