Gregory XV.

Coat of arms of Pope Gregory XV., Modern tracing

Gregory XV. (Born January 9, 1554 in Bologna ; † July 8, 1623 in Rome ), born Alessandro Ludovisi , was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1621 to 1623 .

Life

Alessandro Ludovisi was the son of Count Pompeo Ludovisi. He studied philosophy and theology with the Jesuits in Rome . In 1571 he moved to Bologna to study law . He finished his studies in Bologna with a doctorate to become a Dr. jur. in 1575.

After he was ordained a priest , Pope Gregory XIII , who also came from Bologna . taken into service. In 1612 he was appointed Archbishop of Bologna by Pope Paul V , who also made him cardinal in 1616 .

pontificate

The conclave elected him on February 9, 1621 as the new Pope. He chose his papal name in memory of Pope Gregory XIII.

On February 15, 1621 he appointed his nephew Ludovico Ludovisi as cardinal nephew .

Since Gregory XV. had campaigned for Duke Maximilian of Bavaria to be electoral in the Palatinate , the Duke gave him the Heidelberg University Library , the Bibliotheca Palatina .

On January 6, 1622 he founded the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide , also known as Propaganda for short, as the central authority for all matters of proselytizing . With the Bull Aeterni Patris Filius of November 15, 1621 and the accompanying Caeremoniale of March 12, 1622, he reformed the election of the Pope. The most important innovation of the meticulous regulations was the introduction of secret voting with the help of ballot papers.

On 12 March 1622 he spoke Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier , the founder of the Jesuit order, the mystic Teresa of Avila and Filippo Neri , and Isidore the Laborer holy and on 15 September 1622 the German Albertus Magnus saved .

He died in Rome on July 8, 1623 and was buried in the church of Sant'Ignazio di Loyola in Campo Marzio .

literature

Günther Wassilowsky , Hubert Wolf : Papal Ceremony in the Early Modern Age - The Diary of the Master of Ceremonies Paolo Alaleone de Branca during the pontificate of Gregory XV. (1621-1623). Rhema, Münster 2007, ISBN 978-3-930454-80-8 .
Günther Wassilowsky: The Conclave Reform of Gregory XV. (1621/22). Conflicts of values, symbolic staging and procedural change in the post-Tridentine papacy. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-7772-1003-2 (Popes and Papacy 38).
Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz: Gregor XV. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 325-327. ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
Entry in the Catholic Encyclopedia , Robert Appleton Company, New York 1913.

Web links

Commons : Gregory XV. - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Publications by and about Gregory XV. in VD 17 .
Sacred Congregation of Propaganda (Engl.)
Literature by and about Gregory XV. in the catalog of the German National Library

predecessor	Office	successor
Paul V.	Pope 1621-1623	Urban VIII.
Scipione Cardinal Borghese	Archbishop of Bologna 1612–1621	Ludovico Cardinal Ludovisi

personal data
SURNAME	Gregory XV.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Ludovisi, Alessandro
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Pope (1621–1623)
DATE OF BIRTH	January 9, 1554
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bologna
DATE OF DEATH	July 8, 1623
Place of death	Rome