Giorgio Andreasi was born in Mantua, Italy in 1467.[3][4] He had an elder brother, Lodovico, who was born in 1462, and was a Consistorial Advocate in Rome under Pope Julius II; he died in 1506.[5]
He began his career as secretary to Cardinal Francesco Sforza, the brother of the Duke of Milan. He was elected Archpriest of the cathedral Chapter of Milan.[6]
Andreasi was a Protonotary Apostolic, and was the ambassador (orator) of the Duke of Milan to the Emperor Charles V, and then to Pope Clement VII, at least from 1529 to 1532.[7]
On 2 April 1544, he was transferred by Paul III to the diocese of Reggio Emilia.[1][3] In 1545 and again in 1548, assisted by his Vicars, Bishop Andreasi made official Visitations of the religious institutions in his diocese. Due to his advancing age, Bishop Andreasi was granted a Coadjutor on 14 December 1545, his own nephew Giovanni Battista Grossi. Grossi was not in major Holy Orders, and consequently his powers were limited.[10]
He died on 22 January 1549 at the age of nearly eighty-two,[1][11] and after a public viewing for two days, his remains were taken to Mantua for burial. He was originally interred in the Carmelite church in Mantua, with a monument by Prospero Clemente of Reggio, but when the Carmelites were suppressed in 1785, his monument was moved to the church of S. Andrea.[12]
