Orazio Maffei

He studied at the University of Perugia, where he obtained a doctorate. Pope Paul V appointed him a cleric of the Apostolic Camera.^[2]

Maffei was named a cardinal by Pope Paul on 11 September 1606, and assigned the deaconry of San Giorgio in velabro on 9 October. On 7 February 1607, he was promoted cardinal-priest, and assigned the titular church of Ss. Marcellino e Pietro.^[3]

He was appointed archbishop of Chieti by Pope Paul on 3 September 1607.^[4] On 16 Sep 1607, he was consecrated bishop by Marcello Lante della Rovere, Bishop of Todi, with Bishop Metello Bichi, of Sovana, and Girolamo di Porzia, Bishop of Adria, acting as co-consecrators.^[1][5]

Having been archbishop of Chieti for less than a year, he found himself in trouble with Pope Paul V, due to accusations which included violation of his vow of chastity with a woman of the diocese. He was summoned to Rome, where he died on 11 January 1609, at the age of twenty-nine.^[6] He was buried in the family tomb in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome.^[7]

Francesco Maria Guazzo (Guaccius) dedicated the first edition (1608) of his book, Compendium maleficarum, to Cardinal Orazio Maffei, the Protector of the Ambrosian Order, of which Guazzo was a member.^[8]

• Ceretti, F. (1896). "Famiglia Maffei (Ramo Mirandola–Piemonte)," (in Italian), in: Giornale araldico, genealogico, diplomatico italiano Vol. 24 (Bari: R. Accademia Araldica Italiana 1896), pp. 48-74, esp. pp. 52-54.
• Gauchat, Patritius (Patrice) (1935). Hierarchia catholica (in Latin). Vol. IV (1592-1667). Münster: Libraria Regensbergiana.
• Zanetov, P. (2005). "Il cardinale Orazio Maffei e la loggia del palazzo alla Dataria," (in Italian), in: Bruno Toscano (ed.), Arte e immagine del papato Borghese (1605-1621), (San Casciano: Libro Company Italia 2005), pp. 201-208.