Neri Maria Corsini

Neri Maria Corsini (19 May 1685 – 6 December 1770) was an Italian nobleman and Catholic priest and cardinal.

After the death of his patron, Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici in 1723, Corsini moved to Rome, where in 1726 he became the secretary of his uncle, Cardinal Lorenzo Corsini,[2] serving him until his election as pope, under the name of Pope Clement XII in 1730.

He was also persuaded to seek Holy Orders, becoming a priest in 1733, after which he was named Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

[4] He opted to exchange his titular church for that of the Basilica of Sant'Eustachio, at which he had built an elaborate altar to hold the remains of its patron saint.

[5] Corsini took part in the conclave of 1740[6] at which Pope Benedict XIV was elected, by whom he was immediately named Archpriest of the Basilica of St. John Lateran (1740-1770).