Monti,Vincenzo

Monti,Vincenzo a noted Italian ecclesiastic, who wrote poetry of a superior order, and only used his position in the Church as a general passport into society, flourished in the second half of the 18th century. He was a native of Ferrara (born in 1753), and studied in the university of that place. He was made abbe in 1776, and became secretary to the pope's nephew. He soon found favor in the eyes of Roman celebrities, and was generally noticed by prelates and cardinals as a fit subject for promotion in the Church. He was especially popular when, in 1792, he wrote a poem commemorating the efforts of Pius II against the Austrian court, which then, in the person of Joseph II, was fast breaking away from the papacy. The poem which Monti wrote on this occasion of Pius's visit to Vienna is entitled Il Pellegrino Apostolico. He died at Milan, October 1828.