CAMAIANI, PIETRO

Bishop of Ascoli Piceno and papal nuncio; b. Arezzo, June 1, 1519; d. Ascoli Piceno, March 27, 1579. From 1539 he was in the service of Duke Cosimo of Florence, and in 1546 he became his agent at the Council of Trent. In 1551 Pope Julius II took the able diplomat into the service of the Curia. As nuncio to Charles V (1552–53) and as nuncio at Naples (1554–55) he mediated in critical situations arising out of papal and Hapsburg policies. As bishop of Fiesole he was present at the third session of the Council of Trent. From 1566 until his death, as bishop of Ascoli Piceno, he promoted successfully the letter and the spirit of the Tridentine reforms. During his episcopate he acted as nuncio extraordinary at the court of Philip II at the request of Pope Pius V. His life and character bear witness to the movement away from the tradition of Renaissance diplomacy to the new pastoral idea of Catholic reform.

Bibliography: Short biography in Nuntiaturberichte aus Deutschland, Abt. 1, v.12, ed. g. kupke (1901) xxvi; v.13, ed. h. lutz (1959), his reports from the imperial court. p. villani, "Origine e carattere della nunziatura di Napoli," Annuario dell' Istituto Storico Italiano per l'età moderna e contemporanea, 9–10 (1957–58) 315ff, 411ff. l. pastor, The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages (London-St. Louis 1938–61) 8:286–289, 345–347. l. serrano, Correspondencia diplomatica entre España y la Santa Sede durante el pontificado de S. Pio V, 4 v. (Rome 1914). h. jedin, "La politica conciliare di Cosimo I," Rivista Storica Italiana 62 (1950) 345–374, 477–496. g. fabiani, Ascoli nel Cinquecento (Ascoli Piceno, Italy 1957).

[h. lutz]