Mercurino Arborio, marchese di Gattinara (10 June 1465 – 5 June 1530), was an Italian statesman and jurist who served, from 1518 to 1530, as the principal chancellor of Charles V, the King of Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor. He was made cardinal of the Catholic Church for San Giovanni a Porta Latina in 1529. He is held as the prior of the humanists who called for the restoration of a universal, Christian Roman Empire.
He was born in Gattinara, near Vercelli, modern Piedmont. Mercurino Gattinara initially served as the legal advisor to Margaret of Austria in Savoy. She considered him as chief amongst her various counsellors. He also served the young Duke Charles II of Burgundy, who became the King of Castile and Aragon in 1516. Upon the death of Jean le Sauvage, the Grand Chancellor of Burgundy in 1518, Gattinara was appointed to succeed him in the Burgundian office, also becoming the principal Chancellor of all of Charles' domains.
When his sovereign became the Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V in 1519, Gattinara gained additional influence, but he never held the office of the Imperial Archchancellor (German: Reichserzkanzler), an honorary post traditionally reserved for the Archbishops of Mainz.
Upon the death of Charles' counsellor Chièvres, Gattinara would become the king's most influential advisor, and also became known as the “Grand Chancellor of all the realms and kingdoms of the king”. He was a Catholic, humanist, Erasmian, jurist and scholar—at the same time idealist in his goals, and realist in his tactics. He was a scholar of jurisprudence, the classic theory of the state, and the Christian doctrine of duty. Gattinara would guide Charles away from both his roots in dynastic Burgundy, and from the prevailing secular political theory of Spain at the time, toward a Christian humanist conception of Empire. His ideas of the primacy of the Empire in Europe were in direct contradiction with the growing trend toward the theory of the nation state.
In his capacity as Chancellor, he urged Charles V to create a dynastic empire with the object of establishing global rule ("Dominium Mundi"). Gattinara in his policy advice and personal writings argued for Christian imperialism, based on a united Christendom, which would then combat or convert the Protestants, the Turks, and the infidels of the New World. His theory attempted to balance the solidarity of Christian nations, with the requirements of conquest for the establishment of one world empire.
Gattinara was instrumental in shifting Charles V's policy vision from that of a regional dynastic monarch to an empire-builder. Doubtless due in large part to Gattinara's counsel, the Habsburg Empire would reach its territorial height under Charles V, although it would begin to show signs of decay at the end of his reign, most importantly with the independence granted to the economically thriving but tax-averse Low Countries.
After Charles's election to the throne, Gattinara wrote to him:
Sire, God has been very merciful to you: he has raised you above all the Kings and Princes of Christendom to a power such as no sovereign has enjoyed since your ancestor Charles the Great. He has set you on the way towards a world monarchy, towards the uniting of all Christendom under a single shepherd. In the conclusion to this letter, Gattinara reiterated his belief that the true purpose of monarchy was to unite all people in the service of God.
During a review for the purpose of administrative reform, Gattinara advised Charles, in a section of the report entitled “Reverence toward God”, on issues such as: whether Moors and Infidels should be tolerated in his lands; whether the inhabitants of the West Indian islands and the mainland were to be converted to Christianity; and whether the Inquisition should be reformed.
Another goal espoused by Gattinara was to unite Christendom against the Turk, as well as against the Lutheran heresy. There was little practical basis for achieving such an understanding between the European powers, however.
Gattinara's own summation of his views included the final goal of laying the foundations for a policy that was truly imperial, leading to a general war on the infidel and heretic. His first objective was the Emperor's voyage to Italy as soon as the fleet was ready. Gattinara concealed the reason for expanding the fleet by reference to the troubles in Mexico.
At every fresh opportunity, Gattinara was for “taking time by the forelock” and establishing the power of Charles V in Italy without more delay. This would function as a permanent guarantee of peace, not only on the peninsula but in all of Europe. Gattinara's views were rooted in Dante, despite having to face many practical setbacks. He faced deep-seated opposition to the imperial council, and Gattinara began to acknowledge that many were against his plan. Many Spaniards suspected Gattinara of having interests in Italy (as he was originally from Piedmont), so his motives were questioned, and he was even threatened.
Gattinara held Dante's dream of universal monarchy as the ultimate goal of Charles V's rule - uniting both Christendom and eventually the world. These ideas were in line with some of Charles's other advisors. Imperial ambassador at Henry VIII’s court, M. Louis de Praet, wrote to Charles:
At this moment one may say that Your Majesty holds world monarchy in your hands, provided this victory over France is turned to good advantage. If the English were to set foot in France, it would be a great advantage for Your Majesty, for it would weaken the enemy and prevent him from doing any further damage, and thus the surest means to a lasting peace. The whole of Languedoc, Burgundy, and the land about the River Somme should be regained. God made Emperor the arbitrator between peace and war. Such favourable opportunity should not be lost.
Charles’s secretary, Alfonso de Valdés, a humanist and Erasmian like Gattinara, would write to Charles after the victory of Pavia (a defeat for the French, including the capture of their king François I):
It appears God has bestowed this victory on the Emperor in a wonderful manner so that he might defend Christendom and fight the Turks and Moors on their own ground so that the whole world receive our Holy Faith under this Christian Prince and the words of Our Savior be fulfilled: Fiet unum ovile et unus pastor.
The Spanish missionary spirit is here wedded with Dante’s theocratic ideal and expresses the high expectations of the humanist Italians and Spaniards surrounding Charles. The Emperor was seen as the reviver of the Roman universal Monarchy who could put an end to the feudal and dynastic conflicts, and establish a democratic imperium. Charles' more limited goals of ordering his empire within a Respublica Christiana (a united Europe) was disappointing to his advisors seeking world dominion, especially so to Gattinara, the aspirant to “world-empire.”
Just as Gattinara is noted for his universalist idealism, he is also recognized as adept in the practice of realpolitik.