Childhood and education

Gregorio Giovanni Gaspare Barbarigo was born on 16 September 1625 in Venice as the eldest of four children to the nobles Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo (a senator) and Lucrezia Leoni (d. 19 March 1631 - plague). His father brought a cousin - Franchesina Lippomani - to look after the children after the death of his wife.^[4] His sister was Elena and his two brothers were Pietro and Antonio. He was a relative of the cardinal Marcantonio Barbarigo and the uncle of Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo. He was also a relation of Cardinal Angelo Barbarigo. His ancestors included the two Venetian doges Marco Barbarigo and Agostino Barbarigo.^[2] His father instructed him in philosophical studies and in mathematics while preceptors taught him Latin and Greek; he also received the rudiments of music.

In 1643 he accompanied as secretary the Venetian ambassador Aloise Contarini to Münster for the negotiations to prepare for the Peace of Westphalia which was signed on 24 October 1648.^[5] There he became acquainted with Archbishop Fabio Chigi (the future Pope Alexander VII) - the nuncio to Cologne and a participant in the negotiations.^[3] He then went to Holland and Flanders and then to Paris. In July 1648 he returned to Venice and continued his studies in Padua.^[6]

In 1650 he was elected as a member of the Collegio dei Savi and initiated his political career which he did not find to be good for him. In the winter in 1653 he went to Rome to ask the advice of Cardinal Chigi who recommended that he not retire as a hermit but follow the ecclesiastical career and begin obtaining a doctorate in law.

Priesthood and Bishop of Bergamo

Barbarigo obtained a doctorate in "utroque iure" both canon law and civil law on 25 September 1655 and received his ordination to the priesthood on 21 December 1655 from the Cardinal Patriarch of Venice Gianfrancesco Morosini.^[4] He left for Rome in late February 1656 for Chigi - now Pope Alexander VII - initiated him into the papal service. He was named a domestic prelate of His Holiness^[6] and on 21 April 1656 was appointed as the Referendary of the Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and of Grace. On 9 June 1665 he was given a canonicate in the cathedral chapter of Padua without the requirement of residence and in 1656 - at the request of the pope - he organized the assistance to the Romans in the Trastevere area who had been stricken with the plague. He oversaw the care of the mothers and their children and the funerals of the deceased in this work. He nursed the sick, buried to dead, and comforted those frightened and in mourning.^[5]

On 9 July 1657 the pope appointed him as Bishop of Bergamo and he received his episcopal consecration as such on 29 July 1657 from Marcantonio Bragadin.^[4] But before he accepted the post he decided to celebrate a Mass to discern the will of God when he felt the concrete call to take on the see during the Mass. Barbarigo took possession of his new episcopal see on 2 September through his procurators Rodolfo Roncalli the archdeacon and the vice-capitular Giovanni Battista Lavezzali while he himself arrived there on 27 March 1658. He inspected each of the 279 parishes of the diocese.^[3]

Cardinalate

He was a successful bishop and his fame spread through the ranks so much to the point that his old friend Alexander VII elevated him to the cardinalate on 5 April 1660 at the Quirinale Palace. He was made the Cardinal-Priest of San Tommaso in Parione on 21 June 1660 but later opted to become the Cardinal-Priest of San Marco on 13 September 1677.^[4]

In 1664 he was made Bishop of Padua and upon entrance into his new diocese he strove to model himself upon the example of Charles Borromeo. His procurator the Archpriest Galeazzo Mussato took possession of the see on Barbarigo's behalf on 24 April before the cardinal entered the see on 22 June. He was a strong supporter of the work of the Council of Trent. He made the seminaries of Padua and of Bergamo larger and added an archive and printing press in Padua. He celebrated a diocesan synod from 1–3 September 1683 and wrote the "Regulae Studiorum" in 1690 for ecclesial studies.^[2] He also visited all 320 parishes in his diocese.

The cardinal soon learned in 1678 that Elena Cornaro Piscopia was pursuing a theological course and he refused this on the basis that she was a woman. But he allowed for her to obtain a philosophical degree which she did.

In his role as a cardinal he participated in his first papal conclave in 1667 and also attended those in 1676 and that of 1689 when he emerged as a potential contender though falling short of the votes needed to become pope. The same was said for 1691 which saw him emerge as a greater threat to other contenders. He did not attend the 1669-70 conclave.^[1] The election of Pope Innocent XI in 1676 saw the pope ask Barbarigo to remain in Rome until 1679 as his counselor and entrusted Rome's education to him and the reunification of the Eastern Churches. One of his episcopal acts was to consecrate as a bishop Niels Stensen on 19 September 1677 and he also ordained the convert Thomas Nicholson a priest in Padua.^[3]

In the 1689 conclave his candidature received little support from his compatriots with Cardinal Flavio Chigi not supporting his candidature. Cardinal Francesco Maria de' Medici had put his name forth as per an elaborate ruse with the intent of never having Barbarigo elected.^[4] Medici's aim was to indeed have a Venetian elected but decided to settle on Pietro Vito Ottoboni who was elected as Pope Alexander VIII. But the 1691 conclave shifted Barbarigo's status as a potential contender for he gained greater ground and almost succeeded in becoming pope. Cardinal d'Estrées included him in his list of potential candidates in light of the impending death of Alexander VIII while Cardinal Leandro Colloredo decided to throw his support behind Barbarigo.^[1] Even Chigi - who had blocked his candidature back in 1689 - thought well to advocate Barbarigo's name. But the French were not all that enthralled with Barbarigo since he was considered a leading 'creature' of Alexander VII who had not been too lenient with the French. Cardinals Pietro Ottoboni and Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri were opposed to his candidature and in the end was elected Antonio Pignatelli as Pope Innocent XII.^[2]

Cardinal Barbarigo fostered catechetical instruction and he travelled to each village in his diocese in order to teach and to preach to the people. His compassion to the poor was well known for he gave his household goods and his clothes to the poor for their comfort. He even sold his bed on one occasion to help them.

Barbarigo died after a brief illness on 18 June 1697 in Padua where he was interred in the diocesan cathedral.^[3]