|
Dromo's Den
|
|
[Up] [Dromo's Den] Gregory XIII Biography Gregory XIII (Ugo Buoncompagno) (Pope, 1572–85). He was born in Bologna, Jan. 7, 1502. He was educated in his native city, where he held the professorship of law for several years. He settled in Rome in 1539 and was one of the theologians of the Council of Trent (q.v.). On his return to Rome he was created Cardinal in 1564 and sent as legate to Spain. On the death of Pius V, Gregory was elected Pope in 1572. He showed great zeal for the promotion and improvement of education, especially for the clergy, as a means of combating Protestantism; a large proportion of the colleges in Rome were wholly or in part endowed by him, and his expenditure for educational purposes is said to have exceeded 2,000,000 Roman crowns. The most interesting event of his pontificate is the correction of the calendar (see Calendar), which was the result of long consideration, and was finally proclaimed in 1582. When the news of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew reached Rome, Gregory and his cardinals solemnly celebrated the event at the church of San Marco, on Sept. 6, 1572, as the suppression of a conspiracy not alone against Charles IX, King of France, but also against the Church. He had a medal struck with his portrait on the obverse, and on the reverse an angel bearing a cross and sword, while the inscription reads, Hugonotorum strages (Overthrow of the Huguenots). Gregory did much to help the Jesuits. He died in Rome, April 10, 1585, in the eighty-third year of his age. He published in 1582 a valuable edition of the Decretum Gratiani. The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. X (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 356. |