Alessandro Peretti di Montalto

Who was Alessandro Peretti di Montalto?

Alessandro Damasceni Peretti di Montalto was an Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal Deacon. He received the title by his uncle Felice Peretti after the latter was elected Pope Sixtus V on April 24, 1585, in the consistory on May 13; the cardinal was then fourteen years old. The Republic of Venice inscribed him in the Libro d'Oro as a patrician of Venice that same year. Though he was made the permanent governor of Fermo the following year, and was often the papal legate in Bologna, he was not made a bishop until 1620, when he became Cardinal-Bishop of Albano. He served also as Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church and Cardinal Protector of the Kingdom of Poland and of the several religious orders.

Alessandro Peretti was born at Montalto delle Marche, the son of Fabio Damasceni and Maria Felice Mignucci Peretti, who was a niece of the pope on her mother's side. Like his great-uncle before him, Alessandro Peretti was also known as Cardinal di Montalto.