1. Federico Borromeo was a great patron of the arts and founded the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, one of the first free public libraries in Europe.
21 Facts About Federico Borromeo
1. 2.
Federico Borromeo was born in Milan as the second son of Giulio Cesare Borromeo, Count of Arona, and Margherita Trivulzio.
3.
The family was influential in both the secular and ecclesiastical spheres and Federico was cousin of Saint Charles Borromeo, the latter previous Archbishop of Milan and a leading figure during the Counter-Reformation.
4.
Federico Borromeo studied in Bologna with Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti and in 1580, at the age of 16, he asked to become a Jesuit.
5.
In Rome, Federico Borromeo was not particularly interested in political issues, but he focused on scholarship and prayer.
6.
Federico Borromeo collaborated on the issuing of the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate and to the publication of the acts of the Council of Trent.
7.
Federico Borromeo served as the first cardinal protector of his friend Federico Zuccari's Accademia di San Luca.
8.
Federico Borromeo followed the example of his elder cousin in promoting the discipline of the clergy, founding churches and colleges at his own expense, and applying everywhere the reformed principles set by the Council of Trent.
9.
Federico Borromeo held a provincial council and 14 diocesan synods and made regular visits to the parishes of the diocese.
10.
Cardinal Federico Borromeo donated his collection of paintings and drawings to the library, too.
11.
Federico Borromeo sent out agents across the Mediterranean to find Greek manuscripts for the new foundation, with large numbers coming from Corfu, Chios, Thessaly, and Venice.
12.
Federico Borromeo was the patron of Manfredo Settala, son of the famous physician Ludovico Settala, who was compiling his famous museum of natural and scientific curiosities in his family palace on the Via Pantano in Milan.
13.
Federico Borromeo was Milan's Archbishop during the Great Plague of 1630.
14.
Federico Borromeo's eulogy was written by the renowned scholar Paolo Arese.
15.
Federico Borromeo was a prolific writer, to the extent that he can be considered the most important Milanese writer of the first half of the seventeenth century, alongside Giuseppe Ripamonti.
16.
Federico Borromeo composed some 71 printed and 46 manuscript books written mostly in Latin that discuss various ecclesiastical issues.
17.
Federico Borromeo's writings are inspired by a widely ranging intellectual curiosity.
18.
Federico Borromeo was keenly interested in science, knew Galileo and tried to enrol the latter's friend, Bonaventura Cavalieri, as Doctor of his new foundation.
19.
Federico Borromeo appears as a character in Alessandro Manzoni's 1827 novel The Betrothed, in which he is characterized as an intelligent humanist and saintly servant of Christ, serving the people of Milan unselfishly during the 1630 plague; in the novel he is called Federigo Borromeo, from the Spanish.
20.
Federico Borromeo was the dedicatee of the first of Coppini's three collections of contrafacta.
21.
The effort to canonize Federico Borromeo began soon after his death, and documents in support of his case were still being collected in the 1690s, but the process was never institutionalized by Church authorities due to the opposition of the Spanish crown.