Pope Gregory XIV

Pope Gregory XIV
Pope Gregory XIV
    Pope Gregory XIV
     Catholic_Encyclopedia Pope Gregory XIV
    (NICCOLÒ SPONDRATI).
    Born at Somma, near Milan, 11 Feb., 1535; died at Rome, 15 Oct., 1591.
    His father Francesco, a Milanese senator, had, after the death of his wife, been created Cardinal by Pope Paul III, in 1544. NiccolÒ studied at the Universities of perugia and Padua, was ordained priest, and then appointed Bishop of Cremona, in 1560. He participated in the sessions of the Council of Trent, 1561-1563, and was created Cardinal-Priest of Santa Cecilia by Gregory XIII on 12 December 1583. Urban VII having died on 27 September, 1590, Sfondrati was elected to succeed him on 5 December, 1590, after a protracted conclave ( see Conclave ) of more than two months, and took the name of Gregory XIV. The new pope had not aspired to the tiara. Cardinal Montalto, who came to his cell to inform him that the Sacred College had agreed on his election, found him kneeling in prayer before a crucifix. When on the next day he was elected he burst into tears and said to the Cardinals: "God forgive you! What have you done?" From his youth he had been a man of piety and mortification. Before entering the ecclesiastical state he was a constant companion of Charles Borromeo, and when Cardinal, he was an intimate friend of Philip Neri whose holy life he strove to imitate.
    As soon as he became pope, he gave his energetic support to the French League, and took active measures against Henry of Navarre, whom Sixtus V, in 1585, had declared a heretic and excluded from succession to the French throne. In accordance with the Salic law, after the death of Henry III in 1589, Henry of Navarre was to succeed to the French throne, but the prevalent idea of those times was that no Protestant (Protestantism) could become King of France, which was for the most part Catholic. The nobles, moreover, threatened to rise up against the rule of Henry of Navarre unless he promised to become a Catholic. In order to reconcile the nobility and the people to his reign, Henry declared on 4 August, 1589, that he would become a Catholic and uphold the Catholic religion in France. When Gregory XIV became pope, Henry had not yet fulfilled his promise and gave little hope of doing it in the near future. The pope, therefore, decided to assist the French League in its efforts to depose Henry by force of arms and in this he was encouraged by Philip II of Spain. In his monitorial letter to the Council of Paris, 1 March, 1591, he renewed the sentence of excommunication against Henry, and ordered the clergy, nobles, judicial functionaries, and the Third Estate of France to renounce him, under pain of severe penalties. He also sent a monthly subsidy of 15,000 sendi to Paris, and dispatched his nephew Ercole Sfondrati to France at the head of the papal troops. In the midst of these operations against Henry, Gregory XIV died. after a short pontificate of 10 months and 10 days.
    Gregory XIV created five Cardinals, among whom was his nephew Paolo Camillo Sfondrati. He vainly tried to induce Philip Neri to accept the purple. On 21 September, 1591, he raised to the dignity of a religious order the Congregation of the Fathers of a Good Death (Clerici regulares ministrantes infirmis) founded by St. Camillus de Lellis. In his Bull "Cogit nos", dated 21 March, 1591, he forbade under pain of excommunication all bets concerning the election of a pope, the duration of a pontificate, or the creation of new Cardinals. In a decree, dated 18 April, 1591, he ordered reparation to be made to the Indians of the Philippines by their conquerors wherever it was possible, and commanded under pain of excommunication that all Indian slaves in the islands should be set free. Gregory XIV also appointed a commission to revise the Sixtine Bible and another commission to continue the revision of the Pian Breviary. The former commission had its first session on 7 Feb., 1591, the latter on 21 April, 1591. Concerning these two commissions see Bäumer, "Geschichte des Breviers" (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1895), pp. 479-90.
    RANKE, History of the Popes (London, 1906), II, 33-8; BROSCH, Geschichte des Kirchenstaates (Gotha, 1880), I, 300 sq.; PALATIUS, Gesta Pontificum Romanorum (Venice, 1688), IV, 425-36; CIACONIUS-OLDONIUS, Historioe Romanorum Pontificum (Rome, 1677), IV, 213 sq.
    MICHAEL OTT
    Transcribed by Janet van Heyst

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


Catholic encyclopedia.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Pope Gregory XIV — Gregory XIV Papacy began 5 December 1590 Papacy ended 16 October 1591 (10 months, 11 days) Predecessor Urban VII …   Wikipedia

  • Gregory XIV —     Pope Gregory XIV     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Pope Gregory XIV     (NICCOLÒ SPONDRATI).     Born at Somma, near Milan, 11 Feb., 1535; died at Rome, 15 Oct., 1591.     His father Francesco, a Milanese senator, had, after …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Pope Gregory — has been the name of sixteen Roman Catholic Popes and two Antipopes: #Pope Gregory I, also called Gregory the Great #Pope Gregory II #Pope Gregory III #Pope Gregory IV #Pope Gregory V #Pope Gregory VI #*Antipope Gregory VI #Pope Gregory VII,… …   Wikipedia

  • Pope Clement XIV — Clement XIV Papacy began 19 May 1769 Papacy ended 22 September 1774 ( 100000000000000050000005 years, 10000000000000126000000126 days) …   Wikipedia

  • Pope Gregory XVI — Gregory XVI Papacy began 2 February 1831 Papacy ended 1 June 1846 ( 1000000000000001500000015 years, 10000000000000119000000119 days) …   Wikipedia

  • Pope Gregory IX —     Pope Gregory IX     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Pope Gregory IX     (UGOLINO, Count of Segni).     Born about 1145, at Anagni in the Campagna; died 22 August, 1241, at Rome. He received his education at the Universities of Paris and Bologna.… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Gregory XIV, Pope — • Reigned 1590 1591 Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006 …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Pope Gregory I — Saint Gregory redirects here. For other uses, see Saint Gregory (disambiguation). Pope Gregory I Papacy began 3 September 590 Papacy ended 12 March 604 …   Wikipedia

  • Gregory XIV — (Niccolò Sfandrati) 1535 91, Italian ecclesiastic: pope 1590 91. * * * ▪ pope original name Niccolò Sfondrati born Feb. 11, 1535, Somma, near Milan [Italy] died Oct. 16, 1591, Rome, Papal States  pope from 1590 to 1591.       Appointed bishop of… …   Universalium

  • Gregory XIV — (Niccolò Sfandrati) 1535 91, Italian ecclesiastic: pope 1590 91 …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”