by Anura Guruge
on March 6, 2023
I am in NO WAY saying that this is the earliest known birthday for a cardinal.
I am ONLY documenting this because I happened to, serendipitously, stumble upon it last night. I was NOT doing a systematic search. I was just PECKING around seeing what I may find. I started with those created in the 14th century because I KNEW the birthdate of one cardinal from that era, Dec. 31, 1378. That was a famous Spanish ‘Borja’ cardinal who went onto become ‘Callistus III‘ in 1455. I had a hunch that I would have better luck with French cardinals. He was the 2nd I happened to click on. SHEER chance. I haven’t looked any further.
There could be EARLIER birthdays. I do NOT know. I haven’t looked, I am NOT going to go looking. Don’t have the time.
So, this is just to serve as a marker in the sand. We have 1299. We are looking for earlier.
This topic as to the birthdays of cardinals came about because of my, just, annoyance that we, in 2023, have a cardinal without a DESIGNATED birthday. That is a disgrace. So here we have it. We know the birthday of a cardinal born in 1299, BUT we permit one born in 1944 to strut about, like a peacock, saying “I don’t have a birthday“. It is so stupid.
