Giacomo Puteo

Giacomo Puteo was born in Majorca on 13 February 1495, the son of noble Antoni del Pozzo (from Nice, native of Alessandria, Piedmont) and Praxedis Berard i Caulelles.[1] He was educated at the University of Bologna, becoming a doctor of both laws.[1]

After university, he went to Rome and became auditor of Cardinal Pietro Accolti.[1] During the pontificate of Pope Paul III, he became an auditor of the Roman Rota, a post he held for fifteen years, ultimately becoming Dean of the Roman Rota.[1]

On 18 April 1550 he was elected Archbishop of Bari.[1] He never visited his archdiocese.[1]

Pope Julius III made him a cardinal priest in the consistory of 20 November 1551.[1] He received the red hat and the titular church of San Simeon in Posterula on 4 December 1551.[1]

He was a participant in both the papal conclave of April 1555 that elected Pope Marcellus II and the papal conclave of May 1555 that elected Pope Paul IV.[1] On 29 May 1555 he opted for the titular church of Santa Maria in Via Lata.[1] During the pontificate of Pope Paul IV, he was Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura; a member of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office; and was cardinal protector of both the Kingdom of Poland and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.[1] Together with Cardinal Giovanni Battista Cicala, he was charged with examining abolishing the alienation of ecclesiastical patrimony done against the constitution of Pope Paul II.[1]

He participated in the papal conclave of 1559 that elected Pope Pius IV.[1] He participated in the planning of the Council of Trent and was an active proponent of the Counter-Reformation.[1] In 1561, he was named a papal legate to the Council of Trent, though his health did not permit him to attend the council.[1] On 16 December 1562 he resigned the government of Bari in favor of his nephew Antonio del Pozzo.[1]

He died in Rome on 26 April 1563.[1] He was buried in Santa Maria sopra Minerva.[1]