Ciulio Alberoni, a Spanish statesman, born near Piacenza, Italy, May 31, 1664, died in Rome, June 16, 1752. He was the son of a vinedresser, and was brought up to the church. In the war of the Spanish succession he gained the favor of the duke of Vendome, commanding the French troops in Italy, and accompanied him to Paris in 1706, and to Spain in 1711, acting as his secretary. In 1713 he was appointed envoy of the duke of Parma at the Spanish court. He was befriended by the celebrated Princess Orsini; but, having induced her to employ him in negotiating the marriage of Philip V. with Elizabeth Farnese of Parma, his first act after the queen's arrival was to urge her to apply for the dismissal of the princess, who was at once arrested and banished. He became prime minister of Spain in 1714, and in 1717 was made a cardinal by Clement XI. His internal administration was distinguished for economy, the encouragement of industry, and the development of the resources of Spain. He remodelled the army, rebuilt the fleet, strengthened the defences, and increased the foreign commerce. But the ambition of restoring Spain to her former greatness, seconded by the queen's ambition for the aggrandizement of her family, prompted him to a violent foreign policy.

He seized on Sardinia in a time of peace (1717), invaded Sicily (1718), entered into adventurous schemes with Charles XII, Peter the Great, and the Stuarts against France and England, plotted a conspiracy to depose the regent Orleans, and embroiled Spain with all the other powers of Europe, bringing about the quadruple alliance of England, France, Austria, and Holland. Alberoni's courage rose with the danger, and he bade defiance to all his enemies at once. The foreign alliance and the hatred of the grandees at home, however, hurled him from place. Peace was concluded in 1719, one of the stipulations of which was Alberoni's dismissal, and he was ordered to quit Spain without delay. He fled to Italy, whither his foes pursued him, and induced Clement XL to issue a warrant for his arrest. This he managed to escape, wandering about in circumstances of danger and privation; but on the pope's death (1721) he appeared at Rome in the conclave, and assisted at the election of Innocent XIII., who refused to molest him.

He was afterward sent as legate into the Romagna, and finally retired to his native state, where he died at the age of 88. He left a number of MSS., from which his "Political Testament" was published at Lausanne in 1753.