[1] He studied for the priesthood in Siena, but in his early twenties he returned to Rome to be a domestic prelate for Pope Clement XIV.

[2][3] On 20 May 1817 he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops and Pius VII made him a cardinal in 1818, assigning him the titular church of San Cesareo in Palatio.

In the conclave of 1823, he presented the veto against the election of Cardinal Antonio Gabriele Severoli on behalf of Emperor Francis I of Austria.

[4] In the 1829 conclave, though Albani was absent from the early ballots, his support for Pius VIII proved significant.

He was one of Pope Gregory's advisors responsible for assessing the flood risk posed by the River Aniene to the east of Rome.