Ferdinando Ponzetti

Ferdinando Ponzetti was born in Florence in 1444, the son of a noble Neapolitan family.[1] He studied Christian theology, philosophy, Greek, Latin and medicine.[1]

He was the personal physician of Pope Innocent VIII.[1] He was then Lector of the Audience of lettere Contraddette.[1] He was an Apostolic Secretary under Pope Alexander VI and Pope Julius II.[1] He then joined the Apostolic Camera, serving as its dean, president, and treasurer in 1513.[1]

On April 20, 1517, he was elected Bishop of Molfetta.[1] He was consecrated as a bishop in the Vatican in camera superiore by Pope Leo X.[1]

Pope Leo X made him a cardinal priest in the consistory of July 1, 1517.[1] He received the red hat and the titular church of San Pancrazio.[1]

He resigned the administration of the see of Molfetta to his nephew Giacomo Ponzetta on July 12, 1518.[1] He participated in the papal conclave of 1521-22 that elected Pope Adrian VI.[1] On December 22, 1522, he was transferred to the see of Grosseto, occupying this see until resigning on February 25, 1527.[1] He participated in the papal conclave of 1523 that elected Pope Clement VII.[1] He lost all of his wealth during the Bourbon sack of Rome in 1526.[1]

Following mistreatment by imperial soldiers during the Sack of Rome (1527), he died in Rome on September 9, 1527.[1] He is buried in Santa Maria della Pace.[1]