Editing Pope Urban VIII (section)

===Politics===
Urban VIII's military involvement was aimed less at the restoration of [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]] in [[Europe]] than at adjusting the balance of power to favour his own independence in [[Italy]]. In 1626, the [[Duchy of Urbino]] was incorporated into the Papal dominions,{{sfn|Collins|2009|p=382}} and, in 1627, when the direct male line of the [[House of Gonzaga|Gonzaga]]s in [[Duchy of Mantua|Mantua]] became extinct, he controversially favoured the succession of the Duke [[Charles I, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat|Charles of Nevers]] against the claims of the [[Habsburgs]]. He also launched the [[Wars of Castro]] in 1641 against [[Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma|Odoardo Farnese]], [[Duchy of Parma and Piacenza|Duke of Parma and Piacenza]], whom he [[Excommunication|excommunicated]]. [[Castro, Lazio|Castro]] was destroyed and its [[Duchy of Castro|duchy]] incorporated into the Papal States.

Urban VIII was the last pope to extend the Papal territory. He fortified [[Castelfranco Emilia]] on the Mantuan frontier and commissioned [[Vincenzo Maculani]] to fortify the [[Castel Sant'Angelo]] in Rome. Urban VIII also established an [[arsenal]] in the Vatican, an arms factory at [[Tivoli, Italy|Tivoli]] and fortified the harbour of [[Civitavecchia]].

For the purposes of making cannon and the [[St. Peter's Baldachin|baldacchino]] in St Peter's, massive bronze girders were pillaged from the portico of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]] leading to the well known lampoon: ''quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini,'' "what the barbarians did not do, the Barberini did."<ref name= "van Helden" />