BORROXEO, CARLO, Count, a saint of the church of 'tome, was b. on the 2d Oct., 1538, at the castle of Arona, on the Largo Maggiore, the family scut of his ancestors. lie studied law at Pavia, and took the degree of doctor iu 1359. His uncle, pope Pius IV., on being raised to the pontificate in 1560, appointed him, notwithstanding his youth, to a number of offices, and made him a. cardinal and archbishop of Milan. 13. displayed great faithfulness and ability in govei ning Ancona, Bologna, and other parts of the states of the church as legate, and in discharging the duties of offices connected with ecclesias tical administration at Home. "Surrounded as he was with magnificence and luxury, he was always grave, pious, and rigid in his life, studious, and a patron of letters. Ills uncle, the pope, made him his grand penitentiary, and did nothing considerable without his co-operation. It was in a great measure by his influence that the re-opcning of the council of Treut was accomplished, and that its deliberations were brought to a conclu sion so favorable to the papal throne. He committed its decrees to memory, had the principal part in drawing up the Catechismus Romanus for exposition of them, and proceeded to give all possible effect to them in his archiepiscopal province. B.'s exer tions, not only for the improvement of ecclesiastical discipline, but also for the reformation of morals in the archbishopric of Milan, drew upoa him the hostility of the monastic orders, and also to some extent that of the Spanish authorities in Milan, who were jealous of the extension of his jurisdiction. An attempt was even made upon his
life in 1569. lie spent great part of his income in beautifying the cathedral and other churches. With a view to provide well-qualified priests, he founded, in 1570, the Hel vetic college at Milan. He brought about an alliance of the seven Catholic cantons, known as the Golden Borromean League, for the united defense of their faith. In the famine of 1570, and during the plague in Milan in 1576, he displayed equal energy, benevolence, and devotedness, saving- the lives of multitudes by the prompt arrangements which he made for necessary relief. Exhausted by his labors and his austerities, lie diell on al Nov., 1584. Many supposed miracles at his tomb led to his being canonized in 1616. His theological works were published at Milan in 1747, in 5 vols. folio. On the western bank of the Lago Maggiore. in the neighborhood of his birthplace, is a colossal brazen statue of him. His brother's son, count Frederico Borromeo, born 1563, was also a car dinal, and from 1595 to 1631 archbishop of Milan, and was the founder of the Ambrosias (q.v.).