Sadoletto, JACOPO, was born at Modena in 1477. His father, a distinguished jurist in Ferrara, was in a position to give his son every advantage of a liberal education. Sent by his father to Rome in 1502, he there found a patron in Olivero Caraffa (under whose roof he lived for some years), and eventually entered the church. On the accession of Leo X. the polished Latin style of Sadoletto gained him the position of apostolical secretary, an appointment he held under two other popes, Clement VII. and Paul III. By Leo he was also made bishop of Carpentras in 1517, though he did not leave Rome till four years later. Settled in his charge, he performed its duties with a devotion that commanded the respect even of those who had broken with the Church of Rome. Both by Clement VII. and Paul III. he was successively summoned to Rome to give his aid in the councils of the church. By the latter of these popes he was in 1536 made cardinal, greatly, he affirms, against his own will, as his chief desire was the pursuit of his favourite studies and the faithful performance of the duties of his charge. In 1544 he acted as legate to Francis I. on a fruitless mission to effect peace with Charles V. He died at Rome in 1547.
By his high character and his literary gifts and accomplishments Sadoletto ranks as one of the most distinguished churchmen of his age. While he cultivated classical studies with all the enthusiasm of the dissolute Bembo, he still preserved his Christian feeling and the sense of the responsibilities of his profession. He had sincerely at heart the reform at least of the discipline of the church, and had his counsels and example been followed Rome would have played a worthier part in the religious revolution of the 16th century. He corresponded with many of the Protestant leaders, and did his utmost to find a common basis on which reunion might be possible. His works mainly consist of his personal and official letters, and of commentaries on the Psalms and on the Epistles of St Paul. On these last Erasmus passes the curious criticism 'that their very polish of expression will with some take off the edge of their pious suggestion.' Sadoletto's complete works were published at Rome in 1759, with an annotated life prefixed. See Joly's Étude sur Sadoletto (Caen, 1856).