Caraccioli, Galeazzo

Caraccioli, Galeazzo, marquis of Vico, one of the earliest and most distinguished followers of the Reformation in Italy. Born in Naples, in 1517, of a noble family, which had given warriors to the field and cardinals to the Church, he began life with the most brilliant prospects. Married at twenty to Vittoria, daughter of the duke of Novera, he had by her six children. In 1541 he heard Peter Martyr, and after a long and painful investigation, in spite of the distressing conviction that he would have to leave family, friends, home, and wealth in abandoning Rome, he became a Protestant, and in 1551 escaped to Geneva. His father, his uncle cardinal Caraffa, his wife, and his children sought for many years to change his purpose, but in vain. In Geneva, he acquired the entire confidence of Calvin, who dedicated to him his Commentary on 1 Corinthians (edit. Tholuck, p. 205). He died in great peace, 1586. His life, by Balbano, will be found in the Museum Helveticum, 8:1748, p. 519; and, abridged, in Gerdes, Specimen Italiae Reformatme (Lugd. Bat. 1765, 4to). See M'Crie, Reformation in Italy; Herzog, Real-Encyklopldie, 2:574.