Girolamo Aleandro

[2] In Venice he became acquainted with Erasmus and Aldus Manutius,[3] and at an early age was reputed one of the most learned men of the time, with a knowledge of Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Chaldaean.

[4][2] Entering the service of Érard de La Marck, prince-bishop of Liège, 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.

After the close of the Diet, the papal nuncio went to the Netherlands, where he instigated the executions of two monks of Antwerp due to their embrace of the Reformation, resulting in their being burnt in Brussels.

[4] In August 1524 Pope Clement VII appointed Aleandro the Archbishop of Brindisi, for which office he was ordained to the priesthood two months later.

The Vatican Library contains manuscript letters and other documents written by him in connection with his various missions against Luther, which are important sources for the Reformation and Counter-Reformation; they were used by (among others) the church historian Francesco Sforza Pallavicino in his history of the council of Trent.