Troiano Acquaviva d'Aragona

Troiano Acquaviva of Aragon (14 January 1696 – 20 March 1747) was an Italian cardinal and Catholic archbishop. Acquaviva was from a noble family with close ties to the Spanish crown; he was the nephew of Cardinal Francesco Acquaviva d'Aragona. Created cardinal in 1732, the following year he became cardinal-protector of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, for which he provided a new façade. In 1734, King Philip V of Spain appointed him Spanish ambassador to the Holy See.

Biography Troiano Acquaviva was born in Atri, the son of Gian Girolamo Acquaviva d'Aragona, 13th duke of Atri, and his second wife, Eleonora Spinelli. His brother, Girolamo Acquaviva, succeeded to the family title. Troiano was educated in Rome under his uncle Cardinal Francesco Acquaviva d'Aragona. From March to August 1721, he was pontifical vice-delegate in Bologna. In the same year Pope Innocent XIII gave him the government of Ancona, from which he was recalled in 1725 by Pope Benedict XIII, who wanted him to be his major domo in Rome.

Troiano Acquaviva, was ordained a priest on 17 April 1729. The next day, he was elected titular bishop of Filippopoli di Arabia and consecrated bishop on 3 May that year in Benevento by Pope Clement XI. On 14 May 1729, he was appointed prefect of the Pontifical Household and 6 July Prefect of the Apostolic Palace. On 14 August 1730, he was appointed titular Archbishop of Larissa.

He was created cardinal by Pope Clement XII in the consistory of 1 October 1732, and on 17 November that year he received the titular designation of Santi Quirico e Giulitta, whose restoration was not quite complete. On 19 January 1733 succeeded his uncle at the titular church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. From 1738, he was cardinal protector of the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily. On 4 May 1739, he was elected Archbishop of Monreale.

He participated in the conclave of 1740, in which he was the bearer of veto by Philip V of Spain against the election of Cardinal Pier Marcellino Corradini. of the powerful Don Lelio Caraffa, Duke of Maddaloni. he employed a young Giacomo Casanova as a clerical scribe. When Casanova became the scapegoat for a scandal involving a local pair of star-crossed lovers, Cardinal Acquaviva dismissed him, thanking him for his service,

From April 1743, he was cardinal protector of Spain and from 3 February 1744 to 25 January 1745, Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals.

In 1745, succeeding his brother Domenico, he had become the eighteenth Duke of Atri. He died on 20 March 1747, in Rome, after a long and painful illness; Pope Benedict XIV presided at his funeral. He was buried in the Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere.