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 SIXTUS

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SIXTHS

probably not of the intention to assassinate, and even laid Florence under interdict because it rose in fury against the conspirators and brutal murderers of Giuliano de' Medici. He now entered upon a two years' war with Florence, and encouraged the Vene- tians to attack Ferrara, which he wished to obtain for his nephew Girolamo Riario. Ercole d 'Este, at- tacked by Venice, found allies in al- most every Italian state, and Ludo- vico Sforza, upon whom the pope relied for support, did nothing to help him. The allied princes forced Sixtus to make peace, and the chagrin which this caused him is said to have hast- ened his death.

Henceforth, un- til the Reforma- tion, the secular interests of the papacy were of paramount im- portance. The at- titude of Sixtus towards the con- spiracy of the Pazzi, his wars and treachery, his v^..iM..^j ^-.oi promotion to the Obverse: Vortrait'oy slxtuTlvT" Re- highest offices in verso: Allegorical figure of Constancy, the ChUTCh of with the line from Virgil, ^neid, VI. 853: " To 8par<^ the submissive and crush the

R'ords: " Thou

such men as Pietro and Girolamo Riario are blots upon his career. Nevertheless, there is a praiseworthy side to his pontificate. He took measures to suppress abuses in the Inquisition, vigorously opposed the Wal- dense.s, and annulled the decrees of the Council of Constance. He was a patron of arts and letters, building the famous Sistine Chapel, the Sistine Bridge across the Tiber, and becoming the .second founder of the Vatican Library. Under him Rome once more became habitable, and he did much to im- prove the sanitary conditions of the city. He brought down water from the Quirinal to the Fountain of Trevi, and began a transformation of the city which death alone hindered him from completing. In his private life Sixtus IV was blameless. The gross accusations brought against him by his enemy Infessura have no foundation; his worst vice was nepotLsm, and his greatest misfortune was that he wa-s destined to be placed at the head of the States of the Church at a time when Italy was emerging from the era of the republics, and territorial princes like the pope were forced to do battle with the great despola.

Pastor. Hinlori/ of the Popes, IV (London, 1894); Greoo- ROVIC8, Romr in the Middle Ages. VII (London. 1902) ; Creiohton, Hist, of the Papacy. IV (London, 1901); Buhkhardt, Gesehichte da- Renaissance in Ilalien (1904); Frantz, Sixtus IV und die Republik Florem (Ratisbon, 1880).

R. Urban Bdtler.

Sixtus V, Pope (Felice Peretti), b. at Grotta- mare near Montalto, 1.3 December, 1.521; elected 24 April, 158.5; crowned 1 May, 1585; d. in the Quirinal, XIV.— 3

27 August, 1590. He belonged to a Dalmatian family which in the middle of the preceding century had fled to Italy from the Turks who were devastating lUjTia and threatened to invade Dalmatia. His father was a gardener and it is said of FeUce that, when a boy, he was a swineherd. At the age of nine he came to the Minorite convent at Montalto, where his uncle, Fri Salvatore, was a friar. Here he became a novice at the age of twelve. He was educated at Montalto, Ferrara, and Bologna and was ordained at Siena in 1547. The talented young priest gained a high reputation as a preacher. At Rome, where in 1552 he preached the Lenten sermons in the Church of Santi Apostoli, his successful preaching gained for him the friendship of very influential men, such as Cardinal Carpi, the protector of his order; the Cardinals Caraffa and Ghislieri, both of whom became popes; St. Philip Neri and St. Ignatius. He was successively appointed rector of his convent at Siena in 1550, of San Lorenzo at Naples in 1553, and of the convent of the Frari at Venice in 1556. A year later Pius IV ap- pointed him also counsellor to the Inquisition at Venice. His zeal and severity in the capacity of in- quisitor displeased the Venetian Government, which demanded and obtained his recall in 1560. Having returned to Rome he was made counsellor to the Holy Office, professor at the Sapienza, and general procu- rator and vicar ApostoUc of his order. In 1565 Pius IV designated him to accompany to Spain Cardinal Buoncompagni (afterwards Gregory XIII), who was to investigate a charge of heresy against Archbishop Carranza of Toledo. From this time dates the antip- athy between Peretti and Buoncompagni, which de- clared itself more openly during the latter's pontificate (1572-85). Upon his return to Rome in 1566 Pius V created him Bishop of Sant' Agata dei Goti in the Kingdom of Naples and later chose him as his con- fessor. On 17 May, 1570, the same pope created him cardinal-priest with the titular Church of S. Simeone, which he afterwards exchanged for that of S. Girolamo dei Schiavoni. In 1571 he was traiisfrrriHl to the See ofFermo. He was popularly known as the Cardinal di Montalto. Dur- ing the pontificate of Gregory XIII he withdrew from public affairs, de- voting himself to study and to the collection of works of art, as far as his scanty means permitted. Dur- ing this time he edited the works of St. Ambrose (Rome, 1579- 1585) and erected a villa (now Villa Massimi) on the Esquiline.

Gregory XIII died on 10 April, 1.585, and after a conclave of four days Peretti was elected pope by "adoration" on 24 April, 1585. He took the name Sixtus V in memory of Sixtus IV, who had also been a Minor- ite. The legend that he entered the conclave on crutches, feigning the infirmities of old age, and upon his election exultantly thrust aside his crutches and appeared full of life and vigour has long been ex- ploded; it may, however, have been invented as a

81XTUB V — Fontana L of St. Mary Major