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CHAPTER 23
The Funerary Monument
to Alessandro Geraldini
at the Cathedral of Santo Domingo
By Virginia Flores Sasso, PhD
Architect
•
he humanist Alessandro Geraldini (born 1455 in Ame-
lia, died 1524 in Santo Domingo) is considered as one
of the most distinguished clergymen of his era. As the
chaplain for Queen Isabella I of Castile (1487), the pre-
ceptor of Infantas María and Catalina as of 1493, and confessor for
Queen Catherine of Aragon (1496), he spent thirty-nine years at the
service of the kings and queens of Castile shaping culture and diplo-
macy. He was also the Bishop of the Diocese of Vulturara e Monte-
corvino (Province of Foggia, Naples) as of 1496, when Ferdinand II
of Aragon presented him to the pope for the See of Santo Domingo,
which was left open by the death of Fray Francisco García de Padilla.
1
King Ferdinand the Catholic died, and it was Cardinal Cisneros,
the regent of Castile at that time, who signed the letter of introduc-
tion to Pope Leo X (Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici), dated January
26, 1516. Geraldini submitted the letter of introduction along with
one of his own, which he signed in Colonia on June 30, 1516, while
presenting his own supplication. On November 23, 1516, Alessan-
dro Geraldini was appointed as Bishop of Santo Domingo by way of
papal bull issued by Leo X at Villa Hanliana.
On February 13, 1517, his titles were expanded to include Bishop of Madrid,
2
a title that he received in Lon-
don on September 13 of that same year, while, as a delegate for Pope Leo X, he was meeting with European kings
and princes to request assistance against Suleiman the Magnificent.
3
He was not able to leave immediately, due
to these political obligations, so he decided to send his nephew Onofre (Nufrio) Geraldini and his servant Diego
del Rio, who arrived in Santo Domingo at the end of 1517 to take possession of the diocese. In 1519, prior to
departing for the Americas, Geraldini would acquire for his servant and protégé, the Segovian clergyman Diego
del Rio, a vacant canonry at the cathedral.
4
On August 4, 1519, Bishop Geraldini set sail from Seville for “the Indies,” as it was called and noted by the
chronicler of the era, Francisco López de Gómara, in his
Historia de las Indias.
He arrived in Santo Domingo on
September 17, 1519, assuming his position as bishop on October 6, 1519.
5
Upon his arrival, he became the first
resident bishop of the diocese of Santo Domingo.
In 1519, royal decrees were sent regarding Geraldini. One ordered Rodrigo de Figueroa, who had recently
Mausoleum dedicated
to the First Resident
Bishop of Santo
Domingo, Alessandro
Geraldini.
© Courtesy of Virginia
Flores Sasso
Opening page:
Mausoleum dedicated
to Geraldini, carved in
stone. Inside the great
arch that makes up the
mausoleum, there is a
semicircular window
with elaborate stone
tracery in the form of a
fan. Similarly, on both
sides of the tomb,
there are two windows
with a semicircular
arch and stone tracery,
which allows light to
enter.
© Courtesy of Virginia
Flores Sasso