and Protector of Spain before the Holy See. These offices made him the most prominent expediter of all Imperial and Spanish business in the Roman Curia; his opinion was always consulted and, since he was the Pope's nephew, it was often followed. At the same time, he was appointed Papal Legate in Avignon (1541-1565). Royal consent was required. From 1564 to 1565, he was Bishop of Sabina and it is conjectured (in the absence of positive evidence) that it was in 1564 that Farnese finally was consecrated a bishop. He was certainly a bishop when he was the principal Consecrator of Cardinal Giulio della Rovere on 15 April 1566. From 1565 to 1578, he was Bishop of Tusculum (Frascati). He was the Bishop of Porto from 9 July 1578 to 5 December 1580. He was then Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia and Velletri and Dean of the College of Cardinals from 5 December 1580 until his death on 2 March 1589. Benefices and income His grandfather, Pope Paul III, immediately named Alessandro Farnese Administrator of the Diocese of Parma (1 November 1534), allowing him to collect the episcopal income during the interregnum. Alessandro resigned on 13 August 1535, when Cardinal Guido Ascanio Sforza di Santa Fiora, another grandson of Paul III and only two years older than Alessandro, was named the new Administrator (enjoying his Parmesan income until he resigned in 1560). Farnese was appointed Administrator of Jaen, Spain, from 30 July 1535 until another Administrator, Cardinal Alessandro Cesarini, was appointed on 6 July 1537. He was Administrator of the Archdiocese of Avignon from 1535 to 1551 and of the Diocese of Vizeu, Portugal (1547-1552). On 9 May 1536, the Emperor Charles V named Cardinal Farnese as the new Archbishop of Monreale in Sicily; his appointment was confirmed on 15 May 1536, by Pope Paul III. But Monreale was not a happy place, since the monks of the Cathedral of Monreale and the clergy of the diocese were in one squabble after another with each other. On 26 July 1549, the Pope was forced to intervene, in a letter in which he referred to the Cardinal under the title of perpetuus Administrator. A Vicar was appointed for the underage and absentee Archbishop, Msgr. Giovanni Antonio Fassari, titular Bishop of Christopolis in Greece; he was succeeded in 1546 by Pompeo Zambecari. In 1557, he was followed by Msgr. Giovanni Pietro Fortiguerra, Bishop of