Prospero Pubblicola Santacroce (24 September 1514 – 2 October 1589) was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal. He was active in Church affairs as a diplomat and prelate in Rome.
Biography
Santacroce was born in Rome on 24 September 1514, the son of Tarquinio Santacroce and Ersilia de' Massimi. He was the uncle of Cardinal Antonio Santacroce.
He received a doctorate from the University of Padua. He then returned to Rome, becoming a consistorial lawyer in 1537. In 1538, he became the auditor of Fabio Mignanelli, who was then nuncio before Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. He later became a referendary of the Apostolic Signatura. In 1543, he became an auditor of the Roman Rota. The next year he was an auditor of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who was then papal legate a latere in the Holy Roman Empire. He accompanied the cardinal to the Diet of Worms in May 1545.
On 22 March 1548 he was elected Bishop of Cisamus. From 5 April 1548 until 25 April 1550 he was nuncio before Ferdinand, King of the Romans; during this time, he participated in the Diet of Prague, where he argued with the Hussites. He was nuncio to the Kingdom of France from 15 July 1552 until 23 May 1554. He became governor of Bologna on 2 April 1560. He was nuncio extraordinary in Spain in 1560, and nuncio to the Kingdom of Portugal from 6 July 1560 until 10 May 1561. During his time in Portugal, he became the first European to cultivate tobacco for the purpose of tobacco smoking; as a result, tobacco's original name in the Italian language was erba Santacroce. From 1561 to 1565, he was again nuncio to the Kingdom of France.
Pope Pius IV made him a cardinal priest in the consistory of 12 March 1565. He did not, however, participate in the papal conclave of 1565-66 that elected Pope Pius V. He received the red hat and the titular church of Saint Jerome of the Croats on 8 February 1566.
On 17 June 1566 he became administrator of the Diocese of Arles, while retaining the government of Cisamus. He opted for the titular church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri on 12 April 1570. He participated in the papal conclave of 1572 that elected Pope Gregory XIII. He resigned the government of Cisamus sometime before 10 December 1572 and of Arles sometime before 15 March 1574. On 5 May 1574 he opted for the titular church of Sant'Adriano al Foro (a deaconry raised to the status of title pro illa vice). He was Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals from 9 January 1581 to 8 January 1582. On 4 March 1583 he opted for the titular church of San Clemente. He was a participant in the papal conclave of 1585 that elected Pope Sixtus V. On 2 March 1589 he opted for the order of cardinal bishops, receiving the suburbicarian see of Albano.
He died in Rome on 2 October 1589. He was buried in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. His remains were later transferred to Santa Maria in Publicolis.
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References
- ^ Miranda, Salvador. "SANTACROCE, Prospero (1514-1589)". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Florida International University. OCLC 53276621.