Onofrio de Santa Croce

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

Onofrio de Santa Croce (died 20 October 1471) was a cardinal and bishop of Tricarico within the Kingdom of Naples. He was born in Rome and died there.[1] In 1467, he was sent as papal legate by Pope Paul II to mediate between the expanding Duchy of Burgundy and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège in the second Liège war over the desire of the latter for sovereignty. Onofrio had enjoyed previous successes as a diplomat and was armed with firsthand knowledge of the situation acquired when he accompanied the legate Paul Ferri to the city of Liège in 1463.[2]

Despite "tireless efforts," Onofrio failed, and a third Liège war, in October 1468, saw Charles the Bold of Burgundy and Louis XI of France began a siege that would end in the destruction of Liège. Onofrio's memoir is considered "one of the most important 'outside' sources" on the war and events leading up to it.[3] In another attempt to explain the circumstances and consequences of the war, he commissioned the Italian humanist poet Angelo Sabino to compose a historical epic, De excidio civitatis Leodiensis ("The Fall of the City of Liège"). Onofrius died without having regained his good standing at the papal court.[4]

The name Onofrio (Latin Onofrius) will also be found as Onufrio (Onufrius).

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Andrew R. Scoble, The Memoirs of Philip de Commines, Lord of Argenton (London, 1855), vol. 1, p. 147 online.
  2. ^ Sylvain Balau, "Sources de l'histoire du pay de Liége au Moyen Age," Memoires couronnés 61 (1902–1903), p. 647 online.
  3. ^ Robert Douglas Smith and Kelly DeVries, The Artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy, 1363–1477 (Boydell, 2005), p. 161 online. See also Godefroid Kurth, La Cité de Liège au Moyen-Age p. 281 online.
  4. ^ Eugène Bacha, "Deux écrits de Mathieu Herbenus sur la destruction de Liège par Charles-le-Téméraire," Bulletin de la Commission Royale d'Histoire (de la Belgique) 75 (1907) 385–390 online.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Richard J. Walsh, Charles the Bold and Italy (1467–1477): Politics and Personnel (Liverpool University Press, 2005), pp. 73–75 online.
[edit]