Vincenzo Ludovico Gotti

{{Short description|Italian Catholic cardinal (1664–1742)}}

Image:Gotti vincenzo ludovico 1.1.jpg

Vincenzo Ludovico Gotti (5 September 1664 – 18 September 1742) was a Cardinal and theologian of the Roman Catholic Church.

Gotti was born in Bologna. Educated by Jesuits, he entered the Dominican Order at the age of sixteen. After studies in Salamanca in Spain, he was assigned to teach theology and philosophy at various schools of the Dominican Order. In 1688 Gotti was professor of philosophy at the Dominican College of Saint Thomas, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum.{{cite web|authorlink=Salvador Miranda (historian) |last=Miranda |first=Salvador |title= GOTTI, O.P., Vincenzo Ludovico (1664-1742)|url=https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios1728.htm#Gotti|work=The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church |accessdate=|publisher=Florida International University|oclc=53276621}} He also taught in Mantua and Bologna.

In 1708, Gotti was elected Prior of the Dominican monastery in Bologna. On 30 April 1728 Pope Benedict XIII made him Cardinal Priest and appointed him Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Together with Charles René Billuart, Gotti was the leading proponent of the Thomistic school in his time. His writings include several polemics against Lutherans and Calvinism as well as commentaries on Thomas Aquinas.

Gotti was considered papabile (a serious contender to be elected Pope) at the Papal conclave of 1740,[https://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1740.html California State University of Northridge website, Sede Vacante 1740] when Cardinal Lambertini said to the College of Cardinals "If you wish to elect a saint, choose Gotti; a statesman, Aldrovandi; an honest man, me".Michael J. Walsh, Pocket Dictionary of Popes (2006) [https://books.google.com/books?id=vWP_K-lZCB0C&pg=PA21 p. 21]