PANZANI, GREGORIO

Secret papal agent in England (1634–36), Bishop of Mileto; b. date unknown; d. Mileto, Italy, 1662. When Henrietta Maria married Charles I in 1625, her godfather, previously nuncio in Paris, had become Pope Urban VIII. Urban sent a personal emissary to Henrietta, primarily to assess the papist situation in England. For this delicate mission, the pope's nephew and secretary of state Francesco Barberini, who was also Cardinal Protector of England, chose Panzani, a former Oratorian. Panzani's instructions were to try to settle sharp differences among the English Catholics, particularly between the secular and regular clergy (most of all, the Jesuits) on the need or expediency of having a bishop and on the lawfulness of taking the oath of allegiance to the king. Panzani was to look for signs, at court and among the Anglican clergy, of good will towards Rome. With this in mind he formed a close friendship with Sir Francis Windebank, secretary of state and a Crypto-Catholic enthusiastic for reunion. Both worked to establish an official exchange of agents between pope and queen. The latter's first two candidates, Sir Robert Douglas and Sir Arthur Brett, both Catholics and approved by King Charles, died before taking up their appointments. Eventually, Sir William Hamilton, a distant relative of the king, was sent to Rome (June 1636). A month later George Con, a Scot long resident in Rome, arrived in London as Pope Urban's agent to the queen. He was well received by Charles I and at once became popular in court and clerical circles. Panzani, who remained with him for six months, had meanwhile been sending fortnightly dispatches to Cardinal Barberini, reporting every sign of friendliness: the general esteem in which Pope Urban was held, particularly by the king; sermons preached by Anglican clergy attacking the Puritans or deploring the break with the Holy See; reunion talks with the Bishop of Chichester, who expressed his readiness to acknowledge the pope as Vicar of Christ; and suggestions for discussions in France between "moderate" Catholics and Anglicans. Panzani also sent Barberini a dossier on the two archbishops and 25 bishops of the Church of England, classifying the theological and personal attitude of each. Con's dispatches after Panzani's departure show that the Church of England would never reunite with the Holy See except on a basis of parity of rights, which Con at once made clear could never be. On his return to Rome, early in 1637, Panzani was made a canon of San Lorenzo in Damaso and a court judge. In August 1640, he became bishop of Mileto, where he remained until his death in 1662.

Bibliography: g. panzani, Memoirs, tr. j. berington (Birmingham, Eng. 1793). g. albion, Charles I and the Court of Rome (London 1935).

[g. albion]