ALEANDRO, GIROLAMO (HIERONYMUS ALEANDER) (1480- 1542), Italian
cardinal, was born at Motta, near Venice, on the 13th of February
1480. He studied at Venice, where he became acquainted with
Erasmus and Aldus Manutius, and at an early age was reputed
one of the most learned men of the time. In 1508 he went to
Paris on the invitation of Louis XII. as professor of belles
lettres, and held for a time the position of rector in the
university. Entering the service of Eberhard, prince-bishop
of Liege, he was sent by that prelate on a mission to
Rome, where Pope Leo X. retained him, giving him (1519) the
office of librarian of the Vatican. In the following year
he went to
Germany to be present as papal nuncio at the
coronation of Charles V., and was also present at the diet of
Worms, where he headed the opposition to Luther, advocating
the most extreme measures to repress the doctrines of the
reformer. His conduct evoked the fiercest denunciations of
Luther, but it also displeased more moderate men and especially
Erasmus. The edict against the reformer, which was finally
adopted by the emperor and the diet, was drawn up and proposed
by Aleandro. After the close of the diet the papal nuncio
went to the Netherlands
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