Pope Gregory XV

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Pope Gregory XV

Pope Gregory XV (January 9 or January 15, 1554 – July 8, 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was pope from 1621, succeeding Paul V

Pope Paul V

Pope Paul V , born Camillo Borghese, was Pope from May 16, 1605 until his death....
on February 9, 1621.

Biography
He was born in Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, in the Po Valley , between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, exactly between the Reno River and the S?vena River....
to Count Pompeo Ludovisi and Camilla Bianchini, one of seven surviving siblings.

Educated at the Collegio Romano of the Jesuits in Rome, he went to the University of Bologna

University of Bologna

The University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating degree-granting university in the world:, the word 'university' being first used by this institution at its foundation....
to get a degree in both canon

Canon law

Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church churches, and the Anglicanism of churches....
and Roman law

Roman law

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Pope Gregory XV (January 9 or January 15, 1554 – July 8, 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was pope from 1621, succeeding Paul V

Pope Paul V

Pope Paul V , born Camillo Borghese, was Pope from May 16, 1605 until his death....
on February 9, 1621.

Biography

He was born in Bologna

Bologna

University of Bologna

Canon law

Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church churches, and the Anglicanism of churches....
and Roman law

Roman law

Roman law is the law system of ancient Rome. As used in the West the term commonly refers to legal developments prior to the Roman/Byzantine state's adopting Greek language as its official language in the 7th century....
, June 1575. There is no sign that he ever took orders: his early career was as a papal jurist in Rome. In 1612 Paul V

Pope Paul V

Pope Paul V , born Camillo Borghese, was Pope from May 16, 1605 until his death....
appointed him Archbishop of Bologna

Archdiocese of Bologna

The 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....
and sent him in August 1616 as nuncio to the Duchy of Savoy

Duchy of Savoy

From 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 Savoy

Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy

Charles Emmanuel I , , surnamed the Great, was the Duke of Savoy from 1580 to 1630. He was also nicknamed Testa d' feu for his rashness and military attitudes....
and Philip III of Spain

Philip III of Spain

Philip III was the monarch of Spain and King of Portugal, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death. His Political minister was the Francisco Gom?z de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma....
in their dispute concerning the Gonzaga

House of Gonzaga

The Gonzaga family ruled Mantua in Northern Italy from 1328 to 1708. See Duchy of Mantua for a list of rulers.In 1433, Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga assumed the title of Marquis of Mantua, and in 1530 Federico II of Gonzaga received the title of Duke of Mantua....
Marquisate of Montferrat. In September 1616 Paul created him Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Traspontina

Santa Maria in Traspontina

Santa Maria in Traspontina is a Carmelite church on the Via della Conciliazione in Rome.Pope Alexander VI demolished an ancient Roman pyramid on the same site for the construction of the first church....
. Henceforth 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 conclave

Papal conclave

A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals to elect the pope, or Bishop of Rome, who is considered by Catholics to be the Apostolic Succession 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 Zagarolo

Zagarolo

Zagarolo 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, Niccolò

Niccolò Ludovisi

Niccol? I Ludovisi was Principality 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 house of Bentivoglio....
, was made reigning Prince of Piombino

Principality of Piombino

The 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'Elba

Elba

Elba is an island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. It is the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, and the third largest List of islands of Italy after Sicily and Sardinia....
in 1634, having married the heiress, 30 March 1632. Through well-arranged political Beyond assisting Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

Ferdinand II , of the House of Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , King of Hungary ....
and the Catholic League against the Protestants, to the tune of a million gold ducats, and Sigismund III Vasa

Sigismund III Vasa

Sigismund III Vasa was Grand Duke of Lithuania and List of Polish monarchs, a monarch of joined Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and Monarch of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599....
against the Turks

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
, he interfered little in European politics. His Constitution against magicians and witches (Omnipotentis Dei, 20 March, 1623) was the last papal ordinance against witchcraft

Witchcraft

Witchcraft, in various historical, anthropological, religious and mythological contexts, is the use of certain kinds of supernatural or Magic powers....
. 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 November 15, 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-inspiration

Acclamation (in Papal Elections)

Acclamation was formerly one of the methods of papal election.The method of electing the Roman Pontiff is contained in the constitutions of Gregory XV ?terni Patris Filius and Decet Romanum Pontificem, Urban VIII's constitution Ad Romani Pontificis Providentiam, and John Paul II's Universi Dominici Gregis, issued in 1996....
. On 6 January 1622, he established the Congregatio de propaganda fide the missionary arm of the Roman Curia. His pontificate was marked by the canonization

Canonization

Canonization is the act by which a particular Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint and is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints....
of Teresa of Avila

Teresa of Ávila

Saint Teresa of ?vila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a prominent Spanish mystics, Carmelites nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation....
, Francis Xavier

Francis Xavier

Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jaso y Azpilicueta was a Kingdom of Navarre pioneering Roman Catholic missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus....
, Ignatius Loyola, Philip Neri

Philip Neri

Philip Romolo Neri , was an Italy priest, noted for founding a society of secular priests called the "Congregation of the Oratory"....
, and Isidore the Farmer. He also beatified Aloysius Gonzaga

Aloysius Gonzaga

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga was an Italy Jesuit and saint....
and Peter of Alcantara

Peter of Alcantara

Saint Peter of Alcantara was a Spain Franciscan. He was born at Alc?ntara, C?ceres , Extremadura, Spain. His father, Peter Garavito, was the governor of Alc?ntara, 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 Baroque

Baroque

In the the arts, the Baroque was a Western cultural Epoch , starting roughly at the beginning of the 17th century in Rome, Italy. It was exemplified by drama and grandeur in Baroque sculpture, Baroque painting, literature, Baroque dance, and Baroque music....
style. He sat for his portrait bust both to Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini was a pre-eminent Baroque sculpture and architect of 17th Century Rome....
and to Alessandro Algardi

Alessandro Algardi

Alessandro Algardi was an Italy 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....
, whose restrained bust in a tondo is in the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella

Santa Maria in Vallicella

'Santa Maria in Vallicella', also called 'Chiesa Nuova', is a churches of Rome Rome, which today faces onto the main thoroughfare of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele....
.

Gregory XV died in the Quirinal Palace

Quirinal Palace

The Quirinal Palace is the official residence of the President of the Italian Republic on the Quirinal Hill, the tallest of the seven hills of Rome....
on July 8, 1623, and was buried in the church of Sant'Ignazio

Sant'Ignazio

The Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius is Roman Catholic titular church dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, located in Rome, Italy....
. He was succeeded by Urban VIII

Pope Urban VIII

Pope 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....
.