Niccolò Caracciolo Moschino

Niccolò Caracciolo Moschino was a fourteenth-century cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and a friar of the Order of Preachers. A member of the noble Caracciolo family of Naples, he was born in that city in the Kingdom of Naples. Sources also refer to him as Nicolaus Caracciolo and Niccolò Moschino. He entered the Dominican Order and was known as a theologian, although surviving records provide few particulars of his studies or teaching.

In 1378 the Western Schism divided Western Christendom after the election of Pope Urban VI in Rome and the subsequent election of a rival claimant at Avignon. Caracciolo remained with the Roman obedience. On 18 September 1378 Urban VI created him a cardinal, assigning him the title of cardinal-priest of San Ciriaco alle Terme Diocleziane. The promotion belonged to Urban VI's effort to restore the College of Cardinals after numerous members had withdrawn their allegiance.

The pontificate of Urban VI was marked by conflict and by the frequent relocation of the papal court through the cities of central Italy. Cardinal Caracciolo formed part of that itinerant curia. He died in Perugia on 29 July 1389, while the court resided there, and was buried in the church of San Domenico in the same city. Urban VI himself died in October of the same year.

Little else is securely documented concerning Caracciolo's life, any theological writings he may have composed, or his activities beyond the cardinalate. He is not recorded as having been beatified or canonized, and no liturgical feast or patronage is attached to his name. His place in history is that of one of the first cardinals created for the Roman line of popes at the outset of the Western Schism.