Lorenzo Campeggio
(born 1474?died June 19, 1539,
Rome
, Italy) was an Italian
cardinal
, humanist, and lawyer who, upon entering the service of the church in 1510, became one of the most
valued
representatives of the papacy.
Between 1511 and 1539 five popes employed Campeggio almost continuously as
nuncio
or legate; his political and religious embassies gave him a particular knowledge of Germany, where he was nuncio to the emperor Maximilian in 1511 and 1513 and
legate
at the diets of Regensburg (1524) and Augsburg (1530). In Rome his knowledge of curial procedure made him a realistic advocate of reform, though always loyal to the papacy. He first visited England on an unsuccessful mission for
Leo X
(1518?19), was given the See of Salisbury in 1524, and in 1528 went to England to inquire into the
King’s marriage with
Catherine of Aragon
as co-legate with Cardinal
Wolsey
; the case was
withdrawn
to Rome before a decision had been given. He served on preparatory commissions for the
Council of Trent
before his death.