Mark Sittich von Hohenems Altemps

[1] He was the uncle of Wolf Dietrich Raitenau (Wolfgang Theoderic) [3] and Mark Sittich von Hohenems,[4] who were both Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, in 1587-1612 and 1612–1619 respectively.

As a young man, he fought in the Italian War of 1551–1559 under the command of his uncle Giangiacopo de' Medici, one of the last of the Renaissance condottieri.

[1] In 1552 he participated in Charles V's efforts to win Metz back from France, and in 1554/55 he was present at the siege of Siena and repulsed an Ottoman attack on the Tuscan port of Piombino.

[1] He received the red hat and the titular church of Santi Apostoli (as a deaconry pro illa vice, that is to say, that on this one occasion, by special papal order, the Basilica of the XII Apostles, which ordinarily belonged to a cardinal priest, was to be considered a deaconry so that Cardinal Altemps, a deacon, could hold it) on 10 March 1561.

[1] He opted for the order of cardinal priests on 30 July 1563, keeping Santi Apostoli as his titular church and dropping the temporary designation as a Deaconry.

[1] On 15 May 1565 he opted for the deaconry of San Giorgio in Velabro, raised pro illa vice to the status of a titular church.

He was a participant in the papal conclave of 1565-66 that elected Pope Pius V.[1] [10] In February 1566, he received leave to depart from Rome to Konstanz.

[13] In 1568, Marco Sittico bought a property in Rome that he immediately set about rebuilding as the Palazzo Altemps, to designs by Martino Longhi the Elder; he also built the Villa Mondragone at Frascati.

[1] He had guided the education and early career of his nephew, Mark Sittich von Hohenems (Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg) (1574–1619).

His illegitimate son Roberto was made Duke of Gallese, took the family name of Altemps, and married Cornelia Orsini.