| Gregory XIII | |
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| Birth name | Ugo Boncompagni |
| Papacy began | May 13, 1572 |
| Papacy ended | April 10, 1585 |
| Predecessor | Pius V |
| Successor | Sixtus V |
| Born | January 7, 1502 Bologna, Italy |
| Died | April 10, 1585 (aged 83) Rome, Italy |
| Other popes named Gregory | |
Pope Gregory XIII (January 7, 1502 – April 10, 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. Events 1497 - Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Girolamo Savonarola. Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Pope Pope Sixtus V ( December 13, 1521 &ndash August 27, 1590) born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590 Events 1325 - Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal. 1558 - France takes Calais, the last continental Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Events 1325 - Alfonso IV becomes King of Portugal. 1558 - France takes Calais, the last continental Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and
Contents |
Early biography
Youth
He was born in the city of Bologna, where he studied law and graduated in 1530. Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy Afterwards, he taught jurisprudence for some years; his students included notable figures such as Alexander Farnese, Reginald Pole and Charles Borromeo. Alessandro Cardinal Farnese ( 5 October 1520 &ndash 2 March 1589) was an Italian cardinal and diplomat a great collector and patron of the arts Reginald Pole (1500 &ndash November 17, 1558) was an English prelate a Cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, and the last Roman Saint Charles Borromeo (Carlo Borromeo Latinized as Carolus Borromeus) ( October 2 1538 – November 3 1584) is an
Career before Papacy
At the age of thirty-six he was summoned to Rome by Pope Paul III (1534–1549), under whom he held successive appointments as first judge of the capital, abbreviator, and vice-chancellor of the Campagna; by Pope Paul IV (1555–1559) he was attached as datarius to the suite of Cardinal Carafa; and by Pope Pius IV (1559–1565) he was created cardinal priest and sent to the council of Trent. Pope Paul III ( February 29, 1468 &ndash November 10, 1549) born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Abbreviator, plural Abbreviators in English or Abbreviatores in Latin also called Breviators, were a body of writers in the papal chancery, Campagna is a small town and Comune of the Province of Salerno, in the Campania region of Southern Italy. Pope Paul IV ( June 28, 1476 &ndash August 18, 1559) né Giovanni Pietro Carafa, was Pope from May 23 Carlo Carafa (1517-1561 was born at Naples on March 29 1517 into one of the city's most ancient and distinguished families Pope Pius IV ( March 31, 1499 &ndash December 9, 1565) born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was Pope from 1559 to 1565 A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. The Council of Trent was the 19th Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church.
He also served as a legate to Philip II of Spain (1556–1598), being sent by the Pope to investigate the Cardinal of Toledo. Philip II (Felipe II de España Filipe I ( May 21, 1527 &ndash September 13 1598) was King of Spain from 1556 until 1598 Toledo Spain locationpng|thumb|right|200px|Location of Toledo in Spain It was here that he formed a lasting and close relationship with the Spanish King, which was to become a very important during his foreign policy as Pope.
Election as Pope
Upon the death of Pope Pius V (1566–1572), the conclave chose Cardinal Boncompagni, who assumed the name of Gregory XIII, in homage to the great reforming Pope, Gregory I (590–604), surnamed the Great. The Papal conclave May 12 – May 13 1572 – Papal conclave convoked after the death of Pius V, elected Cardinal Ugo Boncompagni, who under the name It was a very brief conclave, lasting less than 24 hours, presumed by many historians to have been due to the influence and backing of the Spanish King. His character seemed to be perfect for the needs of the church at the time. Unlike some of his predecessors, Gregory XIII was to lead a faultless personal life, becoming a model for his simplicity of life. Additionally, his legal brilliance and management abilities meant that he was able to respond and deal with the major problems quickly and decisively, although not always successfully.
Pontificate
Reform of the Church
Once in the chair of Saint Peter, Gregory XIII's rather worldly concerns became secondary and he dedicated himself to reform of the Catholic Church. He committed himself to putting into practice the recommendations of the Council of Trent. The Council of Trent was the 19th Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. He allowed no exceptions for cardinals to the rule that bishops must take up residence in their sees, and designated a committee to update the Index of Forbidden Books. The Index Librorum Prohibitorum ("List of Prohibited Books" was a list of publications prohibited by the Roman Catholic Church. A new and greatly improved edition of the Corpus juris canonici was also due to his concerned patronage. In a time of considerable centralisation of power, Gregory XIII abolished the Cardinals Consistories, replacing them with Colleges, and appointing specific tasks for these colleges to work on. Antiquity Originally the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together' just as the Greek syn(hedrion (of which the Biblical Sanhedrin He was renowned for having a fierce independence; with the few confidants noting there were interventions that were not always welcomed nor advice sought for. The power of the papacy increased under him, whereas the influence and power of the Cardinals substantially decreased.
Formation of clergy and promotion of the arts and sciences
A central part of the strategy of Gregory XIII's reform was to apply the recommendations of Trent. He was a liberal patron of the recently formed Society of Jesus throughout Europe, for which he founded many new colleges. The Society of Jesus ( Latin: Societas Iesu, SJ and SI or SJ, SI) is a Catholic religious order The Roman College, of the Jesuits, grew substantially under his patronage, and became the most important centre of learning in Europe for a time, a University of the Nations. It is now named the Pontifical Gregorian University. Pontifical Gregorian University (Pontificia Università Gregoriana (also known as the Gregorianum) is a Pontifical university located in Rome, Italy Pope Gregory XIII also founded numerous seminaries for training priests, beginning with the German College at Rome, and put them in the charge of the Jesuits. A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is a specialized and often live-in Higher education institution for the purpose of instructing students The Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum or simply Collegium Germanicum is a German-speaking Seminary for Roman Catholic priests in Rome Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 The Society of Jesus ( Latin: Societas Iesu, SJ and SI or SJ, SI) is a Catholic religious order
In 1575 he gave official status to the Congregation of the Oratory, a community of priests without vows, dedicated to prayer and preaching (founded by Saint Filippo Neri).
The Gregorian Calendar
Gregory XIII is best known for his reformation of the calendar, producing the Gregorian calendar with the aid of Jesuit priest/astronomer Christopher Clavius. The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used Calendar in the world today Christopher Clavius, ( March 25, 1538 &ndash February 12, 1612) was a German Jesuit Mathematician and The reason for the reform is that the average length of the year in the Julian Calendar was too long, and the date of the actual Vernal Equinox had slowly slipped to March 10, whereas the computus (calculation) of the Easter date of Easter still followed the traditional date of March 21. The Julian calendar, a reform of the Roman calendar, was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC and came into force in 45 BC (709 Ab urbe condita An equinox is the event of the Sun passing over the Earth's equator in its annual cycle Computus ( Latin for Computation) is the Calculation of the date of Easter in the Christian calendar.
This was rectified by following the observations of Clavius and Johannes Kepler, and the calendar was changed when Pope Gregory XIII decreed that the day after October 4, 1582 would be October 15, 1582. Johannes Kepler (ˈkɛplɚ ( December 27 1571 &ndash November 15 1630) was a German Mathematician, Astronomer Events 610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas Events 533 - Byzantine General Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the He issued the papal bull Inter gravissimas to promulgate the new calendar on February 24, 1582. A Papal bull is a particular type of Letters patent or charter issued by a Pope. Inter gravissimas was a Papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII on February 24, 1582. Events 303 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the On October 15, 1582, this calendar replaced the Julian calendar, in use since 45 BC, and has become universally used today. Events 533 - Byzantine General Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the The Julian calendar, a reform of the Roman calendar, was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC and came into force in 45 BC (709 Ab urbe condita
The switchover was bitterly opposed by much of the populace, who feared it was an attempt by landlords to cheat them out of a week and a half's rent. However, the Catholic countries of Spain, Portugal, Poland, and Italy complied. France, some states of the Dutch Republic and various Catholic states in Germany and Switzerland (both countries were religiously split) followed suit within a year or two, and Hungary followed in 1587. "United Netherlands" redirects here For the "Kingdom of the United Netherlands" see United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Because of the Pope's decree, the reform of the Julian calendar came to be known as the Gregorian calendar. However, the rest of Europe did not follow suit for more than a century. Denmark, the remaining states of the Dutch Republic, and the Protestant states of the Holy Roman Empire and Switzerland adopted the Gregorian reform in 1700-1701. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in By this time, the calendar trailed the seasons by 11 days. Great Britain (and its American colonies) finally followed suit in 1752, and Wednesday, September 2, 1752 was immediately followed by Thursday, September 14, 1752; they were joined by the last Protestant holdout, Sweden, on March 1, 1753. Events 44 BC - Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion. Year 1752 ( MDCCLII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar for European countries but not Great Britain) of Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. Year 1752 ( MDCCLII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar for European countries but not Great Britain) of Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant
The Gregorian Calendar was not accepted in eastern Christendom for several hundred years, and then only as the civil calendar. The Gregorian Calendar was instituted in Russia by the communists in 1917, and the last Eastern Orthodox country to accept the calendar was Greece in 1923. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία
While some Eastern Orthodox national churches have accepted the Gregorian Calendar dates for "fixed" feasts (feasts that occur on the same date every year), the dates of all movable feasts (such as Easter) are still calculated in the Eastern Orthodox Churches by reference to the Julian Calendar. Easter ( Greek: Πάσχα Pascha or Pasxa) is the most important religious feast in the Christian Liturgical year. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world
Foreign policy
Though he expressed the conventional fears of the danger from the Turks, Gregory XIII's attentions were more consistently directed to the dangers from the Protestants. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation.
He encouraged the plans of Phillip II to dethrone Elizabeth I of England (1558–1603) thus succeeded in developing an atmosphere of subversion and imminent danger among English Protestants, who looked on any Roman Catholic as a potential traitor.
In 1578, to further the plans of exiled English and Irish catholics such as Nicholas Sanders William Cardinal Allen and James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, Gregory outfitted adventurer Thomas Stukeley with a ship and an army of 800 men to land in Ireland to aid in the hoped for overthrow of Elizabeth's rule through the Catholic leader and former leader of the first Desmond rebellion, Fitzmaurice. Nicholas Sanders (also spelled Sander (c 1530 - 1581 was an English Roman Catholic priest and Historian. Early life Allen was born in 1532 at Rossall, Lancashire, England. James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, a member of the 16th century ruling Geraldine dynasty in the province of Munster in Ireland, rebelled against the crown authority Thomas Stukley (surname also spelled as Stucley, Stukely, Stukeley) (c Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world To his dismay Stukeley joined his forces with those of King Sebastian of Portugal against Emperor Abdul Malik of Morocco instead. Sebastian I King of Portugal "the Desired" (in Portuguese, Sebastião I, sɨbɐʃˈtiɐ̃ũ o Desejado; born in Lisbon Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I (أبو مروان عبد الملك الغازي was the Sultan of the Saadi Dynasty from 1576 until his death at the Battle of Alcazarquivir Another papal expedition sailed to Ireland in 1579 with a mere 50 soldiers under the command of Fitzmaurice, accompanied by Sanders as papal legate. A Papal Legate – from the Latin authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the Pope to Foreign nations or to some part of the Catholic The resulting Second Desmond Rebellion was equally unsuccessful. The Second Desmond rebellion (1579-1583 was the more widespread and bloody of the two Desmond Rebellions launched by the Fitzgerald dynasty of Desmond Gregory's greatest success came in his patronage of colleges and seminaries which he founded on the Continent for the Irish and English, among others. Pope Gregory XIII had no connection with the plot of Henry, Duke of Guise, and his brother, Charles, Duke of Mayenne, to assassinate Elizabeth I in 1582, and most probably knew nothing about it beforehand. Henry I Prince of Joinville Duke of Guise Count of Eu ( January 31, 1550 – December 23, 1588, Château de Blois) sometimes For information on the regent of the Netherlands see Charles of Lorraine.
An embarrassing moment for the Papacy was the Massacre of Huguenots in France, although it is commonly held that the Pope was ignorant of the nature of the plot at the time, having been told the Huguenots had tried to take over the government but failed. The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France (or French Calvinists) from the sixteenth to the eighteenth He celebrated the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacres in 1572 with a Te Deum, three frescoes depicting the events in the Sala Regia of the Vatican Palace commended to painter Giorgio Vasari and a commemorative medal, with his portrait and on the obverse a chastising angel, sword in hand and the legend UGONOTTORUM STRAGES ("Slaughter of the Huguenots ") Note 53. The St Bartholomew's Day massacre ( Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy in French) was a wave of Roman Catholic Mob violence against the Huguenots Giorgio Vasari ( 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian painter and Architect, who is today famous The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France (or French Calvinists) from the sixteenth to the eighteenth
Cultural patronage
In Rome Gregory XIII built the magnificent Gregorian chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter, and extended the Quirinal Palace in 1580. The Basilica of Saint Peter (Basilica Sancti Petri officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and commonly known as St The Quirinal Palace (known in Italian as the Palazzo del Quirinale or simply the Quirinale) is the Official residence of the President He also turned the Baths of Diocletian into a granary in 1575. The Baths of Diocletian ( Thermae Diocletiani) in Rome were the grandest of the public baths or Thermae built by successive emperors
He appointed his illegitimate son Giacomo[1], born to his mistress at Bologna before his papacy, castellan of St. Giacomo Boncompagni (also Jacopo Boncompagni; May 8 1548 - August 18 1612) was an Italian powerful feudatory of the 16th century Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy Angelo and gonfalonier of the Church; Venice, anxious to please, enrolled him among its nobles. The Gonfaloniere was a highly prestigious communal post in Medieval and Renaissance Italy, notably in Florence. Philip II of Spain appointed him general in his army. Gregory also helped his son to become a powerful feudatary through the acquisition of the Duchy of Sora, on the border between the Papal States and te Kingdom of Naples. The Duchy of Sora was a sovereign state of Italy, created in 1443 by King Alfonso V of Naples and dissolved in 1796. The Papal States, State(s of the Church or Pontifical States (in Italian Stato Ecclesiastico, Stato della Chiesa, Stati della Chiesa The Kingdom of Naples was an informal name of the Polity officially known as the Kingdom of Sicily which existed on the mainland of the southern Italian
In order to raise funds for these and similar objects, he confiscated a large proportion of the houses and properties throughout the states of the Church – a measure which enriched his treasury, indeed, for a time, but by alienating the great body of the nobility and gentry, revived old factions, created new ones, and ultimately plunged his temporal dominions into a state bordering upon anarchy. Such was the position of matters at the time of Gregory XIII's death, which took place on April 10, 1585. Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama
Gregory XIII was succeeded by Pope Sixtus V (1585–1590). Pope Sixtus V ( December 13, 1521 &ndash August 27, 1590) born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590
The oldest Papal tiara still in existence dates from the reign of Gregory XIII. The Papal Tiara, also known as the Triple Tiara, or in Latin as the ' Triregnum', and in Italian as the ' Triregno', is the three-tiered
Sources and external links
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope Gregory XIII
- "Papal Library" website: Gregory XIII
- Monument to Gregory XIII
- Initial text from the 9th edition (1880) of an unnamed encyclopedia. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia
Footnotes
- ^ Ugo Boncompagni had Giacomo legitimated on July 5, 1548 by the bishop of Feltre. Events 1295 - Scotland and France form an alliance the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England. The Italian Catholic diocese of Feltre, in the Veneto existed from 1462 to 1818
| Roman Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Pius V |
Pope 1572–85 |
Succeeded by Sixtus V |
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