Cardinal Giulio Alberoni – statesman and gourmet

Priest loved power, wealth...and his local pasta

As a diplomat, Cardinal Alberoni became
the equivalent of prime minister of Spain

Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, who gained money and high position through representing the interests of France and Spain, and was also known for his love of good food, was born on this day in 1664 in Fiorenzuola D’Arda near Piacenza in the Duchy of Parma in Emilia-Romagna.

Alberoni had a career punctuated by highs and lows, but he accumulated vast personal wealth and his memory lives on because of two dishes that are still served in Piacenza.

The son of a gardener, Alberoni rose to become a statesman responsible for the revival of Spain’s fortunes during the War of the Spanish Succession, and he was made the papal legate of Ravenna and Bologna.

After being educated by the Jesuits, Alberoni took holy orders and was appointed a canon at Parma in 1698.

In 1702, the government of Parma sent him on a diplomatic mission to Louis-Joseph, Duc de Vendôme, commander of French forces in Italy during the War of the Spanish Succession. He was then taken by Vendôme to France as his secretary in 1706, and to Spain a few years later, although he continued to act as an agent of Parma.

After Vendôme’s death, Alberoni remained in Madrid as the official representative of Parma. His influence at the Spanish court increased and he negotiated the marriage of Philip V of Spain to Isabella Farnese, the daughter of the Duke of Parma.

Alberoni became the equivalent of a prime minister for Philip V, and he carried out administrative and fiscal reforms at the Spanish court. He brought in foreign craftsmen to boost industry, while reducing the powers of the councils made up of aristocrats who were against his reforms.

Pier Leone Ghezzi's painting of Pope Clement XI
conferring the cardinal's hat to Giulio Alberoni

His foreign policy was designed to drive the Austrians from Italy and to safeguard Spanish trade with the American colonies. But Spanish military expeditions to Sicily and Sardinia led to Spain having to go to war, and the defeat of Spanish forces during a French and British invasion of Spain, resulted in Alberoni being banished from the country in 1719.

Alberoni fled from Spain to Italy, but charges were laid against him by Spain in a bid to persuade the Pope to depose him as a Cardinal. However, he managed to avoid being arrested and took refuge in Austrian territory in Lombardy.

After Pope Clement XI died in 1721, Alberoni went to take part in the conclave that elected Pope Innocent XIII. He was briefly imprisoned in a monastery by the new pontiff to satisfy Spain, who had accused Alberoni of sodomy, but he was later cleared of the charges by his fellow cardinals.

When Pope Benedict XIII was elected in 1724, Alberoni was made a cardinal deacon and given the church of Sant’ Adriano al Foro. He was later made the cardinal priest of San Crisogono.

After he was named legate of Ravenna, Alberoni had Porta Alberoni built in the city as a gateway to the dockyards, but this has since been moved.

He later retired to live in Piacenza and the Pope named him administrator of the hospital of San Lazzaro, an institution originally founded for lepers. 

Coppa del Cardinale, named after Alberoni,
is a popular cured pork in Emilia-Romagna

As leprosy had almost disappeared in Italy by then, Alberoni obtained the Pope’s permission to suppress the hospital and use it as a seminary for the priestly education of poor boys, which he named Collegio Alberoni.

After his death in 1752, he left money to the seminary and the rest of his fortune to his nephew. The huge collection of art he had accumulated is now on show to the public in a gallery inside Collegio Alberoni.

His private correspondence was to reveal his love of food, as among his letters there are requests for local delicacies to be sent to him, such as truffles, salame, robiola cheeses, and a type of local pasta known as anolini.

At least two Piacenza dishes are named after him, the cured pork dish, Coppa del Cardinale, and the pasta dish Timballo Alberoni, which contains macaroni, shrimp sauce, mushrooms, butter and cheese.

Alberoni was buried inside the Church of Collegio Alberoni, to which he had bequeathed the sum of 600,000 ducati, a fortune at the time.

The 14th century Collegiata di San Fiorenzo
in Fiorenzuola D'Arda's Piazza Molinari

Travel tip:

Fiorenzuola D’Arda, where Alberoni was born into a humble family,  is a city in the province of Piacenza, which dates back to prehistoric times. One of its main sights is the 14th century church of Collegiata di San Fiorenzo in Piazza Molinari. The former Church of San Giovanni, which over the centuries has been used as a courthouse, barracks, and prison, now houses the town hall and municipal library. There is also a theatre named after the opera composer Giuseppe Verdi. Typical local dishes include anolini pasta in broth with cheese, and cold cuts served with ‘gnocco fritto’ (fried dumplings). Fiorenzuola sits in Val d’Arda, which is home to some of the most beautiful castles in the whole of Emilia-Romagna, set against a backdrop of gently rolling hills.

Antonello da Messina's masterpiece
Ecco Homo in the Galleria Alberoni

Travel tip:

Piacenza is a city about 75km (45 miles) to the north east of Parma in Emilia-Romagna.  The main square in Piacenza is named Piazza Cavalli because of its two bronze equestrian monuments featuring Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma, and his son Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma, who succeeded him. The statues are masterpieces by the sculptor Francesco Mochi. Collegio Alberoni still stands in Via Emilia Parmense in Piacenza. It is now a library, an historical and natural museum, and a seismological and weather observatory. Among the many works of art in Galleria Alberoni, which is inside the Collegio, is the masterpiece Ecce Homo by Antonello da Messina, and there are also many church furnishing objects and tapestries, which belonged to Cardinal Alberoni.

Also on this day:

1512: The death of tyrant ruler Pandolfo Petrucci

1910: The birth of Mafia boss Angelo Bruno

1972: Michelangelo’s Pietà damaged

1981: Propaganda Due suspects named

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Francesco Alberoni – sociologist

Academic explained the mystery of falling in love

Francesco Alberoni wrote more than 25 books,
some published in 20 languages

Francesco Alberoni, who became a well-known sociologist because of his regular columns in Il Corriere della Sera, was born on this day in 1929 in Borgonovo Val Tidone in the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna.

Alberoni was successful with the short books he wrote on the themes of love, good and evil, and ethics, and his work explored the dynamics of social relations. In 1979 he produced a bestseller, Innamoramento e amore (Falling in Love).

He was the descendant of a famous Cardinal from Piacenza, Giulio Alberoni, who was active in European diplomatic circles in the 17th century.

But his own upbringing was during the Fascist era in Italy and while he studied at the Liceo Scientifico in Piacenza, he claims he was subjected to military-style discipline.

Alberoni moved to Pavia to study medicine, where he met the Capuchin friar, Agostino Gemelli, who encouraged him to pursue his interest in the study of social behaviour.

His first book, L’Elite senza potere - Elite without Power - was published in 1963. Alberoni then published a further three books before he completed the work that was to set out the foundations for his own sociological ideas, Movimento e istituzione - Movement and Institution - which was published in 1977.

This was one of the first books on the sociological analysis of movements and it explored how leadership, ideas and communication all come together to fuel the birth of different movements.

Innamoramento e amore became
a bestseller in Italy

His most famous book, Falling in Love, maintains that the experience of falling in love is in essence the nascent state, or "ignition state", of a collective movement which is made up exclusively of two people.

In exploring the subject, Alberoni used the language of love stories rather than psychological or sociological jargon, which may explain the book’s popularity. Falling in Love has since been translated into 20 languages and, after ten editions, is still in print in Italy.

The sociologist was one of just a few regular front page writers for Corriere della Sera, who published his columns from 1973 to 2011.

Meanwhile, Alberoni had a distinguished academic career, holding professorships at a number of universities in Italy and Europe.

He wrote more than 25 books about sociology and has also had collections of his essays published, despite not having enjoyed his own early education during the Fascist era. He has also said he did not have much access to books when he was young and therefore started to enjoy the pleasure of reading himself, only when he was a teenager.

Alberoni was at one time a board member of  RAI, the Italian state television network, and a president of the Centro Sperimentale Cinematografia, the Italian national film school based in Rome.

He had three children with his first wife, Vincenza Pugliese. He later had a fourth child with his partner, Laura Bonin. He named this child Giulio after his famous ancestor. In 1988, he was married for the second time, to another sociologist, Rosa Giannetta.

Alberoni died of kidney disease in Milan in 2023, aged 93.

Borgonovo Val Tidone's 's town hall is house 
in a repurposed Sforza castle 

Travel tip:

Borgonovo Val Tidone, where Alberoni was born, is a town of just under 8,000 residents in Emilia-Romagna, located about 160km (99 miles) northwest of Bologna and about 20km (12 miles) west of Piacenza. Nestling at the feet of the Apennines, the town is situated not far from the river Tidone, which supposedly owes its name to the Carthagian leader, Hannibal. Legend says that the Carthaginian leader, as a gesture of gratitude for crossing the river, threw a ring in the water with the words ti dono - I give you. Once controlled by the Sforza family of Milan, Borgonovo Val Tidone is the home of Chisöla, a type of focaccia bread made with pork rind, which is the highlight of the town’s annual gastronomic fair each September. 

Piacenza's Piazza Cavalli is notable for its two
equestrian statues by Francesco Mochi

Travel tip

Piacenza is the first major city along the route of the Via Emilia, the Roman road that connected Piacenza with the Adriatic resort of Rimini. Parma, some 66km (41 miles) along the route, is the next, followed by Reggio Emilia, Modena and Bologna. The main square in Piacenza is named Piazza Cavalli because of its two bronze equestrian monuments featuring Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma and his son Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma, who succeeded him. The statues are masterpieces by the sculptor Francesco Mochi.  The city is situated between the River Po and the Apennines, with Milan just over 72km (45 miles) to the northwest. Piacenza Cathedral, built in 1122, is a good example of northern Italian Romanesque architecture.  Among many notable people, Piacenza is the birthplace of Giorgio Armani, founder of the eponymous fashion house.

Also on this day:

1493: The birth of Eleonora Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino

1842: The birth of painter Giovanni Boldini

1855: The birth of poet Giovanni Pascoli

1990: The death of architect Giovanni Michelucci

New Year’s Eve - Festa di San Silvestro

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