Julian Cesarini the Elder (It.: Giuliano Cesarini, seniore) (1398 in Rome – 10 November 1444 in Varna, Ottoman Empire) was one of the group of cardinals appointed by Pope Martin V upon the conclusion of the Western Schism. His intellect and diplomacy made him a powerful agent first as part of the Council of Basel and then, after he broke with the Conciliar movement at Basel, of papal superiority against the Conciliar movement. The French bishop Bossuet described Cesarini as the strongest bulwark that the Catholics could oppose to the Greeks in the Council of Florence.
One of five brothers of a well-established Roman family of the minor nobility; his brother Giacomo was appointed papal Podestà of Orvieto and Foligno in 1444; his great-nephew, also Giuliano Cesarini Giuliano (1466–1510) was made a cardinal in 1493. He was educated at Perugia, where he lectured on Roman law and had Domenico Capranica among his pupils. When the schism was ended by the general recognition of Martin V as pope, Giuliano returned to Rome, where he attached himself to Cardinal Branda da Castiglione.
