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Marzio Ginetti (7 February 1586 – 1 March 1671) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and Cardinal Vicar of Rome. On 19 January 1626 he was elevated to cardinal by
Pope Urban VIII, and he was a loyal supporter of Urban and the Barberini.
Marzio Ginetti in 1632[]
As in the OTL, Marzio Ginetti was Papal Legate to Austria in 1635. In May of 1635, he was returning to Rome, presumably unaware that it had been seized by Cardinal Borja, and that cardinals loyal to the pope were being killed. Since Urban, who was with the fugitive USE embassy to Rome, knew his planned itenerary, it was possible to include him in plans to fly Tom and Rita Simpson, James Nichols, and Melissa Mailey out of Italy. He was intercepted in the Valtelline and guided to the town of Chiavenna, which was being run as an open town. However, he was followed by people who apparently wanted to find out who he was meeting, as they only showed themselves right after Ginetti had been delivered to the up-timers. It is not certain what else, if anything, they originally intended; while they appeared to be waiting to ambush Ginetti's party as it left Chiavenna's Crotto Fiume, it is not certain if they meant to do harm, or only to appear menacing. It is also not certain who sent them.[n 1] Only one, who Tom Simpson had punched out in the crotto, survived, and he escaped afterward.
As a result of this confrontation, the party had to leave Chiavenna much more quickly than they had planned, and had to abandon their radio to save weight, and destroy it to conceal the fact that they had had it. Fortunately, the loss of radio contact was taken as a call for emergency extraction. Even so, they were pursued by Spanish troops stationed in the areas, and were only able to escape because the airship coming to fly them out was also flying Harry Lefferts and his team in to meet up with part of the Hibernian Mercenary Company under Thomas North.
Notes[]
- ↑ In ch. 9 of The Papal Stakes, a private meeting between Cardinal Borja and Pedro Dolor shows the reader that they were not sent by Borja or anyone working for him.