Albergati, Niccolò, Bl.
ALBERGATI, NICCOLÒ, BL.
Carthusian bishop and cardinal; b. Bologna, 1375; d. Siena, May 9, 1443. Nobly born, Albergati abandoned the law for the Carthusian house of San Girolamo di Casara, where he became prior (1407) and visitor (1412). Appointed bishop of Bologna (1417), cardinal (1426), and eventually grand penitentiary and camerlengo, he served both martin v and eugene iv as legate to England, France, Germany, and Italy and at the councils of Basel, Ferrara, and Florence. For example, in 1422 Martin V sent him—albeit unsuccessfully—to reconcile the rulers of England, France, and Burgundy. Later (1435), Albergati won Philip the Good of Burgundy over to Charles VII, thus contributing materially to the Peace of Arras. He was buried in the Charter House at Florence. Benedict XIV authorized his cultus on Oct. 6, 1744.
Feast: May 9.
Bibliography: m. zanotti, Vita del b. Niccolò Albergati (Bologna 1757). s. autore, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 1:1396–97. p. de tÖth, Il beato cardinale Niccolò Albergati e i suoi tempi, 1375–1444, 2 v. (Acquapendente 1934). j. g. dickinson, The Congress of Arras, 1435 (Oxford 1955) passim.
[j. g. rowe]