Pope Gregory XV

Pope Gregory XV
Bishop of Rome
Portrait by Guercino, 1622 (oil on canvas, Getty Center, Los Angeles )
Church	Catholic Church
Papacy began	9 February 1621
Papacy ended	8 July 1623
Predecessor	Paul V
Successor	Urban VIII
Previous posts	Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura (1593–1596) Vicegerent of Rome (1597–1598) Auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota (1599–1612) Archbishop of Bologna (1612–1621) Cardinal-Priest with no Title assigned (1616–1618) Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Traspontina (1618–1621)
Orders
Consecration	1 May 1612 by Scipione Cardinal Caffarelli-Borghese
Created cardinal	19 September 1616 by Paul V
Personal details
Born	Alessandro Ludovisi 9 January 1554 Bologna, Papal States
Died	8 July 1623 (aged 69) Rome, Papal States
Alma mater	University of Bologna
Other popes named Gregory

Pope Gregory XV (Latin: Gregorius XV; Italian: Gregorio XV; 9 January 1554 – 8 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 February 1621 until his death in 1623. He is notable for founding the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, an organization tasked with overseeing the spread of Catholicism and missionary work. Gregory XV was also responsible for the canonization of Saints Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Ávila, and Philip Neri, which solidified his commitment to the Counter-Reformation.

Biography

Early life

Alessandro Ludovisi was born in Bologna on 9 January 1554 to Pompeo Ludovisi, Count of Samoggia (now Savigno in the Province of Bologna) and Camilla Bianchini. He was the third of seven children.

He was educated at the Roman College run by the Society of Jesus in Rome, and also at the German College in Rome. He later attended the University of Bologna to obtain degrees in canon and Roman law, which he received on 4 June 1575. His early career was as a papal jurist in Rome, and there is no evidence that he had been ordained to the priesthood.

He returned to Rome in 1575 and he served as the Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura from 1593 to 1596 and was appointed as the Vicegerent of Rome in 1597, a position he maintained until 1598. He also served as the Auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota from 1599 to 1612.

On 12 March 1612, Pope Paul V appointed him as the Archbishop of Bologna, for which he was presumably ordained to the priesthood and then, he was consecrated a bishop on 1 May of that year in the church of Sant'Andrea al Quirinale in Rome.

In August 1616, the pope sent him as Apostolic Nuncio to the Duchy of Savoy, to mediate between Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and Philip III of Spain in their dispute concerning the Gonzaga Duchy of Montferrat.

On 19 September 1616, Pope Paul V elevated him to the cardinalate and on 3 December 1618, appointed him as a Cardinal Priest with the titular church of Santa Maria in Traspontina.

Papacy

Papal conclave

Ludovisi remained in his episcopal see in Bologna until he went to Rome after the death of Pope Paul V to take part in the conclave at which he was chosen as pope and he selected the pontifical name of "Gregory XV". He was crowned on 14 February 1621 by the protodeacon, Cardinal Andrea Baroni Peretti Montalto, and assumed possession of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran on 14 May 1621.

At the moment of his election, chiefly through the influence of Cardinal Scipione 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, his youngest brother Orazio was appointed Captain General of the Church at the head of the Papal 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 brother Orazio, made a Nobile Romano and Duke of Fiano Romano, 1621, and the other, the Duchy of Zagarolo, purchased from the Colonna family by his nephew Ludovico Ludovisi in 1622. A second nephew, Niccolò, was made reigning Prince of Piombino and Lord of the Isola d'Elba in 1634, having married the heiress, 30 March 1632.

Actions

Gregory XV interfered little in European politics, beyond assisting Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Catholic League against the Protestants, to the tune of a million gold ducats, and Sigismund III Vasa, King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, against the Ottoman Empire. His Declaration against Magicians and Witches (Omnipotentis Dei, 20 March 1623) was the last papal ordinance against witchcraft. 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".

He was a learned theologian and manifested a reforming spirit. As an example, his papal bull of 15 November 1621, Aeterni Patris Filius, regulated papal elections, which henceforth were to be by secret ballot; three methods of election were allowed: by scrutiny, compromise and quasi-inspiration. Whereas Popes Gregory XIII and Clement VIII had previously established temporary congregations of cardinals to look after the interest of particular foreign missions, Gregory XV established a permanent congregation, the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, on 6 January 1622, to operate as the missionary arm of the Holy See.

He was influential in bringing the Bolognese artist Guercino to Rome, a landmark in the development of the High Baroque style. He sat for his portrait busts, one of which was by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and by Alessandro Algardi, whose restrained bust in a tondo is in the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella.

Consistories

The pope created eleven cardinals in four consistories that saw him elevate his nephew Ludovico and his cousin Marcantonio Gozzadini as cardinals; he also elevated the noted Armand Jean Richelieu as a cardinal.

Canonizations and beatifications

On 12 March 1622, the pope canonized several saints: Francis Xavier, Ignatius of Loyola, Isidore the Laborer, Philip Neri and Teresa of Ávila.

Gregory XV also beatified three individuals during his pontificate: Ambrose Sansedoni of Siena, Albert the Great, and Peter of Alcantara.

Death and burial

He had been suffering from kidney stones for some time and was bedridden from 16 June to 1 July 1623, having been suffering from diarrhea and a stomach disorder that caused him great discomfort. His condition worsened on 4 July, as a fever greatly weakened him, leading to his receiving the Viaticum on 5 July and the Extreme Unction on 6 July, before succumbing to his illness two days later.

Pope Gregory XV died in the Quirinal Palace on 8 July 1623. He was buried in the Church of Sant'Ignazio where more than 80 years later, the Jesuits erected a magnificent monument following the wish of Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, who was also honoured in this monument.

Gregory XV was succeeded by Pope Urban VIII.

See also

• Cardinals created by Gregory XV
• Ludovisi

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Pope Gregory XV — (ALESSANDRO LUDOVISI).

Born at Bologna, 9 or 15 January, 1554; died at Rome, 8 July, 1623. After completing the humanities and philosophy under Jesuit teachers, partly at the Roman and partly at the German College in Rome, he returned to Bologna to devote himself to the study of jurisprudence. After graduating at the University of Bologna in canon and civil law, he went back to Rome and was appointed judge of the Capitol by Gregory XIII. Clement VIII made him referendary of both signatures and member of the rota, and appointed him vicegerent in temporal affairs of Cardinal Vicar Rusticuccio. In 1612 Paul V appointed him Archbishop of Bologna, and sent him as nuncio to Savoy, to mediate between Duke Charles Emmanuel of Savoy and King Philip of Spain in their dispute concerning the Duchy of Monferrat. In 1616 the same pope created him Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria Transpontina. Henceforth Ludovisi remained at his see in Bologna until he came to Rome after the death of Pope Paul V to take part in the election of a new pope. On 9 February Ludovisi himself was elected successor of Paul V, chiefly through the influence of Cardinal Borghese, and took the name of Gregory XV. Although at his elevation to the papal throne he had already reached the age of 67 years and was, moreover, in a bad state of health, his pontificate of two years and five months was one of remarkable activity. He saw that he needed a strong and 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. 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. Eleven cardinals in all were created by Gregory XV.

One of the most important pontifical acts of Gregory XV, affecting the inner affairs of the Church, was his new regulation concerning papal elections. In his Bull "Aeterni Patris" (15 Nov., 1621) he prescribes that in the future only three modes of papal election are to be allowed: scrutiny, compromise, and quasi-inspiration. His Bull "Decet Romanum Pontificem" (12 March, 1622) contains a ceremonial which regulates these three modes of election in every detail. The ordinary mode of election was to be election by scrutiny, which required that the vote be secret, that each cardinal give his vote to only one candidate and that no one vote for himself. Most of the papal elections during the sixteenth century were influenced by political conditions and by party considerations in the College of Cardinals. By introducing secrecy of vote Pope Gregory XV intended to abolish these abuses. The rules and ceremonies prescribed by Gregory XV are substantially the same as those that guide the papal elections of our day. Gregory XV took great interest in the Catholic missions in foreign countries. These missions had become so extensive and the missionary countries differed so greatly in language, manners, and civilization from the countries of Europe, that it was extremely difficult to keep a proper control over them. At the request of the Capuchin Girolamo da Narni and the Discalced Carmelite Dominicus a Jesu-Maria, the pope established on 6 January, 1622, a special congregation of cardinals who were to have supreme control over all foreign missions (Congregatio de Propaganda Fide). Gregory XIII and Clement VIII had already previously formed temporary congregations of cardinals to look after the interest of particular foreign missions, but Gregory XV was the first to erect a permanent congregation, whose sphere of activity should extend over all foreign missions (see PROPAGANDA). For particulars concerning the rights and duties of the new congregation see the Bull "Inscrutabili" of 22 June, 1622, in "Bullarium Romanum", XII, 690-3.

Both Gregory XV and his nephew Ludovico held the religious orders in high esteem, especially the Jesuits. On 12 March, 1622, he canonized Ignatius of Loyola, their founder, and Francis Xavier, their most successful missionary. He had already permitted them on 2 October, 1621, to recite the office and celebrate the mass in honour of the angelic youth Aloysius of Gonzaga. Other religious orders he honoured in the same way. On 12 March, 1622, he canonized Philip Neri, the founder of the Oratorians, and Theresa, the reformer of the Carmelites in Spain. In the same year he beatified Albertus Magnus, the great Dominican theologian, and permitted the feast and the office of Ambrogio Sansedoni, another Dominican, to be celebrated as that of a saint. On 18 April, 1622, he beatified the Spanish Minorite, Peter of Alcantara, and on 17 Feb., 1623, he ordered the feast of St. Bruno, the founder of the Carthusians, to be entered in the Roman Breviary. One layman, the Spanish husbandman Isidore, he canonized on 22 March, 1622. During his short pontificate he approved the famous Maurist Congregation of Bénédictines, the Congregation of the French Benedictine nuns of Calvary (Benedictines de Notre-Dame du Calvaire), the Theatine nuns and the Theatine recluses, the Congregation of Pious Workmen (Pii Operarii), the Priests of St. Briget in Belgium (Fratres novissimi Brigittini), and raised the Piarists and the Priests of the Mother of God (Clerici regulares Matria Dei) to the dignity of a religious order. On 18 March, 1621, he founded at Rome an international college for the Benedictines, the Collegium Gregorianum which was the cradle of the now famous international Benedictine college of St. Anselm. Before passing to the political achievements of Gregory XV, mention must be made of his Constitution "Omnipotentis Dei", issued against magicians and witches on 20 March, 1623. It is the last papal ordinance against witchcraft. Former punishments were lessened, and the death penalty was decreed only upon those who were proved to have entered into a compact with the devil, and to have committed homicide with his assistance.

The great activity which Gregory XV displayed in the inner management of the Church was equalled by his efficacious interposition in the politics of the world, whenever the interests of Catholicity were involved. He gave great financial assistance to Emperor Ferdinand II in regaining the Kingdom of Bohemia and the hereditary dominions of Austria. Gregory XV then sent Carlos Caraffa as nuncio to Vienna, to assist the emperor by his advice in his efforts to suppress Protestantism, especially in Bohemia and Moravia, where the Protestants considerably outnumbered the Catholics. To a great extent it was also due to the influence of Gregory XV that, at a meeting of princes at Ratisbon, the Palatinate and the electoral dignity attached to it were granted to Duke Maximilian of Bavaria in the early part of January, 1623. In order to effect this grant, the pope had previously sent the Capuchin Father Hyacinth, a skilled diplomat, to the imperial court at Vienna. The transfer of the Palatinate Electorate from a Protestant (Frederick V) to a Catholic was of great consequence, since it secured a Catholic majority in the supreme council of the empire. Out of gratitude to Pope Gregory XV, Maximilian presented him with the Palatinate library of Heidelberg, containing about 3500 manuscripts. Early in 1623 Gregory XV sent the Greek theologian Leo Allatius to transport the valuable collection to Rome, where it was put up as the "Gregoriana" in the Vatican Library. Thirty-nine of these manuscripts, which had come to Paris in 1797, were returned to Heidelberg at the Peace of Paris in 1815, and Pius VII returned 852 others as a gift in 1816.

The relations between England and the Roman See assumed a more friendly character during the pontificate of Gregory XV. For a time it seemed probable that, through the intended marriage of the Prince of Wales (afterwards King Charles I) with the Spanish Infanta Maria, Catholicity could be restored in England. Though the pope favored the marriage, it never took place. The treatment, however, of the Catholic subjects of James I became more tolerable and, to some extent at least, they enjoyed religious liberty. In France, the power of the Huguenots was on the decrease, owing to the influence of Gregory XV with King Louis XIII. Here the Capuchins, the Jesuits, and the Franciscans converted large numbers of heretics to Catholicity. Even in the Netherlands, that stronghold of Protestantism, a Catholic reaction set in, despite the fact that the Catholic priests were persecuted and expelled from the country.

The Catholic rulers respected the authority of Gregory XV, not only in religious affairs, but also in matters of a purely political nature. This was noticeable when an international dispute arose concerning the possession of the Valtelline (1620) the Spaniards occupied that district, while the Austrians took possession of the Grisons passes and were in close proximity to the Spaniards. The proximity of the two allied armies endangered the interests of France, Venice, and Savoy. These three powers, therefore, combined to compel the Austrians and Spaniards to evacuate the Valtelline, by force of arms if necessary. Upon request, Pope Gregory XV intervened by sending his brother Orazio at the head of the pontifical troops to take temporary possession of the Valtelline. After a little reluctance on the part of Archduke Leopold of Austria, the disputed territory with its fortresses was yielded to Orazio, and the impending war was thus averted.

RANKE, History of the Popes (London, 1906), II, 202-38; PALATIUS, Gesta Pontificum Romanorum (Venice, 1688), IV, 522-36; CIACONIUS-OLDOINUS, Historioe Rom. Pontif. (Rome, 1677), IV, 465 sq.; BROSCH, Geschichte des Kirchenstaates (Gotha, 1880), I, 371 sq.; L'AREZIO, La politica della Santa Sede risp. alla Valtellina dal concord. d'Avignone alla morte di Gregorio XV (Cagliari, 1899).

Bibliography

• "Alessandro Ludovisi". Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church.
• "Alessandro Ludovisi, no. F3". Genealogy of the Ludovisi. Archived from the original on 10 May 2006.

Attribution:

Further reading

• Wassilowsky, Günther; Wolf, Hubert (2007). Päpstliches Zeremoniell in der Frühen Neuzeit – Das Diarium des Zeremonienmeisters Paolo Alaleone de Branca während des Pontifikats Gregors XV. (1621–1623) (in German). Münster: Rhema-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-930454-80-8.
• Collier, Theodore Freylinghuysen (1911). "Gregory XV". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 575.