Marco Vigerio della Rovere

Emmanuele Vigerio della Rovere was born in Savona in 1446, the son of Urbano Vigerio and Nicoletta Grosso della Rovere, a niece of Pope Sixtus IV.[1]

Vigerio studied Christian theology at Savona.[1] He joined the Conventual Franciscans while his grand-uncle Francesco della Rovere (the future Pope Sixtus IV) was the Minister-General of the order.[1] Upon joining the order, he changed his first name, which was originally "Emmanuele", to "Marco" in memory of his uncle, Marco Vigerio, Bishop of Noli.[1]

He was subsequently ordained as a priest.[1] In 1471, he became studium of the Abbey of Santa Giustina in Padua and professor of theology at the University of Padua.[1] In 1474, he became professor of theology at the Sapienza University of Rome.[1]

On 6 October 1476, he was elected Bishop of Senigallia.[1] He became Master of the Sacred Palace in 1484.[1] On 24 January 1502, he was transferred to the see of Ventimiglia; he occupied that see until 1511.[1] He was the governor of the Castel Sant'Angelo from 12 November 1503 until 31 July 1506.[1] In 1506, he became Archbishop of Trani, occupying that post until 30 July 1517.[1]

Pope Julius II made him a cardinal priest in the consistory of 1 December 1505.[1] He received the red hat and the titular church of Santa Maria in Trastevere on 17 December 1505.[1] In 1506, he accompanied the pope in the expedition against Giovanni II Bentivoglio and participated in the occupation of the Bologna.[1] He was then papal legate to Bologna.[1]

Cardinal Vigerio, in a detail from Raphael's Disputation of the Holy Sacrament.

He was the cardinal protector of the Minim Order.[1] On 28 December 1507, he presided over a general chapter of the Minim Order, at which the mastership of Francis of Paola was discussed and disputes about the rule of the order were decided.[1] For his work at this chapter, Cardinal Vigerio has been called the "second founder" of the Minim Order.[1]

From 20 September 1508 to March 1514, he was governor of Capranica, Lazio.[1] During the War of the League of Cambrai, he was named legate to the papal army on 11 December 1510.[1] He participated in the planning of the conquest of Concordia sulla Secchia on 17 December 1510 and the victory at the Siege of Mirandola on 20 January 1511.[1]

On 29 October 1511, he opted for the order of cardinal bishops and received the Suburbicarian Diocese of Palestrina.[1]

He chaired several commissions at the Fifth Council of the Lateran, including a commission for the reform of the Roman Curia.[1]

He participated in the papal conclave of 1513 that elected Pope Leo X.[1] He accompanied the new pope at the congress held at Bologna from 11 to 18 October 1515.[1]

As a theologian, Cardinal Vigerio wrote many works on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as well as works on Jesus' shroud and the spear of Longinus.[1] His theology is thought to have influenced Raphael's famous painting Disputation of the Holy Sacrament; the cardinal appears on the right of the painting, with the Franciscan habit and a cardinal's hat.[1]

He died in Rome on 18 July 1516 and is buried in Santa Maria in Trastevere.[1]