Who was Pope Gregory XIII?

Answer 1

A:

Pope Gregory XIII, born Ugo Boncompagni, was leader of the Catholic Church from 1572 to 1585. His greatest accomplishment was to commission the Gregorian calendar, which is the standard calendar used around the world today.

Gregory was certainly no saint. He had an illegitimate son before he took holy orders, and his previous life had been "rather worldly". While apologists frequently claim that Gregory was above nepotism, the opposite is true. One of his first acts as Pope was to appoint his son a Cardinal at age 24 and prefect of Castel Sant'Angelo. Pope Gregory VIII also made him General Governor of the Papal Army. In 1576 he appointed his son Governor of Fermo. Gregory had numerous nephews, and created two of them as cardinals

Upon hearing of the wholesale slaughter of the French Huguenots, known as St. Bartholomew's massacre, Pope Gregory had a medal struck to celebrate the event, and celebrated the massacre at mass.

Answer 2

Gregory VI was pope from 1045 to 1046. He bought his papacy from Pope Benedict IX, but claimed that this was not simony because he had done good by ridding the Church of one of the most evil popes in history. Pope Gregory VI found his position untenable and resigned.

Answer 3

A:

Hildebrand of Sovana became pope in 1073, taking the regnal name Gregory VII, and occupied the papal chair until 1085. He had been instrumental in having previous popes appointed and was the power behind the throne during their reigns.

He has been described by some as a power-hungry cleric who would let nothing stand in his way, but to others he was a holy man. Saint Peter Damian, one of his closest collaborators, at one point called him "my holy Satan." He became a political adversary of Emperor Henry IV, whom he excommunicated twice, while Henry deposed Gregory once. Gregory died in exile in Salerno.

In 1074, Gregory issued an edict ordering his priests to abandon their wives, yet he himself was reputedly the lover the beautiful Countess Matilda. There is no proof that he did have a sexual relationship with Matilda, but there is good circumstantial evidence to support the claim.

Gregory saw himself a mystical extension of Peter into time. He not only claimed to exercise his authority as the vicar of Peter, as his predecessors had done, but embodied the saint in his person. Benedicta Ward and G R Evans (A World History of Christianity, The Medieval West) say Gregory VII was one of the most significant architects of change in the history of the papacy. Certainly he set out to be a reformer, but he does not seem to have achieved his most important objectives.

Gregory was held responsible for the sack of Rome by the Normans, to whom he entrusted the city in his quarrel with Emperor Henry IV, and was lucky to escape the wrath of its citizens. He died in exile, and John W. O'Malley S.J. (A History of the Popes) says that no pope ever died hated by more people than Gregory VII.

Answer 4

A:

Born Ugolino di Conti, Pope Gregory IX was the pope from March 1227 to his death in August 1241.

Seeking to eliminate heresy, he instituted the Papal Inquisition that severely punished people accused of heresy, in response to the failures of the episcopal inquisitions established during the time of Lucius III. He promulgated the Corpus Iuris Canonici, in which the legitimacy of slavery is incorporated, remaining official law of the Church until 1913.

Pope Gregory issued letters calling for the burning of all copies of the Jewish Talmud throughout Europe. Louis IX, King of France, on account of these letters held a trial in Paris in 1240, which ultimately found the Talmud guilty of 35 alleged charges.

Gregory continued a long papal tradition of nepotism by promoting his nephew (a term also sometimes used in the Roman church for illegitimate sons), the future Pope Alexander IV, to the position of Cardinal Deacon and Protector of the Order of Franciscans.

Answer 5

No, he was not a saint. He certainly did not live a very saintly life.

Answer

No, he has not been canonized as a saint by the Catholic church. He is remembered for his leading the change to the calendar while he was pope, now called the Gregorian calendar.

Answer

While Pope Gregory XIII was undoubtedly an excellent administrator who vigorously pursued the reforms instituted by the Council of Trent, he was far from a saint. Even if we overlook his rather profligate pre-ordination life, his administration was more concerned with the temporal rather than spiritual affairs of the Church.

Answer 6

A:

Gregory V, grandson of Emperor Otto the Great and cousin of Otto III, became pope at the age of 24 years and was pope from May 996 to February 999.

He is said to have given the order for the aged Senetrix Marozia to be smothered with a pillow (after given absolution for her many sins). His own death in 999 involves suspicion of foul play.