Editing Pope Gregory XV (section)

===Early life===
Alessandro Ludovisi was born in [[Bologna]] on 9 January 1554<ref>{{cite news |title=UPI Almanac for Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020 |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2020/01/09/UPI-Almanac-for-Thursday-Jan-9-2020/6871578415895/ |url-status=live |quote=…Pope Gregory XV in 1554 |work=[[United Press International]] |date=9 January 2020 |access-date=16 January 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200115192229/https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2020/01/09/UPI-Almanac-for-Thursday-Jan-9-2020/6871578415895/ |archive-date=15 January 2020}}</ref> to Pompeo Ludovisi, [[Count]] of [[Samoggia]] (now [[Savigno]] in the [[Province of Bologna]]) and Camilla Bianchini. He was the third of seven children.

He was educated at the [[Collegio Romano|Roman College]] run by the [[Society of Jesus]] in Rome, and also at the [[German College]] in Rome.{{sfn|Ott|1910}} He later attended the [[University of Bologna]] to obtain degrees in [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|canon]] and [[Roman law]], which he received on 4 June 1575. His early career was as a papal jurist in Rome, and there is no evidence that he had been [[Holy Orders|ordained]] to the [[priesthood]].

He returned to Rome in 1575 and he served as the Referendary of the [[Apostolic Signatura]] from 1593 to 1596 and was appointed as the [[Vicegerent]] of Rome in 1597, a position he maintained until 1598. He also served as the Auditor of the [[Sacred Roman Rota]] from 1599 to 1612.

On 12 March 1612, [[Pope Paul V]] appointed him as the [[Archdiocese of Bologna|Archbishop of Bologna]], for which he was presumably ordained to the priesthood and then he was [[consecrated]] a [[bishop (Catholic Church)|bishop]] on 1 May of that year in the church of [[Sant'Andrea al Quirinale]] in Rome.

In August 1616, the pope sent him as [[papal nuncio|Apostolic Nuncio]] to the [[Duchy of Savoy]], to mediate between [[Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy]] and [[Philip III of Spain]] in their dispute concerning the [[House of Gonzaga|Gonzaga]] [[Duchy of Montferrat]].{{sfn|Ott|1910}}{{efn|The dispute eventually led to the [[War of the Mantuan Succession]], which lasted 1628–31.}}

On 19 September 1616, Pope Paul V elevated him to the rank of cardinal and appointed him as a [[Cardinal Priest]] with the [[titular church]] of [[Santa Maria in Traspontina]].