Francesco Soderini

Francesco di Tommaso Soderini (10 June 1453 – 17 May 1524) was a major diplomatic and Church figure of Renaissance Italy, and brother of Piero Soderini. He was an adversary of the Medici family.

Biography

On 27 Mar 1486, he was ordained a priest by Rinaldo Orsini, Archbishop of Florence. He became Bishop of Volterra in 1478, by nomination, resigning in 1509. In 1487, he was ordained and received his cardinalate in 1503, supported by Louis XII of France. He was Bishop of Cortona from 1504–1505 and held further church posts.

He was complicit in the plot of fellow Cardinals Bandinello Sauli and Alfonso Petrucci against Leo X for the benefit of Cardinal Riario; he went into voluntary exile in 1517, returning to Rome in 1521.

Bibliography

• K. J. P. Lowe, Church and Politics in Renaissance Italy: The Life and Career of Cardinal Francesco Soderini, 1453-1524
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