Ascanio Filomarino

Filomarino was, though, able to obtain a doctorate of law in Benevento and thereafter travelled to Rome (with friend Ladislao d'Aquino who would also later become a cardinal) in an effort to support himself financially.

[2] Barberini, though keen to be rid of his supervision, was loath to see Filomarino elevated to the same status as himself and insisted that the tutor was still essential.

Filomarino is of particular interest in the history of Naples since he was cardinal during two especially turbulent periods: Masaniello's revolt in 1645 and the severe plague epidemic of 1656.

He was a focal point for the people against the overbearing Spanish throne and was trusted by the rebel Masaniello as well as by Giulio Genoino, the apparent real political strategist behind the revolt.

[5] Another was that he had to be reminded by Rome that the sacred relics of San Gennaro (Saint Januarius), patron saint of the city, were not his own personal property and that he was not authorized to claim, as he had, that "…the relics are mine…", nor authorized to remove them from the premises of the Cathedral of Naples for the purpose of soliciting miraculous cures in private homes.