Editing Pope Gregory XIV

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1590 to 1591}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = Gregory XIV
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| image = Gregor XIV.jpg
| caption = Portrait by [[Philip Galle]], {{circa|1591}}
| image_size = 220px
| birth_name = Niccolò Sfondrato
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| term_start = 5 December 1590
| term_end = 16 October 1591
| predecessor = [[Urban VII]]
| successor = [[Innocent IX]]
| consecration = 19 May 1560 ([[Bishop (Catholic Church)|Bishop]])
| consecrated_by = [[Melchiorre Crivelli]], [[Dominican Order|O.P.]]
| cardinal = 12 December 1583
| created_cardinal_by = [[Pope Gregory XIII|Gregory XIII]]
| birth_date = 11 February 1535
| birth_place = [[Somma Lombardo]], [[Duchy of Milan]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1591|10|16|1535|2|11|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
| previous_post = {{Indented plainlist|
* Abbot of Civate (1551–1560)
* Bishop of Cremona (1560–1590)
* Cardinal-Priest of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere (1585–1590)
}}
| coat_of_arms = C o a Gregorius XIV.svg
| signature = Signature of Pope Gregory XIV.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
| other = Gregory
| buried = [[St. Peter's Basilica]]
}}
{{Infobox popestyles
|image            = File:C o a Gregorius XIV.svg
|dipstyle         = [[His Holiness]]
|offstyle         = Your Holiness
|relstyle         = Holy Father
|deathstyle       = None
}}

'''Pope Gregory XIV''' ({{langx|la|Gregorius XIV}}; {{langx|it|Gregorio XIV}}; 11 February 1535&nbsp;– 16 October 1591), born '''Niccolò Sfondrato'''<ref>"{{Cite EB9|wstitle=Gregory XIV.|volume=11|year=1880}}</ref> or '''Sfondrati''',<ref>Leijenhorst, Cees (1998). "Francesco Patrizi's Hermetic Philosophy". [[Roel van den Broek|Van den Broek, Roel]]; Hanegraaff, Wouter J. (eds.). ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. State University of New York Press. p. 125.</ref> was head of the [[Catholic Church]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 5 December 1590 to his death, in October 1591.

== Early career ==
Niccolò Sfondrati was born on 11 February 1535 at [[Somma Lombardo]], then part of the [[Duchy of Milan]], in the highest stratum of Milanese society. His mother, Anna of the [[Visconti of Milan|House of Visconti]], died in childbirth. His father [[Francesco Sfondrati]], a senator of the ancient [[comune]] of [[Milan]], after the death of his wife in 1538 entered in the ecclesiastic state and was created [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal-priest]] by [[Pope Paul III]] in 1544.<ref>Terence Scully, ''The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi (1570)'', (University of Toronto Press, 2008), vi.</ref> As soon as appointed [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cremona|bishop of Cremona]], Niccolò's father died in 1550.<ref name="DBI">{{DBI| volume=59|title=Gregorio XIV, papa| first=Agostino | last=Borromeo| url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/papa-gregorio-xiv_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/}}</ref>

Niccolò in his youth was known for his modest lifestyle and stringent piety. He studied law at [[Perugia]] and he graduated in [[Doctor of both laws|utroque iure]] at the [[University of Padua]] on 2 March 1555. He replaced his father as [[Commendatory abbot]] of the [[Abbey of San Pietro al Monte|Abbey of Civate]]: differently from the uses of most commendatory abbots at that time, Niccolò with religious fervour took care of the buildings and reformed the religious life of the abbey.<ref name="DBI"/> In June 1552 he was appointed by [[Philip II of Spain]] a senator in Milan, and the Spanish government urged the Pope to appoint him [[Bishop of Cremona]] in 1557. That appointment occurred on 13 March 1560 with the election of [[Pope Pius IV]], a [[Lombardy|Lombard]] as were the Sfondrati.<ref name="DBI"/> Niccolò Sfondrati was consecrated bishop in Milan on next 19 May by the auxiliary bishop of Milan [[Melchiorre Crivelli]] who acted in the name of Cardinal [[Charles Borromeo]].<ref name="CH">{{cite web|url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bsfon.html|title=Pope Gregory XIV|publisher=Catholic-Hierarchy.org|author=David Cheney|access-date=27 May 2023}}</ref><ref name="ASMi">Archivio di Stato di Milano, ''Atti notarili della Cancelleria arcivescovile'', b. 22, fasc. 80</ref> 

He participated in the sessions of the [[Council of Trent]] from 1561 to 1563 where he took a position in favour of the divine origin of the residence of bishops in their diocese, a position not well seen by Rome. Returned in his diocese, he applied the reforms of the [[Council of Trent]] under the supervision of his [[Metropolitan Archbishop]], Cardinal Charles Borromeo, to whom he was related.<ref name="DBI"/>  [[Pope Gregory XIII]] made him a [[Cardinal-Priest]] of [[Santa Cecilia in Trastevere]] on 12 December 1583. When the Cardinal Borromeo died, Niccolò Sfondrati celebrated the Requiem Mass for Borromeo on 7 November 1584.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1560.htm#Borromeo| title = Miranda, "Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church"}}</ref> Sfondrati was an intimate friend and a great admirer of [[Philip Neri]], an Italian priest who died in 1595 and was canonised in 1622.

=== Papal election ===
{{Main|October–December 1590 papal conclave}}
After the death of [[Pope Urban VII]] on 27 September 1590, the Spanish ambassador [[Enrique de Guzmán, 2nd Count of Olivares|Olivares]] presented the [[Papal conclave|conclave]] a list of the seven cardinals who would be acceptable to his master [[Philip II of Spain]]. On 5 December 1590, after two months of deadlock, Sfondrati, one of Philip II's seven candidates but who had not aspired to the office, was elected pope. Cardinal [[Alessandro Peretti di Montalto]] came to Sfondrati's cell to inform him that the [[College of Cardinals|Sacred College]] had agreed on his election and found him kneeling in prayer before a crucifix.<ref name="Ott">{{CE1913|inline=1 |last=Ott |first=Michael |wstitle=Pope Gregory XIV |volume=7}}</ref>

On the day after he was elected Pope, Gregory XIV burst into tears and said to the cardinals: "God forgive you! What have you done?"<ref name=Ott/> In his [[papal bull|bull]] of 21 March 1591, ''Cogit nos'', he forbade under pain of [[excommunication]] all betting concerning the election of a Pope, the duration of a pontificate, or the creation of new cardinals.

== Papacy ==

Gregory XIV's brief pontificate was marked by vigorous intervention in favour of the Catholic party in the [[French Wars of Religion]]. Instigated by the king of Spain and the [[Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne|duke of Mayenne]], he excommunicated [[Henry IV of France]] on 1 March 1591, reiterating the 1585 declaration of [[Pope Sixtus V]] that as a [[Christian heresy|heretic]] (Protestant) Henry was ineligible to succeed to the throne of Catholic France and ordered the clergy, nobles, judicial functionaries, and the Third Estate of France to renounce him.<ref name=Ott/>

Gregory XIV levied an army for the invasion of France, and dispatched his nephew Ercole Sfondrati to France at its head. He also sent a monthly subsidy of 15,000 ''[[Italian scudo|scudi]]'' to [[Paris]] to reinforce the [[Catholic League (French)|Catholic League]]. By coming down solidly on the side of Spanish interests, in part because Gregory XIV was elected due to the influence of the Spanish cardinals, the recent Papal policy of trying to maintain a balance between Spain and France was abandoned.

Gregory XIV created five cardinals in two consistories, among whom was his nephew [[Paolo Emilio Sfondrati]], his [[Cardinal Secretary of State|Secretary of State]]. He attempted to convince [[Philip Neri]], a long-time friend, to accept the post of Cardinal,<ref name="Ott"/> but Neri refused, saying that there were many more deserving of the honour than him.

In a decree dated 18 April 1591 (Bulla Cum Sicuti), Gregory XIV ordered reparations to be made by Catholics in the [[History of the Philippines (1565–1898)|Philippines]] to the natives, who had been forced into slavery by Europeans, and he commanded under pain of excommunication of the owners that all native slaves in the islands be set free.<ref name="Ott"/>

The biographers mention that Pope Gregory XIV had a nervous tendency to laughter, which occasionally became irresistible and even manifested itself at his [[Papal coronation|coronation]]. Gregory XIV, who was in poor health before his election to the papacy, died due to a large [[gallstone]] and was succeeded by [[Pope Innocent IX|Innocent IX]].

== See also ==
* [[Cardinals created by Gregory XIV]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Gregorius XIV}}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Gregory (Popes)/Gregory XIV |ref=none |short=x|}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20031210162627/http://papal-library.saint-mike.org/GregoryXIV/biography.html Biography] on ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20031213071700/http://papal-library.saint-mike.org/ St. Michael's Call Papal Library]''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041223173621/http://www.cfpeople.org/Books/Pope/POPEp227.htm Defending the Faith website:] Gregory XIV
* {{Germania Sacra|10014263X}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-rel|ca}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Federico Cesi (cardinal)|Federico Cesi]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Cremona]]
|years=1560&nbsp;– 1590}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Cesare Speciano]]}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Urban VII]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=5 December 1590&nbsp;– 16 October 1591}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Innocent IX]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}
{{Catholicism}}
{{History of the Roman Catholic Church}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2010}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory 14}}

{{Portalbar|Biography|Catholicism|Christianity|History|Italy|Politics}}
[[Category:Pope Gregory XIV| ]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:University of Perugia alumni]]
[[Category:Participants in the Council of Trent]]
[[Category:People from Somma Lombardo]]
[[Category:1535 births]]
[[Category:1591 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century popes]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]