Martin John Spalding (May 23, 1810 – February 7, 1872) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Louisville (1850–1864) and Archbishop of Baltimore (1864–1872). He advocated aid for freed slaves following the American Civil War. Spalding attended the First Vatican Council, where he first opposed, and then supported, a dogmatic proclamation of papal infallibility. Early life and education Martin Spalding was born in Rolling Fork, Kentucky, the sixth of eight children of Richard and Henrietta (née Hamilton) Spalding. His ancestors were originally from England (although one great-grandmother was Irish), and settled in Maryland around the middle of the 17th century. His paternal grandfather, Benedict Spalding, moved to Kentucky from St. Mary's County in 1790. His mother's family, likewise from Maryland, moved to Kentucky a year later. His parents married in 1801. Martin was a distant cousin of Catherine Spalding, co-founder of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. When Martin was only five or six years of age, his mother died and he was confided to the care of his oldest sister and paternal grandmother. His father subsequently remarried twice, and had a total of twenty-one children. Martin was sent to a country school run by a Mr. Merryweather at age eight, and received his First Communion two years later. In 1821, he entered the newly established St. Mary's College in Lebanon, where he became a favorite pupil of Rev. William Byrne, and was even made professor of mathematics at age fourteen. He graduated in 1826 and, having resolved to join the priesthood, entered St. Thomas Seminary in Bardstown in September of that same year. He remained in Bardstown for four years, dividing his time between studying philosophy and theology and teaching at the adjoining St. Joseph's College. In 1830, he was sent by Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget to continue his studies at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. He fell severely ill during the course of his studies, but eventually recovered his health. In 1834, he earned a Doctor of Divinity degree following a public defense of 256 propositions, which covered a wide range of subjects including theology, church history, and canon law. Priesthood While in Rome, Spalding was ordained a priest by Cardinal Carlo Maria Pedicini on August 13, 1834. He celebrated his first Mass over the tomb of Saint Peter in the subterranean chapel of St. Peter's Basilica. He departed from