Mercurino Arborio di Gattinara – politician and cardinal

Lawyer and strategist dreamt of a united Europe ruled by the Emperor

As adviser to future Emperor Charles V,
Gattinara wielded huge influence

Influential statesman and political adviser Mercurino Arborio di Gattinara was born on this day in 1465 in Gattinara in Piedmont.

Gattinara became Grand Chancellor to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and, despite being a layman who had never been ordained as a priest, he was created a cardinal.

He was one of the most important men active in politics of his time and he set out to centralise power in Germany and make the Holy Roman Empire a moral and political arbiter for all the kingdoms and principalities in Europe.

Born in his family’s home in Gattinara, he was the eldest son of Paolo Arborio di Gattinara and Felicità Ranzo, who was from an important family in Vercelli.

After his father’s death, Gattinara had to interrupt his studies for financial reasons and went to Vercelli to practise with his father’s cousin, who was a notary.

He was able to resume his law studies at the University of Turin after marrying Andreetta Avogadro and using her dowry to pay for his studies. After obtaining his doctorate, he practised law in Turin.

In 1501, he became adviser to Duchess Margherita of Hapsburg, the daughter of Emperor Maximilian 1 of Hapsburg. Margherita was married to Duke Philibert II of Savoy and the work he did for her enabled her to obtain for the rest of her life the administration of Romont, Villars and Bresse. The Duchess appointed Gattinara as tax lawyer and president of Bresse.

Charles V was crowned
Emperor in 1530

When King Philip of Castile died, he left six young children, among whom was the future Emperor Charles V. Margherita, who was their aunt, asked Gattinara to organise their education on behalf of their grandfather, the Emperor Maximilian. 

Margherita was also given the task of governing Burgundy by Emperor Maximilian and on her behalf, Gattinara began negotiations that would lead to the formation of the League of Cambrai.

He also wrote an operetta dedicated to the young Charles, in which he presented his theories on universal monarchy.

After Charles became King of Castile and Aragon, he appointed Gattinara as his adviser. When the Emperor Maximilian I died, Gattinara ensured Charles had support from the prince electors for his accession to the imperial throne.

Gattinara was the adviser to Charles V during the Italian Wars between 1521 and 1526 and he reorganised the imperial army and its finances. He wrote a treatise on good government and was created a cardinal in 1529, despite having no background in the church. 

After Charles V was crowned emperor in the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna in 1530, Gattinara left Italy to attend the Diet of Augsburg, which was convened on the emperor’s behalf to quell growing religious tensions in Europe.

Gattinara died in Innsbruck while he was on the way to Augsburg on June 5, 1530.  His remains were taken to Gattinara and buried in the parish church of San Pietro.

He had worked up to 18 hours a day to fulfil his vision of a united Europe and he could express himself in Italian, Spanish, French, German and Dutch, skills which were particularly appreciated at the court of the Emperor Charles V. 

The Torre delle Castelle
overlooks Gattinara

Travel tip:

Gattinara is a small town in the province of Vercelli in Piedmont, about 35km (22 miles) northwest of the city of Novara, whose province it borders. Situated in the lower part of the picturesque Valsesia, it has an historic centre where the Church of San Pietro, the last resting place of Mercurino di Gattinara, is situated. The church dates back to 1147. The town is known for its prestigious red wine, Gattinara, which has been given the status of DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita). The town is overlooked by the massive Torre delle Castelle, all that remains of an ancient mediaeval fortified complex built around the 11th century, which tops a hill to the northwest of the town. The tower has become a symbol of the town.

The Mole Antonelliana is an unmissable feature
of the skyline of Piedmont's capital, Turin

Travel tip:

The University of Turin, where Mercurino di Gattinara studied for his degree, is one of the oldest universities in Europe, founded in 1406 by Prince Ludovico di Savoia. The main university buildings are in Via Giuseppe Verdi, close to Turin’s famous Mole Antonelliana, an architectural landmark first conceived as a synagogue, before being bought by the city and declared a monument to national unity. Designed and started by architect Alessandro Antonelli in 1863, but not completed until 1889, it rises to a height of 167.5m (550ft). A lift, which was originally installed in 1961 during celebrations to mark the centenary of the Italian Unification and renovated in 1999, allows visitors to reach a panoramic terrace 85m (279ft) above the ground to take in extraordinary views of the city and the surrounding Alps.

Also on this day: 

1918: The death of writer and composer Arrigo Boito

1940: Italy enters World War Two

1959: The birth of football coach Carlo Ancelotti

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Francesco Pistocchi – singer and composer

Child prodigy who wrote many operas and also taught

A 19th century bust of Pistocchi on display at
the Biblioteca della Musica in Bologna.

Francesco Pistocchi, a singer who became known to audiences as Pistocchino, died on this day in 1726 in Bologna.

Pistocchi left the world many operas, oratorios and cantatas he had composed, which are now highly regarded for their melodic elegance and colourful harmony.

Born Francesco Antonio Mamiliano Pistocchi in Palermo in 1659, Pistocchi became a child prodigy because of his beautiful soprano voice. He began performing as a singer in public at the age of three and the first music he composed, Capricci puerili, was published when he was just eight years old.

Believed to have become a castrato, Pistocchi made regular appearances as a singer in Bologna’s cappella musicale at the Basilica of San Petronio, where his father was a violinist, from 1670 onwards.

He later had a brilliant opera career as a contralto, touring in Italy and Germany and serving at the court in Parma in the 1680s.

His opera, Il leandro, was premiered at Teatro alle Zattere in Venice in 1679.

The famous castrato Farinelli's teacher was
a former pupil of Pistocchi 

In 1696 Pistocchi became Court Kapellmeister for the Duke of Ansbach in Germany. His operas, Il Narciso and Le pazzie d’amore e dell’interesse, were presented in Ansbach in the late 1690s and another of his works, I rivali generosi, was premiered in Reggio Emilia in 1710.

After Pistocchi returned to live in Italy in 1702 he was named virtuoso di camera e di cappella to Prince Ferdinand of Tuscany.

Towards the end of his life, Pistocchi taught singing in Bologna. Among his notable pupils were Antonio Bernacchi, a castrato, and Annibale Pio Fabri, a tenor. Bernacchi later taught the famous castrato, Farinelli. Through his students, and their further pupils, much of Pistocchi’s skill and knowledge was passed on to the famous singers of the 18th century.

He was elected president of the Accademia Filarmonica twice, in 1708 and 1710, but after his voice began to deteriorate, Pistocchi closed his singing school. He was ordained a priest in 1715 in the Oratorian Order founded by San Filippo Neri in Bologna.

Pistocchi died in Bologna in 1726.

A recording of Pistocchi’s Oratorio, Il Martirio di San Adriano, was released by Pan Classics in 2013.

The Basilica di San Petronio, with its unfinished facade, is
the largest brick-built Gothic church in the world

Travel tip:

The Basilica di San Petronio, where Pistocchi sang in the cappella musicale in the 1670s, is the main church of Bologna, located in Piazza Maggiore in the centre of the city. It is the largest brick-built Gothic church in the world. Building work began on the church in 1390 and it was dedicated to San Petronio, who had been the Bishop of Bologna in the fifth century. The facade was designed by Domenico da Varignana and started in 1538 by Giacomo Ranuzzi but was never finished. The main doorway was decorated by Jacopo della Quercia of Siena with scenes from the Old Testament on the pillars, eighteen prophets on the archivolt, scenes from the New Testament on the architrave, and a Madonna and Child, Saint Ambrose and Saint Petronius on the tympanum.

The Oratory of San Filippo Neri
was reconstructed after the war

Travel tip:
The Oratory of San Filippo Neri in Bologna, where Pistocchi took religious orders, is a late baroque building in Via Manzoni. It was constructed from the sacristry of the adjacent church, which is now known as the Chiesa dei Filippini Madonna di Galliera e Filippo Neri. The Oratory was suppressed in 1866 and the building was for a time used as a barracks. It was badly damaged by Allied bombing during the Second World War but was faithfully reconstructed using old photographs in 1997.



More reading:

How Farinelli became music's first superstar

Senesino, the castrato who worked with Handel

Why a teacher of the finest 18th century singers died in poverty

Also on this day:

1804: The birth of Venetian revolutionary Daniele Manin

1909: The first Giro d'Italia leaves Milan

1938: The birth of former prime minister Giuliano Amato





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