 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. 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. |
