# Ludovico Trevisan

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Italian prelate (1401–1465)

Ludovico Trevisan Patriarch of Aquileia Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church Portrait of Ludovico Trevisan, painted by Andrea Mantegna soon after Trevisan's return to Italy in 1459 [1] Church Catholic Church See Aquileia Appointed 18 December 1439 Term ended 22 March 1465 Predecessor Tommaso Tomasini Successor Giovanni Vitelleschi Other posts Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church (1440-1465) Cardinal-Bishop of Albano (1465) Previous posts Bishop of Tragurium (1435-1437) Archbishop of Florence (1437-1439) Cardinal-Priest of San Lorenzo in Damaso (1440-1465) Captain General of the Church (1455-1458) Orders Created cardinal 1 July 1440 by Pope Eugene IV Rank Cardinal-Bishop Personal details Born November 1401 Padua, Republic of Venice Died 22 March 1465(1465-03-22) (aged 63–64) Rome, Papal States Education University of Padua Coat of arms

**Ludovico Trevisan** (November 1401 – 22 March 1465) was an Italian Catholic [prelate](/source/Prelate), who was the [Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church](/source/Camerlengo_of_the_Holy_Roman_Church), [Patriarch of Aquileia](/source/List_of_bishops_and_patriarchs_of_Aquileia) and [Captain General of the Church](/source/Captain_General_of_the_Church) ([commander-in-chief](/source/Commander-in-chief) of the [Papal Army](/source/Papal_Army) and the [Papal Navy](/source/Papal_Navy)). He succeeded his rival [Giovanni Vitelleschi](/source/Giovanni_Vitelleschi), a fellow [cardinal](/source/Cardinal_(Catholicism)) of military talent and inclination, as [Bishop of Traù](/source/Bishop_of_Tra%C3%B9) and [Metropolitan Archbishop of Florence](/source/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Florence).[2] Trevisan was also known as the Cardinal of Aquileia and the Cardinal [Camerlengo](/source/Camerlengo_of_the_Holy_Roman_Church).[3]

## Early life

Trevisan was born into a non-military family in [Padua](/source/Padua),[2] then in the territory of the [Republic of Venice](/source/Republic_of_Venice), the son of Biagio Trevisano, a doctor in the arts and medicine.[3] Like other war cardinals, such as [Niccolò Fortiguerra](/source/Niccol%C3%B2_Fortiguerra) and [Giuliano della Rovere](/source/Pope_Julius_II), Trevisan came from a humble background.[4] His mother's maiden name was Mezzarota.[3] His first name is sometimes also rendered Ludovico, Luigi, Luise, and Alvise; his last name as Trevisano or Scarampi-Mezzarota.[3]

Trevisan succeeded rival [Giovanni Vitelleschi](/source/Giovanni_Vitelleschi) in the [sees](/source/Episcopal_see) of Traù and Florence.

Trevisan studied grammar and poetry, followed by the [liberal arts](/source/Liberal_arts), in Venice; he obtained a doctorate in arts and medicine at the [University of Padua](/source/University_of_Padua) on 9 July 1425.[3] After a brief stint teaching medicine, Trevisan went to Rome circa 1430 to become the physician of Cardinal Gabriele Condulmer (future [Pope Eugene IV](/source/Pope_Eugene_IV)).[3] Upon Condulmer's election as pope, Trevisan was made his [*cubicularius* and *scriptor* of apostolic letters](/source/Apostolic_Chancery). He soon also became a [canon](/source/Canon_(priest)) of the cathedral chapter of Padua and began his ecclesiastical career.[3]

## Bishopric

[Peter Paul Rubens](/source/Peter_Paul_Rubens)'s copy of *The Battle of Anghiari* by [Leonardo da Vinci](/source/Leonardo_da_Vinci). Allegedly the 2 knights at right are Ludovico Trevisan and [Giovanni Antonio del Balzo Orsini](/source/Giovanni_Antonio_del_Balzo_Orsini).

Trevisan was elected [bishop of Traù](/source/Bishop_of_Tra%C3%B9) on 24 October 1435, was [consecrated](/source/Consecrated) soon after his election, and remained bishop until 6 August 1437, governing it through his [vicar](/source/Vicar), Niccolò, abbot of the monastery of S. Giovanni Battista in [Traù](/source/Trogir).[3] On 6 August 1437 Trevisan was promoted to [metropolitan bishop of Florence](/source/Roman_Catholic_Archdiocese_of_Florence), which he occupied until 18 December 1439.[3] There is a record of Trevisan being in [Ferrara](/source/Ferrara) with Eugene IV on 23 January 1438, and his subscription is found on the bull of union with the Greeks issued by Eugenius IV on 4 July 1439.[3]

Trevisan became Patriarch of Aquileia on 18 December 1439 and occupied that see until his death. On 3 April 1440 Trevisan was commissioned as [papal legate](/source/Papal_legate) in [Romagna](/source/Romagna) "with the army, with the aim of recovering the lands of the Church."[3][5] As a result, he undertook military operations starting on July 30 aimed at capturing [Bologna](/source/Bologna) but had to pause the campaign from November 23 to the following Spring, at which time he received a sizable sum from the [Papal treasury](/source/Papal_treasury).[5]

He succeeded Vitelleschi as the pope's special deputy, possibly having engineered Vitelleschi's downfall through his henchman, [Antonio Rido](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Antonio_Rido&action=edit&redlink=1), and began pacifying the forces still loyal to Vitelleschi and reducing the regions of [Viterbo](/source/Viterbo) and [Civitavecchia](/source/Civitavecchia) to papal obedience.[2] As the pope's special deputy he was the paymaster of the sizable papal army and controlled its large budget, and commanded it in the field.[5]

On 4 June 1440 he received a special military standard and proceeded to [Tuscany](/source/Tuscany) with a force of 3000 horsemen and 500 foot soldiers to support [Francesco I Sforza](/source/Francesco_I_Sforza) and other papal and Florentine *[condottieri](/source/Condottieri)* against [Niccolò Piccinino](/source/Niccol%C3%B2_Piccinino).[2] Trevisan commanded the right flank of the combined papal-Florentine forces that defeated Piccinino in the [Battle of Anghiari](/source/Battle_of_Anghiari_(1440)) on 29 June.[2]

An account of his victory is also available in an important contemporary war poem, *[Trophaeum Anglaricum](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trophaeum_Anglaricum&action=edit&redlink=1)* by Florentine [humanist](/source/Humanism) Leonardo Dati, which praises Trevisan's caution as much as his impetuosity, comparing him to captains of antiquity such as [Alexander the Great](/source/Alexander_the_Great) and [Hannibal](/source/Hannibal).[6][7]

## Cardinalate

[Antonio Rido](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Antonio_Rido&action=edit&redlink=1), a henchman of Trevisan, depicted on his tomb in [San Pancrazio](/source/San_Pancrazio), Rome.

Immediately afterwards, on 1 July 1440, Trevisan was elevated cardinal priest, title of S. Lorenzo, by [Pope Eugene IV](/source/Pope_Eugene_IV) and a medal in his honour was designed by [Cristoforo di Geremia](/source/Cristoforo_di_Geremia) to commemorate the victory.[2] Upon his elevation, Bishop [Fortunato di Pellicanis](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fortunato_di_Pellicanis&action=edit&redlink=1) of [Sarsina](/source/Sarsina) began administering his patriarchate.[3] Later that year, he became [Camerlengo](/source/Camerlengo_of_the_Holy_Roman_Church), an office he held until his death.[3]

When Eugene IV and [Filippo Visconti](/source/Filippo_Maria_Visconti) turned against Sforza, Trevisan was the organizer of the campaign to recapture the [March of Ancona](/source/March_of_Ancona) (to which he was named legate on 13 September 1442) for the papacy.[5] Under [Pope Callixtus III](/source/Pope_Callixtus_III), Trevisan played an important role in organizing the naval campaign against the [Ottomans](/source/Ottoman_Empire) in December 1455, both responsible for the construction of the [Papal Navy](/source/Papal_Navy) and was appointed "apostolic legate, governor-general, [captain and general](/source/Captain_General_of_the_Church) *condottiere*" in charge of it.[8] Trevisan defeated the Turkish assault on [Mytilene](/source/Mytilene) in August 1457, during which many Turkish vessels were captured, receiving praise from the pope.[8] Trevisan attended the [papal congress of war in Mantua in 1459](/source/Council_of_Mantua_(1459)) where chronicler [Andrea Schivenoglia](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Andrea_Schivenoglia&action=edit&redlink=1) described him on arrival as "aged sixty, a small, swarthy, hairy man, with a very proud, dark air about him" ("*homo pizolo, negro, peloxo, com aìero molte superbo e schuro*").[8]

Trevisan was the only cardinal in the [papal conclave, 1464](/source/Papal_conclave%2C_1464) that did not subscribe to the [conclave capitulation](/source/Conclave_capitulation), which among other things, bound the pope to continue the Crusading war against the Ottoman Turks.[9]

## Death and legacy

Trevisan died during the first year of the pontificate of [Pope Paul II](/source/Pope_Paul_II), with whom Trevisan was not on good terms, at 3 a.m. in Rome of [edema](/source/Edema).[3][10] Like Cardinal [Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz](/source/Gil_%C3%81lvarez_Carrillo_de_Albornoz), Trevisan has been described as an "angel of peace".[5]

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Painting at the Gemäldegalerie Berlin](http://www.smb.museum/smb/gesichter/picture.php?id=2&lang=en)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-c45_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-c45_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-c45_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-c45_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-c45_2-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-c45_2-5) Chambers, 2006, p. 45.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-8) [***j***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-9) [***k***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-10) [***l***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-11) [***m***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-12) [***n***](#cite_ref-miranda_3-13) Miranda, Salvador. 1998. "[Consistory of 1 July 1440 (IV)](https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios1440.htm#Trevisano)."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Chambers, 2006, p. 106.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-c46_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-c46_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-c46_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-c46_5-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-c46_5-4) Chambers, 2006, p. 46.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Chambers, 2006, pp. 45–46.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Chambers, 2006, p. 50.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-c49_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-c49_8-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-c49_8-2) Chambers, 2006, p. 49.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [Francis Burkle-Young “Papal elections in the Fifteenth Century: the election of Paul II](https://cardinals.fiu.edu/election-paulii.htm)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Chambers, 2006, p. 72.

## References

- Chambers, D.S. 2006. *Popes, Cardinals & War: The Military Church in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe*. I.B. Tauris. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-84511-178-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-84511-178-6).

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National Vatican People Deutsche Biographie DDB Other IdRef

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ludovico Trevisan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovico_Trevisan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludovico_Trevisan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.