He was born in Fiorenzuola on September 11, 1578, and at the age of sixteen donned the Dominican habit at the monastery of Pavia. After having taught at the convents where he had studied, and having been Provincial in various places, he was elected as Procurator and shortly thereafter as Vicar General of his Order, and resided in Rome. He soon made a name for himself there, and was called to take up the important posts of Commissioner of the Holy Office and Master of the Holy Apostolic Palace, and Urban VIII made him a cardinal with the title of Saint Clement, and then Archbishop of Benevento, where he remained until 1643. He also gained an excellent reputation as a military architect, and as such was engaged by the Pope to fortify the stronghold on the island of Malta against the Turks, and oversaw the fortifications of Bologna and some repair work carried out on the Castel Sant’Angelo, and was consulted concerning the walls with which Urban VIII wanted to gird Rome. He died in Rome on February 15, 1667.

The Works of Galileo Galilei, national edition edited by Antonio Favaro, Florence, Barbčra, 1899-1909, vol. XX, Biographical Index, to v.