About Cardinal Federico Borromeo (1564-1631)


“Federigo Borromeo was one of those men rare in any age who have employed outstanding genius, all the means furnished by great wealth, all the advantage of privileged estate and firmness of purpose, in the quest for goodness and its exercise.”

Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi



The Biblioteca Ambrosiana was founded by the illustrious Cardinal Federico Borromeo in 1609. Since its inception, the Ambrosiana has had at its core the highest of educational missions. Borromeo believed that through knowledge comes understanding, and, for this reason, he sent emissaries to distant countries to acquire manuscripts representing the highest level of intellectual thought from cultures around the world. He was chiefly interested in Eastern cultures -- Arabic, Hebrew, and Syrian, among others -- and arranged to buy for his fledgling library many codices covering subjects ranging from Medicine, Mathematics, and Astronomy to History, Law, and Religion.

During an era in which the Christian Church was being threatened from the rapidly encroaching Muslim forces of the Ottoman Empire and the emerging Protestant faith, Borromeo’s goal in acquiring these Eastern manuscripts was to promote contact with these cultures and to encourage his fellow Italians, specifically the members of the Milanese Church, to gain an understanding of the religious and cultural heritage of their challengers.

To this day, the Ambrosiana remains dedicated to maintaining and propagating Cardinal Borromeo’s vision of the power of scholarship. The Ambrosiana Foundation has been established to aid the governors of the Biblioteca in their mission of promoting intellectual endeavors and cultural understanding.