Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/150

* LEO. 133 LEO. Greek college in Rome, and established a Greek j)iess. which he endowed munificently. (See Las- CABIS. ) In the encouragement of art he was no less munificent. Painting, sculpture, architec- ture, were c(|ually favored; and it is to his vast project for the rebuilding of Saint Peter's, and to the step to which he had recourse for procuring the necessary funds — his permitting the preach- ing of an indulgence, one of the conditions of obtaining which was the contribution to this work — that the first rise of the Refiirmatioii in Germany is ascribed. He himself seems to have regarded the movement as of little importance, describing it as 'a squabble among the friars.' In 1520 he issued a bull of excommunication against Luther, which the Reformer burned, Leo X.'s personal habits were in keeping w ith his taste, splendid and nuinificent in the highest de- gree, in his moral conduct he maintained a strict propriety, although he was not free from the stain of nepotism, the vice of that age, and his character was more modeled on the ideal of an enlightened prince than on that of a zealous and ascetic churchman. His death, which occurred rather sudilenly on December 1, 1521, during the public rejoicings in Rome for the taking of ililan, was by some ascribed to poison ; but there seems no solid reason for the suspicion. Consult : Ros- <'oe. Life and Pontificate of Leo X. (Liverpool, 1805; new ed. London, 188.3) : Conforti, Leone X. ed il suo serolo (Parma, 1890) : Xiti, Leone X. e la sua politico (Florence, 1892) ; and his Re- gesta. ed. Cardinal Hergenrother (Freiburg, 1884-91). Leo XL, Pope 1005. Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici. He Avas born in Florence in 1535 and made Bishop of Pistoia in 1573, Archbishop of Florence and cardinal in l.')74, linlding later the cardinal-bishoprics of Albano and Palestrina. Clement VIII. intrusted him in 1590 with the difficult mission to the Court of France, soon after the conversion of Henri- IV., and he acted for the Holy See in the conclusion of the Peace of Ver- vins. He became Pope on April 1, 1005, but reigned only twenty-six days. Leo XII." Pope 1823-29. "Annibale della Genga. He was born near Spoleto in 1700, and educated in Rome for the priesthood, which he received in 1783. After serving as chaml)crlain and secretary to Pius VI. he was made titular .rchbishop of Tyre in 1793 and appointed Xuncio at Cologne, though the fortunes of war obliged him to change his residence several times. Under Pius VII. he was employed on diplomatic missions in Ger- many, and after X'apoleon's fall was the bearer of the Pope's congratulations to Louis XVIII. He was made a cardinal in 1810, and held the Bishopric of Sinigaglia until 1820. when he re- turned to Rome as Cardinal-Vicar. In 1823 he was elected to succeed Pope Pins VII. His pontificate was marked by great zeal for the welfare of the Church, both in Europe and abroad. M home he condemned the secret societies, especially the Free Masons and the Carbonari. Consult: Wise- man, Recollections of the Last Four Popes (Lon- don, 1858) : .rtand de Montor, Histoire du pape Lfon XII. (2 vols., Paris. 1843). Leo XIIL, Pope 1878-1903. Gioacchino Vincen- zo Raffaello Luigi Pecci. He was born in the an- cestral seat of his family at Carpineto. 37 miles from Ro7ne, March 2. 1810, and educated in the Jesuit college at Viterbo and the Collegio Romano, making further studies in law and the- ology after taking his doctor's degree from the latter. He was ordained priest and made a domestic prelate by Gregory XVI. in 1837, As delegate successively at Benevento, Spoleto, and Perugia, he displayed great energy, and was especially successful in the task of suppressing brigandage. In 1843 he was made Archbishop of Uamietta in partihus, and sent as Xuncio to Brussels, where he exercised a powerful influence in the support of the Church against secularist attacks. At the end of 1845 he was recalled to undertake the administration of the See of I'crugia, and made his entry there the following summer amid universal rejoicings. He ruled his diocese with great zeal, promoted education, and cared for the material wants of the poor by founding monti di pieta (loan associations under ecclesiastical direction). The year of revolu- tions ( 1848) brought many troubles to the Church in Perugia as elsewhere, which were met by the Archbishop with increased zeal and dcvotiim. His services were recognized by Pope Pius IX., who made him a cardinal in 1853, carrying out an intention expressed by Gregory XVI. before his death. He was not, however, promi- nent in the Papal councils, being supposed to be hardly a persona (jrata to the powerful An- tonelli. He continued his labors at Perugia under difficulties which increased after the annex- ation of Umbria to the dominions of Victor Em- manuel in 1800, and the promulgation of numer- ous laws inimical to religious interests. He raised his voice in energetic protest against what he considered the spoliation of the Church and against tampering with the law of marriage, and declined to join in a public reception to Victor Emmanuel when he visited Perugia. In 1877 he was brought to Rome to fill the important office of Cardinal Camerlengo, and a few months later, on the death of Pius IX., was called upon to perform the administrative functions attached to it during a vacancy in the Holy See. On February 20, 1878, he was chosen to fill the vacancy, taking the title of Leo XIII. in imita- tion of the Pope of his boyhood. The combined learning, holiness, and states- manlike sagacity displayed by him made his long, almost unprecedented, reign one of the most nota- ble in the recent history of the Church. The great causes to which he devoted the last quarter cen- tury of his life are best marked by the numerous well-considered encyclicals in which he spoke through the Catholic hierarchy to the world. His first dealt with the study of theology', and com- mended the system of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the study of whose works he did all in his power to encourage, regarding it as the best means of meeting the difficulties of modern philosophy. In later ones he dealt acutely and broadly with social questions, the famous Rerum Xovarum of 1891 being regarded as going a long way to meet the claims of modern socialism. Those on Christian marriage (1880) and on Freemasonry (1881) were more on traditional lines; but one which commended the diligent study of the Bible (1893) and those of 1894 and 1890 on the re- union of Christendom were of a nature to sur- prise and conciliate those who had no accurate knowledge of the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. The restoration of Christian unity had always been speciall}' near his heart. He dis- played a particular interest in the English-speak-