Pope Gregory XV (9 January or 15 January, 1554 – 8 July, 1623), born
Alessandro Ludovisi, was pope from 1621, succeeding
Paul VPope Paul V , born Camillo Borghese, was Pope from 16 May, 1605 until his death.-Early life:...
on 9 February, 1621.
Biography
He was born in
BolognaBologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of northern Italy...
to Count Pompeo Ludovisi and Camilla Bianchini, one of seven children.
Educated at the Collegio Romano of the Jesuits in Rome, he went to the
University of BolognaThe University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating degree-granting university in Europe, the word 'university' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...
to get degrees in
canonCanon law is the body of laws and regulations made by or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
and
Roman lawThe term Roman law denotes the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the seventh century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the official lingua franca. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence —...
, June 1575. There is no evidence that he ever took orders: his early career was as a papal jurist in Rome. In 1612
Paul VPope Paul V , born Camillo Borghese, was Pope from 16 May, 1605 until his death.-Early life:...
appointed him
Archbishop of BolognaThe Archdiocese of Bologna is a Roman Catholic territory in northern Italy, with episcopal see in Bologna. The current Archbishop is Carlo Cardinal Caffarra since 2003.The archdiocese has the following suffragans:*diocese of Imola...
and sent him in August 1616 as nuncio to the
Duchy of SavoyFrom 1416 to 1714, the territories of the House of Savoy were known as the Duchy of Savoy . The Duchy was a state in the northern part of the Italian Peninsula, with some territories that are now in France...
, to mediate between
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of SavoyCharles Emmanuel I , , surnamed the Great, was the Duke of Savoy from 1580 to 1630...
and
Philip III of SpainPhilip III was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II of Portugal , from 1598 until his death. His chief minister was the Duke of Lerma...
in their dispute concerning the
GonzagaThe Gonzaga family ruled Mantua in Northern Italy from 1328 to 1708. See Duchy of Mantua for a list of rulers.In 1433, Gianfrancesco I assumed the title of Marquis of Mantua, and in 1530 Federico II received the title of Duke of Mantua. In 1531, the family acquired the Duchy of Monferrato through...
Marquisate of Montferrat. In September 1616 Paul created him Cardinal-Priest of
Santa Maria in TraspontinaSanta Maria in Traspontina is a Carmelite church on the Via della Conciliazione in Rome, Italy.Pope Alexander VI demolished an ancient Roman pyramid on the same site for the construction...
. Cardinal Ludovisi remained at his see in Bologna until he went to Rome after the death of Pope Paul V to take part in the
conclaveA papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishop of Rome, who becomes the pope, when there is a vacancy in the office. The pope is considered by Catholics to be the successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Catholic Church...
in which he was chosen.
At the moment of his election, chiefly through the influence of Cardinal Borghese, at his advanced age (he was 67) and with his weak state of health he saw at once that he would need an energetic man, in whom he could place implicit confidence, to assist him in the government of the Church. His nephew Ludovico Ludovisi, a young man of 25 years, seemed to him to be the right person and, at the risk of being charged with nepotism, he created him cardinal on the third day of his pontificate. On the same day, Orazio, a brother of the pope, was put at the head of the pontifical army. The future revealed that Gregory XV was not disappointed in his nephew. The
Catholic Encyclopedia allows that "Ludovico, it is true, advanced the interests of his family in every possible way, but he also used his brilliant talents and his great influence for the welfare of the Church, and was sincerely devoted to the pope." Gregory secured for the Ludovisi two dukedoms, one for his youngest brother Orazio, made a
Nobile Romano and duca di Fiano, 1621, and the other, the duchy of
ZagaroloZagarolo is a town and comune in the province of Rome, in the region of Lazio of central Italy.
It has 14,620 inhabitants, a total area of 28 km2....
, purchased from the Colonna by his nephew Ludovico Ludovisi in 1622. A second nephew,
NiccolòNiccolò I Ludovisi was Prince of Piombino from 1634 until his death. He was the son of Orazio Ludovisi, patrician of Bologna and commander-in-chief of the Papal Army , and Flaminia Bentivoglio....
, was made reigning
prince of PiombinoThe Principality of Piombino was a state of Italy, which existed from 1399 to 1805, when Napoleon absorbed it into the Principality of Lucca and Piombino....
and Lord of the Isola d'
ElbaElba is an island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. It is the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, located between the Tyrrhenian Sea and Ligurian Sea, and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia. Elba and the other islands of the Tuscan Archipelago...
in 1634, having married the heiress, 30 March 1632. Through well-arranged political
Beyond assisting
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman EmperorFerdinand II , of the House of Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , King of Hungary .-Life:...
and the Catholic League against the Protestants, to the tune of a million gold ducats, and
Sigismund III VasaSigismund III Vasa was King of Polish Crown and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of joined Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
against the
TurksThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
, he interfered little in European politics. His Constitution against magicians and witches (
Omnipotentis Dei, 20 March, 1623) was the last papal ordinance against
witchcraftWitchcraft, in various historical, anthropological, religious and mythological contexts, is the use of certain kinds of supernatural or magical powers. Witchcraft can refer to the use of such powers in order to inflict harm or damage upon members of a community or their property...
. Former punishments were lessened, and the death penalty was limited to those who were "proved to have entered into a compact with the devil, and to have committed homicide with his assistance" (
CE). He was a learned divine and manifested a reforming spirit; his bull of 15 November, 1621,
Aeterni Patris regulated papal elections which were to be secret and in writing; three methods of election were allowed: by scrutiny, compromise and
quasi-inspirationAcclamation was formerly one of the methods of papal election.The method of electing the Roman Pontiff is contained in the constitutions of Gregory XV Æterni Patris Filius and Decet Romanum Pontificem, Urban VIII's constitution Ad Romani Pontificis Providentiam, and John Paul II's Universi...
. On 6 January 1622, he established the Congregatio de propaganda fide the missionary arm of the Roman Curia. His pontificate was marked by the canonisation of
Teresa of AvilaSaint Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a prominent Spanish mystic, Carmelite nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation...
,
Francis XavierSaint Francis of Xavier, born Francisco de Jaso y Azpilcueta was a Kingdom of Navarre pioneering Roman Catholic missionary of Basque origin. He was a student of Saint Ignatius Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who dedicated themselves to the service of God at Montmarte in 1534...
, Ignatius Loyola,
Philip NeriPhilip Romolo Neri , was an Italian priest, noted for founding a society of secular priests called the "Congregation of the Oratory".-Early life:...
, and Isidore the Farmer. He also beatified
Aloysius GonzagaSaint Aloysius Gonzaga was an Italian Jesuit and saint.- Early life :Aloysius Gonzaga was born at his family’s castle in Castiglione delle Stiviere, between Brescia and Mantova in northern Italy. He was a member of the illustrious House of Gonzaga...
and
Peter of AlcantaraSaint Peter of Alcantara was a Spanish Franciscan. He was born at Alcántara, Province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. His father, Peter Garavito, was the governor of Alcántara, and his mother was of the noble family of Sanabia...
. He was influential in bringing the Bolognese artist Guercino to Rome, a landmark in the development of the
High BaroqueBaroque is an artistic style prevalent from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes in...
style. He sat for his portrait bust both to
Gian Lorenzo BerniniGian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome during the 17th century. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
and to
Alessandro AlgardiAlessandro Algardi was an Italian high-Baroque sculptor active almost exclusively in Rome, where for the latter decades of his life, he was the major rival of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.-Early years:...
, whose restrained bust in a tondo is in the church of
Santa Maria in VallicellaSanta Maria in Vallicella, also called Chiesa Nuova, is a church in Rome, which today faces onto the main thoroughfare of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele...
.
Gregory XV died in the
Quirinal PalaceThe Quirinal Palace is the current official residence of the President of the Italian Republic on the Quirinal Hill, the tallest of the seven hills of Rome....
on 8 July, 1623, and was buried in the church of
Sant'IgnazioThe Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius is Roman Catholic titular church dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, located in Rome, Italy...
. He was succeeded by
Urban VIIIPope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was Pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last Pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...
.