Francesco Camillo VII Massimo – Wikipedia

Francesco Massimo, Iv marches of rocospeccca , also known as Camillo VII (Rome, September 27, 1730 – Naples, February 20, 1801) It was a noble, diplomat and dignity pontifical dignity.

It belonged to the well -known Roman family whose origin an unlikely genealogy traces the Fabia people of ancient Rome ^[first] ; His father was the Marquis Filippo (1684-1735) and his mother Isabella Fiammetta Soderini (1699-1744). Francesco is remembered in public documents with the name of “Camillo VII” as all the male’s firstborn family of the Massimo family signed the public documents not with their own baptism name, but with that of “Camillo”, in memory of Camillo Massimo (1577-1640 ), the first set of the eMPHY FEDOMMESSE ^[2] . Orphan of parents in childhood, he had a maternal uncle as a guardian who made him study in Turin.

In 1746 his name was included among those of the sixty “patricians conscripts” listed in the Urbem Romam bubble by Benedetto XIV ^[3] . Since then Francesco Camillo VII has often accessed to the judiciary in the Capidoglio and in the pontifical court. In 1765 he married a rich heiress, Barbara Savelli Palombara (1750-1826), which brought Villa Palombara to the Aquiline to the dowry. In 1769 he was appointed above -pontifical general post office, a vital position that procured the contract of postal services in the state of the church and was then confirmed to all the firstborn maximum up to Prince Leone (Camillo XII). In 1775 Pope Pius gave it to you of any public assignment because Francesco had shown exultation when, during the conclave, he had considered Cardinal Braschi, that is, the future Pius VI, could not have become Pope; But Francesco managed to return to the graces of the Pontiff early and the contract of the postal service recalled.

In 1796 he was appointed colonel of the civic militia; And the following year he was part of the General Staff of General Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchini, the unfortunate commander of the Papal Army against French troops. On February 19, 1797 Francesco Massimo was part of the diplomatic delegation which, headed by Cardinal Alessandro Mattei, had the task of treating the papal surrender, then signed with the Treaty of Tolentino (19 February 1797), with François Cacault and Napoleon Bonaparte. Shortly after (11 March 1797) he was appointed diplomatic representative at Napoleon. Massimo was considered the most suitable person to mediate between the papal court and France as he was secular and was considered pro-French because, having studied in Turin, he knew French culture well ^[4] . A well -known anecdote probably dates back to this period: to Bonaparte who asked him if it was true that the Massimo descended from Quinto Fabio Massimo, he replied that it could not be sure, but that in any case in his family that rumor circulated from a dozen centuries ^[5] .

On July 28, 1797 he presented the credentials of Ambassador of Pio VI to Paris; His main diplomatic activity in France was to negotiate the restoration of the Catholic cult in France. The mission ceased abruptly when news of the killing of General Léonard Duphot (28 December 1797) arrived in Paris in Paris, and Massimo was put under house arrest. On March 6, 1798 he was freed and was able to return to Rome where in the meantime the Roman Republic had been established (1798-1799), which therefore had to deliver the diplomatic cards. During the ephemeral restoration following the invasion of Rome of the Neapolitan army who, under the command of Von Mack, tried to restore the papal authority, Massimo joined the provisional regency. However, Mack’s defeat in Civita Castellana entailed the return to Rome of the French army (11 December 1798): Massimo took refuge first in Naples and subsequently, when the Neapolitan Republic was established (1799), in Corfu. In Rome he was condemned to death in Contumacia (April 3, 1799) and his assets were confiscated. He returned to Rome only after the fall of the Roman Republic (27 September 1799) and resumed to be part of the Supreme Government Council. He died in Naples; It is buried in the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, in Chiaia.

Francesco Camillo VII married on May 16, 1765 in Rome the noblewoman Barbara Savelli Palombara, daughter of Massimiliano III Savelli Palombara, marquis of Pietraforte, and nephew of Massimiliano Savelli Palombara the famous alchemist, who owes the construction of the magic door, still visible today In the garden of Piazza Vittorio E.II in Rome and Porzia Gabrielli. The couple had the following children:

• Carlo (n. 1766), ecclesiastical
• Maria Isabella (n. 1767)
• Massimiliano Camillo (n. 1770), V marquis of Roccasecca and the princes of Arsoli, married Cristina di Saxony
• Carlo Emmanuele Filippo (n. 1775)
• Giulia (n. 1783), married the Marquis Luigi Costaguti in first wedding and the noble Francesco Bernini in second wedding