Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/28

 GREGORY

GREGORY

papal ordinance against witchcraft. Former punish- ments were lessened, and the death penalty was de- creed only upon those who were proved to have entered into a compact with the devil, and to have committed homicide with his assistance.

The great activity which Gregory XV displayed in the inner management of the Church was equalled by his efficacious interposition in the politics of the workl, whenever the interests of CathoUcity were involved. He gave great financial assistance to Emperor Ferdi- nand II in regaining the Kingdom of Bohemia and the hereditary dominions of Austria. Gregory XV then sent Carlo Caraffa as nuncio to Vienna, to assist the emperor by his advice in his efforts to suppress Protestantism, especially in Bohemia and Moravia, where the Protestants considerably outnumbered the Catholics. To a great extent it was also due to the influence of Gregory XV that, at a meeting of princes at Ratisbon, the Palatinate and the electoral dignity attached to it were granted to Duke MaximiUan of Bavaria in the early part of January, 1623. In order to effect this grant, the pope had previously sent the Capuchin Father Hyacinth, a skilled diplomat, to the imperial court at Vienna. The transfer of the Pala- tinate Electorate from a Protestant (Frederick V) to a Catholic was of great consequence, since it secured a Catholic majority in the supreme coimcilof the empire. Out of gratitude to Pope Gregory XV, Maximilian presented him with the Palatinate library of Heidel- berg, containing about 3500 manuscripts. Early in 1623 Gregory XV sent the Greek theologian Leo Allatius to transport the valuable collection to Rome, where it was put up as the "Oregoriana" in the Vatican Library. Thirty-nine of these manuscripts, which had come to Paris in 1797, were returned to Heidelberg at the Peace of Paris in 1815, and Pius VII returned S,')2 others as a gift in 1S16.

The relations between England and the Roman See assumed a more friendly character during the pontifi- cate of Gregory XV. For a time it seemed probable that, through the intended marriage of the Prince of Wales (afterwards King Charles I) with the Spanish Infanta Maria, Catholicity' could be restored in Eng- land. Though the pope favoured the marriage, it never took place. The treatment, however, of the Catholic subjects of James I became more tolerable and, to some extent at least, they enjoyed religious liberty. In France the power of the Huguenots was on the decrease, owing to the influence of Gregorj' XV with King Louis XIII. Here the Capuchins, the Jesuits, and the Franciscans converted large numbers of heretics to Catholicity. Even in the Netherlands, that stronghold of Protestantism, a Cathohc reaction set in, despite the fact that the Catholic priests were persecuted and expelled from the country.

The Catholic rulers respected the authority of Gregory XV, not only in religious affairs, but also in matters of a purely political nature. This was notice- able when an international dispute arose concerning the possession of the Valtelline. Shortly after the ma.ssacre of the ValteUine (1620) the Spaniards oc- cupied that district, while the Austrians took posses- sion of the Grisons passes and were in close proximity to the Spaniards. The proximity of the two allied armies endangered the interests of France, Venice, and Savoy. These three powers, therefore, combined to compel the Austrians and Spaniards to evacuate the Valtelline, by force of arms if necessary. Upon re- quest, Pope Gregory XV intervened by sending his brother Orazio at the head of the pontifical troops to take temporary possession of the Valtelline. After a little reluctance on the part of Archduke Leopold of Austria, the disputed territory with its fortresses was jnelded to Orazio, and the impending war was thus averted.

Ranke, History of the Popes (London. 1906), II, 202-3S; Palatius, Gesta Pontificum Romanomm (Venice, 1688), IV, 522-36; Ciaconius-Oldoincs, HUtoria Rom. Panlif. (Rome,

Arms of CinEGORY XVI

1677), IV, 46.5 sq.; Brosch, Gcschichte des KiTchcnstaatea ((^otha, ISSO), I. 371 .sq.; L'Arezio, La politica della Santa Sede risp. alia Valtellina dal canc&rd. d'Avignone alia mortc di Gre- gorio X V (Cagliari, 1899). MiCHAEL Ott.

Gregory XVI, Pope (Macro, or Bartolomeo Albkhto C,\ppellari), b. at Belluno, then in the Venetian territory, 8 September, 1765; d. at Rome, 9 June, 1846. His father, Giovanni Battista, and his mother, Giulia Cesa-Pagani, were both of the minor nobility of the district and the fam- ilies of both had in former times been prominent in the service of the state. When eighteen, Barto- lomeo gave evidence of a religious vocation, and after some opposi- tion on the part of his relations, was clothed in 1783 as a novice in the Camaldolese monastery of San Michele di Murano, taking the name Mauro. Here, three years later, he was solemnly professed, and was ordained priest in 1787. The young monk soon showed signs of unusual in- tellectual gifts. He devoted himself to the study of philosophy and theology, and was set to teach these to the juniors at San Michele. In 1790 he was ap- pointed censor lihrorum for his order, as well as for the Holy Office at Venice. Five years later he was sent to Rome, where he lived at first in a small house (since destroyed) in the Piazza Veneta, afterwards in the great monastery of San Gregorio on the Coelian Hill. The times were not favourable to the papacy. In 1798 took place the scandalous abduction of Pius VI by General Berthier, at Napoleon's orders, and in the following year the death of the pope in exile at Val- ence. It was this very year, 1799, that Dom Mauro cho.se for the publication of his book, " II trionfo della Santa Sede", upholding papal infallibility and the temporal sovereignty. The work, according to Greg- ory himself, did not attract great attention till after he had become pope, yet it attained three editions and was translated into several languages. In 1800 Car- dinal Chiaramonti was elected pope at Venice, and took the name of Pius VII, and returned to Rome the same year. Early in that year Dom Mauro had been nominated Abbot Vicar of San Gregorio, and in 1805 the pope appointed him abbot of that ancient house. He retired to Venice to rest, but returned in 1807 as procurator general, only to be driven out in the follow- ing year, when General Miollis repeated on the person of Pius VII the outrage of Berthier on Pius VI. Dom Mauro returned to Venice, but San Michele was closed as a monastery the next year by the emperor's orders. In spite of this the religious remained, in secular habit, at the monastery, and Dom Mauro taught philos- ophy to the students of the Camaldolese college at Murano. But, in 1813, the college was transferred to the Camaldolese convent of Ognissanti at Padua, Venice being too disturbed and inimical. The follow- ing year Napoleon fell from power, Pius VII retvu"ned to Rome, and Dom Mauro was at once summoned thither. In rapid succession the learned Camaldolese was appointed consultorof various Congregations, ex- aminer of bishops, and again Abbot of San Gregorio. Twice he was offered a bishopric and twice he refused. It was considered certain that he would become a car- dinal, and it caused general surprise when, in 1823, Pius VII chose in his stead the geographer, Dom Pla- cido Zurla (also a Camaldolese). In that year the pope died, and Cardinal della Genga, who took the name of Leo XII, was elected. On 21 March, 1825, the new pope createfi Dom Mauro cardinal in petto, and the creation was published the following year. Cappellari became Cardinal of San Callisto and Prefect of the Congregation of Propaganda. It was in this office that he successfully arranged a concordat be- tween the Belgian Catholics and King William of Hoi-