Mark Sittich von Hohenems Altemps (1533–1595) was a GermanRoman Catholicbishop and cardinal. The addition of Altemps to the family name reflects Alt-Ems (or Alt-Embs) itself deriving from "Alta Embs" (Latin for "altus" = high), like the modern name Hohenems (High Ems in German).
His uncle Giovanni Angelo Medici was elevated to the papacy on 26 December 1559,[6] taking the name Pius IV. He proved generous in providing benefices for his Italian and German nephews. On 23 March 1560 Mark Sittich von Hohenems became a cleric in the Apostolic Camera.[1] He was appointed Bishop of Cassano by his papal uncle on 29 May 1560,[7] and was named Administrator of the diocese until he reached the canonical age for consecration as a bishop.[8] He was consecrated by his cousin Charles Borromeo on 17 February 1566.[1] He resigned the government of the Diocese of Cassano on 11 May 1561, at the request of his uncle, who had named him a Cardinal and who had a more important See for him.[1] In order to ensure that the Council of Trent resumed as the Pope wished, by Easter of 1562, he served as papal legate to Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand, King of the Romans to persuade them to lend their assistance both for the reopening of the Council and for the attendance of as many bishops as possible.[1]
Cardinal, 1561-95
His uncle Pope Pius IV made him a cardinal deacon in the consistory of 26 February 1561.[1] He received the red hat and the titular church of Santi Apostoli (as a deaconrypro illa vice, that is to say, that on this one occasion, by special papal order, the Basilica of the XII Apostles, which ordinarily belonged to a cardinal priest, was to be considered a deaconry so that Cardinal Altemps, a deacon, could hold it) on 10 March 1561.[1] It was because he had been created a cardinal in the See of Rome that he resigned the See of Cassano.
He opted for the order of cardinal priests on 30 July 1563, keeping Santi Apostoli as his titular church and dropping the temporary designation as a Deaconry.[1] He was subsequently appointed governor of Norcia and Monte Leonis on 3 October 1564; as legate in Marche on 1 November 1564; and as governor of Ascoli Piceno on 3 November 1564.[1] In 1566, he served as papal legate to the Diet of Augsburg.[1] On 15 May 1565 he opted for the deaconry of San Giorgio in Velabro, raised pro illa vice to the status of a titular church.[1] On 18 August 1565 he became governor of Ancona and, on 11 November 1565, governor for life of Stroncone, Umbria.[1] He was the governor of Capranica, Lazio from 1565 to 1568.[1] In each case, others governed on his behalf, though he collected a considerable part of the income of the offices.
He was a participant in the papal conclave of 1565-66 that elected Pope Pius V.[1][10] In February 1566, he received leave to depart from Rome to Konstanz.[1] In Konstanz he conducted a diocesan Synod in September. In 1577 he authorized the publication of the Catechism of Pius V in his diocese.[11] He was also eager to introduce the Jesuits into the Diocese of Konstanz, and corresponded with the Jesuit General Alfonso Borgia on the subject, though the project was long in bearing fruit.[12] He returned to Rome to participate in the papal conclave of 1572 that elected Pope Gregory XIII.[13]
In 1568, Marco Sittico bought a property in Rome that he immediately set about rebuilding as the Palazzo Altemps, to designs by Martino Longhi the Elder; he also built the Villa Mondragone at Frascati. He assembled a formidable collection of Roman antiquities and sculptures.
He had guided the education and early career of his nephew, Mark Sittich von Hohenems (Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg) (1574–1619). However, Lutheranism spread through his home area, under the patronage of the Counts of Hohenems, and the area was devastated by the Thirty Years' War and plague. His illegitimate son Roberto was made Duke of Gallese, took the family name of Altemps, and married Cornelia Orsini.[15]
^George L. Williams, Papal Genealogy: The Families And Descendants Of The Popes (Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland, 2004), p. 75
^Judas Thaddeus Zauner, Neue Chronik von Salzburg Part VII (Salzburg 1813), 1-247. G. Gulik and C. Eubel, Hierarchia catholica III edition altera (curavit L. Schmitz-Kallenberg) (Monsterii 1923) p. 291.
^Judas Thaddeus Zauner, Neue Chronik von Salzburg Part VIII (Salzburg 1816), 1-104. P. Gauchet, Hierarchia catholica IV (Monasterii 1935), p. 302.
^A Genoese woman, according to Lorenzo Cardella, Memorie de' Cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa V (Roma 1793), p. 41. From him and Cornelia Orsini (married 1576) descend the Barons of Hohenems and Dukes of Gallese. Cornelia Orsini was the daughter of Virginio Orsini, first Duke of San Gemini and Giovanna Caetani, daughter of Bonifacio, fourth Duke of Sermoneta.
^G. Gulik and C. Eubel, Hierarchia catholica III edition altera (curavit L. Schmitz-Kallenberg) (Monsterii 1923) p. 156 and n. 9,
^The diocese was provided with a vicar in spiritualibus, Benedetto Salini, Bishop of Veroli, on 3 July 1560: Gulik-Eubel p. 156 n. 9, and 331.
^Lorenzo Cardella, Memorie de' Cardinali della Santa Romana Chiesa V (Roma 1793), p. 41, believes that Marcus Altemps was also made Major Penitentiary; this is an error. It was Carlo Borromeo, his cousin, who was made Major Penitentiary (1565-1572).
^Catechismvs Ex Decreto Concilii Tridentini, Ad Parochos: Ante Qvidem Pii V. Pont. Max. iussu conscriptus, nunc autem in IIII. libros, certaq[ue] capita distributes... mandato et authoritate ... Domini Marci Sitici S.R.E. Cardinalis et Episcopi Costantiensis.... (Ingolstadt: Sartorius 1577).
^Bernhard Duhr, Geschichte der Jesuiten in den Ländern deutscher Zunge im XVI. Jahrhundert (Freiburg I. B.: Herder 1907), p. 407.
^George L. Williams, Papal Genealogy: The Families and Descendants of The Popes 2004: Appendix B: Papal Dynasties, p. 220
Sources
Simonetta Scherling, Markus Sittikus III. (1533-1595): vom deutschen Landsknecht zum römischen Kardinal (Konstanz: UVK, Universitätsverlag Konstanz, 2000) [Forschungen zur Geschichte Voralbergs, 4].