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 URBAN

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URBAN

1 19 July, 1623, fifty-five cardinals entered con- ive to elect a successor to Gregory XV; on 6 August irdinal Maffoo Barberini received fifty votes. The w pope took the name of Urban VIII. Being at- cked by tlie fever which was raging in Rome, he was hged to postpone his coronation until 29 Septem- r. It is related that, before allowing himself to be sted in the pontifical robes, he prostrated himself fore the altar, praying that God might let him die if i pontificate would not be for the good of the lurch.

He began his reign by issuing on the very day of his ■ction the Bulls of canonization of Philip Neri, Ig- tius Loyola, and Francis Xavier, wlio had been nonized by Gregory XV. Urban himself canon- 'd: Ehzabeth of Portugal, 25 May, 1625; and An- ?w Corsini, 22 April, 1629. He beatified: James the Marches, a Minorite, 12 August, 1624; Francis )rgia, a Jesuit, 23 November, U>24; Andrew Avcl- o, 10 June, 1625; Felix of Cantahee, a Minorite, 3ctober, 1625; Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi, 8 May, 26; Cajetan, the founder of the Theatines, 8 Octo- r, 1629; John of God, 21 September, 1630; and saphat Kunoevyc, 16 May, 1643. He reserved the atification of saints to the Holy See and in a Bull, ted 30 October, 1625, forbade the representation th the halo of sanctity of persons not beatified or nonized, the placing of lamps, tablets, etc., before ?ir .sepulchres, and the printing of their alleged rair- les or revelations. In a later Bull, dated 13 Sep- nber, 1642, he reduced the number of holy days of ligation to thirty-four, besides Sundays. Urban roduced many new offices into the Breviary. He mposed the whole proper Office of St. Elizabeth and ote the hymns, as they are in the Breviary, for the ists of St. Martina, St. Hermenegild, and St. Eliza- th of Portugal. A book of poems, wTitten by him Fore he became pope, was published during his pon- cate under the tiJe: "Maphei Cardinalis Barberini emata" (Rome, 1637). In 1629 he appointed a Tiniittee for the reform of the Breviary. Their in- Tiplete and often ill-advised corrections were ap- 3ved by Urban, 19 September, 1631, and embodied the official edition of the Roman Breviary which s issued the following year (see Breviary. — lie- m-s nf Ihe Breviart/)- In 1627 Urban gave the final ipe to the celebrated Bull, "In Coena Domini".

1634 he enjoined upon all ruling bishops, in- ding cardinals, to observe the episcopal residence decreed at the Council of Trent. During Urban's ntificate occurred the second trial and condemna- n of Galileo by the Roman Inquisition (see ■LiLEi, Galileo). On 6 March, 1642, he issued the 11, "In eminent!", condemning the " August inus" Jansenius (q. v.).

Urban wa^ a great patron of Catholic foreign mis- ns. He erected various dioceses and vicariates in ?an countries and encouraged the missionaries by rd and financial a8.sistance. He extended the lere of activity for the Congregation of Projja- ida (q. v.), and in 1627 founded the Collegium Ur- num, whose object was the training of missionaries

foreign countries. For the Maronites he had eady founded (1625) a college on Mount Lebanon.

order to increase the number of missionaries in ina and Japan he opened these two countries to all ?sionaries in 1633, although firegory XllI had en the .Jesuits the exclusive right to those missions 1.5S5. In a Bull, dated 22 April, 1639, he strirtly )hibited slavery of any kind among the Indians of raguay, Brazil, and the entire West Indies. In

efforts to restore Catholicism in England Urban 1 little success. In 1624 he sent Richard Smith as ar .'\po3tolic to that country, but the latter's im- ident insistence on exercising full episcopal au- )rity in England and Scotland brought him into blic conflict with the Jesuits and other missionaries

of religious orders. The Government issued new hos- tile measures against the Catholics, and in 1631 Smith was obliged to flee. Three years later Urban sent Gregorio Panzani (q. v.) to England. Having gained greater hberty for the Catholics, he was succeeded in 1638 by George Conn, an Englishman, who had previously been secretary to Cardinal Francesco Barberini. Forced to return to Rome in 1639, on account of iU-health, he was replaced by Rossetti. Re- peated requests made through him to the pope for financial aid in the war brewing between the king and Parliament were refused by Urban except on condi- tion of the king's conversion. The ensuing war put an end to all nego- tiations. (Seethe letters of Panzani, Conn, and Ros- setti to Cardinal Barberini in the Record Office Transcripts.) The religious orders found a zealous promoter in Ur- ban. In 1628 he approved the Con- gregation of Our Saviour, a re- formed branch of August inian can- ons, founded by Peter Fourier in 1609, and in 16.32, the Lazarists or Priests of the Mis- sion, a secular congregation founded by Vin- Bronze Bcst of I'rban VIII

cent of Paul. He ^^^ Cathedral, Spoleto

also approved the following sisterhoods: Canonessea of the Holy Sepulchre, 1631; Sisters of the Incarna- tion, 1633; Nuns of Our Lady of Nancy, 1634; and Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, 1642. The Jesuitesses, founded by the Englishwoman Mary Ward in 1609, he suppressed in 1631 for insubordination.

Urban's greatest fault was his excessive nepotism. Three days after his coronation he created Francesco Barberini, his nephew, cardinal; in 1627 he made him librarian of the Vatican; and in 1632 vice-chancellor. I>ancesco did not abuse his power. He built the large Barberini Palace and founded the famous Bar- berini Library which was acquired and made part of the Vatican Library by Leo XIII in 1902. Urban's nephew, Antonio Barberini, the Younger, was created cardinal in 1627, became catnerlengo in 1638, then commander-in-chief of the pai)al troops. He was legate at Avignon and Urbino in 1633; at Bologna, Ferrara, and Romagna in 1641. Urban's brother Antonio, who was a Capuchin, received the Diocese of Senigagha in 1625, was created cardinal in 1628, and later appointed grand penitentiary and librarian of the Vatican. A third nephew of Urban, Taddeo Barberini, w'as made Prince of Palest rina and Prefect of Rome. It is scarcely credible what immense riches accrued to the Barberini family through Ur- ban's nepotism. Ranke (loc. cit., 11, 309) reckons it at 105 million sruili. Finally, tormented with scruples concerning his nepotism. Urban twice appointed a special committee of theologians to investigate whether it was lawful for his nephews to retain their po.s.sessions, but each time the committee decided in favour of his nephews. .Vmong the members of the second committee were ('ardinal Lugo and Father Lupis.

In the government of the Papal territory Urban, as