Andrew Corsini

Italian Roman Catholic saint

Andrea Corsini (30 November 1302 – 6 January 1373 or 1374) was an Italian Catholic prelate and professed member from the Carmelites who served as the Bishop of Fiesole from 1349 until his death. Corsini led a wild and dissolute life until a rebuke from his mother moved him to go to the Santa Maria del Carmine church where he resolved to join the Carmelites as a priest and friar. He exercised various roles in the order, until reluctantly he accepted his episcopal position. In order to accept that position, he imposed greater mortifications upon himself than that required by the order, and dedicated himself to the plight of the poor. Devotion to the late bishop became so profound after his death that miracles were reported at his tomb.

Andrew Corsini was born in Florence on 30 November 1302 into the noble and illustrious Corsini family, one of twelve children born to Nicholas Corsini and Peregrina (some sources suggest Gemma) degli Stracciabende. He was named in honor of Saint Andrew whose feastday it was. Before his birth, his parents dedicated him to God, under the protection of the Blessed Virgin. He was wild in his youth; extravagance and vice were normal to him and it pained his devout mother. His parents severely rebuked him for his behavior, and he resolved to amend his ways and try to live up to their expectations. He went to the Carmelite monastery at the Santa Maria del Carmine church to consider what course to take and despite the entreaties of his dissolute friends, decided to become a friar. It was reported that in 1372 or 1373, His remains were moved to Florence in the evening of 2 February 1374 and were later found to be incorrupt upon exhumation in 1385. The location of his burial was damaged in 1771 but his remains were left undisturbed.

Miracles so multiplied at his death that Pope Eugene IV permitted a public devotion to him, although it was not confirmed until later. Pope Eugene IV beatified Andrew Corsini on 21 April 1440. Among the miracles attributed to Corsini's intervention was the Florentine victory over the Milanese at the Battle of Anghiari on 29 June 1440. Petitions were lodged in 1465 and 1466 to Pope Paul II requesting the canonization, and the pope appointed a commission to investigate the matter, though it came to no conclusion. Pope Urban VIII canonized Corsini on 22 April 1629. In 1675 after his canonization the members of the Corsini house had the Corsini Chapel built in the Carmelite church of Santa Maria del Carmine as a more suitable resting place for his remains. Pope Clement XII born Lorenzo Corsini erected in the Roman Basilica of Saint John Lateran a magnificent chapel dedicated to his kinsman. In 1702 or 1703 a statue in his honor was commissioned and placed along the colonnade in Saint Peter's Square.