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Pope Urban VIII

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"Maffeo Barberini" redirects here. For his great-nephew, seeMaffeo Barberini (1631–1685).
Pope

Urban VIII
Bishop of Rome
Portrait byGian Lorenzo Bernini,c. 1631–1632
(oil on canvas,Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica)
ChurchCatholic Church
Papacy began6 August 1623
Papacy ended29 July 1644
PredecessorGregory XV
SuccessorInnocent X
Orders
Ordination24 September 1592
Consecration28 October 1604
byFabio Blondus de Montealto
Created cardinal11 September 1606
byPaul V
Personal details
Born
Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini

5 April 1568
Barberino Val d'Elsa,Duchy of Florence
Died29 July 1644(1644-07-29)(aged 76)
Rome,Papal States
ParentsAntonio Barberini & Camilla Barbadoro
Previous post(s)
Coat of armsUrban VIII's coat of arms
Other popes named Urban

Pope Urban VIII(Latin:Urbanus VIII;Italian:Urbano VIII;baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), bornMaffeo Vincenzo Barberini,was head of theCatholic Churchand ruler of thePapal Statesfrom 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. Aspope,he expanded the papal territory by force of arms and advantageous politicking, and was also a prominent patron of the arts, commissioning works from artists likeBerniniand a reformer of Church missions. His papacy also covered 21 years of theThirty Years' War.

However, the massive debts incurred during his pontificate greatly weakened his successors, who were unable to maintain the papacy's longstanding political and military influence inEurope.He was also an opponent ofCopernicanismand involved in theGalileo affairwhich saw the astronomer tried for heresy. He is the last pope to date to take thepontificalname "Urban".

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

c. 1598painting of Maffeo Barberini at age 30 byCaravaggio.

Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini was born in April 1568, the son of AntonioBarberini,a Florentine nobleman, and Camilla Barbadoro.[1]He was born atBarberino Val d'Elsain "Tafania" house. His father died when he was only three years old and his mother took him toRome,where he was put in the charge of his uncle, Francesco Barberini, anapostolic protonotary.[2]At the age of 16, he became his uncle's heir.[3]He was educated by theSociety of Jesus( "Jesuits" ), and received a doctorate of law from theUniversity of Pisain 1589.

In 1601, Barberini, through the influence of his uncle, was able to secure fromPope Clement VIIIappointment as apapal legateto the court of KingHenry IV of France.In 1604, the same pope appointed him as theArchbishop of Nazareth,[2]an office joined with that of Bishop of the suppressed Dioceses of Canne and Monteverde, with his residence atBarletta.At the death of his uncle, he inherited his riches, with which he bought a palace in Rome, which he made into aluxurious Renaissance residence.

Pope Paul Valso later employed Barberini in a similar capacity, afterwards raising him, in 1606, to the order of theCardinal-Priest,with thetitular churchofSan Pietro in Montorioand appointing him as apapal legateofBologna.[2]

Papacy[edit]

Goldquadruplacoin of Pope Urban VIII, struck at theAvignonmint, dated 1629
Papal styles of
Pope Urban VIII
Reference styleHis Holiness
Spoken styleYour Holiness
Religious styleHoly Father
Posthumous styleNone

Papal election[edit]

Main article:1623 papal conclave

Barberini was considered someone who could be elected as pope, though there were those such as CardinalOttavio Bandiniwho worked to prevent it. Despite this, throughout 29–30 July, the cardinals began an intense series of negotiations to test the numbers as to who could emerge from the conclave as pope, with CardinalLudovico Ludovisidismissing Barberini's chances as long as Barberini remained a close ally of CardinalScipione Borghese,whose faction Barberini supported. Ludovisi had discussions with CardinalsOdoardo Farnese,Carlo de' MediciandIppolito Aldobrandinion 30 July about seeing to Barberini's election. The three supported his candidacy and went about securing the support of others, which led to Barberini's election just over a week later.[4]On 6 August 1623, at the papal conclave following the death ofPope Gregory XV,Barberini was chosen as Gregory XV's successor and took the name Urban VIII. His coronation had to be postponed until 29 September 1623 since the new pontiff was ill at the time of his election.

Upon Pope Urban VIII's election, Zeno, the Venetian envoy, wrote the following description of him:[5]

The new Pontiff is 56 years old. His Holiness is tall, dark, with regular features and black hair turning grey. He is exceptionally elegant and refined in all details of his dress; has a graceful and aristocratic bearing and exquisite taste. He is an excellent speaker and debater, writes verses and patronises poets and men of letters.

Activities[edit]

Engraving of Pope Urban VIII

Urban VIII's papacy covered 21 years of theThirty Years' War,(1618-1648) and was an eventful one, even by the standards of the day.

Despite an early friendship and encouragement for his teachings, Urban VIII was responsible for summoning the scientist and astronomerGalileoto Rome in 1633 to recant his work. Urban VIII was opposed toCopernican heliocentrismand he orderedGalileo's second trialafter the publication ofDialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems,in which Urban's point of view is argued by the character "Simplicio".

Urban VIII practicednepotismon a grand scale; various members of his family were enormously enriched by him, so that it seemed to contemporaries as if he were establishing aBarberinidynasty.[6]He elevated his brotherAntonio Marcello Barberini(Antonio the Elder) and then his nephewsFrancesco BarberiniandAntonio Barberini(Antonio the Younger) toCardinal.He also bestowed upon their brother,Taddeo Barberini,the titlesPrince ofPalestrina,Gonfalonier of the Church,Prefect of RomeandCommander ofSant'Angelo.HistorianLeopold von Rankeestimated that during his reign, Urban VIII's immediate family amassed 105 millionscudiin personal wealth.[7]

Urban VIII was a skilled writer of Latin verse, and a collection ofscripturalparaphrases as well as original hymns of his composition have been frequently reprinted.

The 1638 papal bullCommissum Nobisprotected the existence ofJesuitmissionsinSouth Americaby forbidding the enslavement of natives who were at theJesuit Reductions.[8][9]At the same time, Urban VIII repealed the Jesuit monopoly on missionary work inChinaandJapan,opening these countries to missionaries of other orders and missionary societies.[10]

In response to complaints in theDiocese of Seville,Urban VIII issued the letterCum Ecclesiae,dated 30 January 1642, that made use oftobaccoin holy places punishable by excommunication.[11]While often described as a papal bull, the document was not filed as such and was more than likely anencyclical;Pope Benedict XIIIeventually abrogated the tobacco ban, preferring other methods to ensuring the cleanliness of church facilities.[12]

Canonizations and beatifications[edit]

Urban VIII canonized five saints during his pontificate:Stephen Harding(1623),Elizabeth of PortugalandConrad of Piacenza(1625),Peter Nolasco(1628), andAndrea Corsini(1629). The pope also beatified 68 individuals, including theMartyrs of Nagasaki(1627). He also issued thepapal bullsof canonization forIgnatius of Loyola(founder of theSociety of Jesus,"Jesuits" ) andFrancis Xavier(also a Jesuit), who had been canonized by his predecessor, Pope Gregory XV.

Canonical coronation[edit]

The icon of the La Madonna della Febbre which was crowned in 1631 making it as the first Marian image to receive apontifical coronation.

Pope Urban VIII is also known as the first pope who granted acanonical coronationtowards a Marian icon. The first icon that was crowned was the La Madonna della Febbre which is enshrined at the sacristy ofSt. Peter's Basilica.The coronation took place on 1631 making it as the first coronation in the world.

Consistories[edit]

Main article:Cardinals created by Urban VIII
Portrait of Urban VIII byPietro da Cortona,c. 1624–7

The pope created 74 cardinals in eight consistories throughout his pontificate, and this included his nephewsFrancescoandAntonio,cousinLorenzo Magalotti,and the pope's own brotherAntonio Marcello.He also created Giovanni Battista Pamphili as a cardinal, with Pamphili becoming his immediate successor,Pope Innocent X.The pope also created eight of those cardinals whom he had reservedin pectore.

Policy on private revelation[edit]

In the papal bullSanctissimus Dominus Nosterof 13 March 1625, Urban instructed Catholics not to venerate the deceased or represent them in the manner of saints without Church sanction. It required a bishop's approval for the publication of private revelations. Since the nineteenth century, it has become common for books of popular devotion to carry a disclaimer. One read in part: "In obedience to the decrees of Urban the Eighth, I declare that I have no intention of attributing any other than a purely human authority to the miracles, revelations, favours, and particular cases recorded in this book..."[13][14][15]

Politics[edit]

Urban VIII's military involvement was aimed less at the restoration ofCatholicisminEuropethan at adjusting the balance of power to favour his own independence inItaly.In 1626, theDuchy of Urbinowas incorporated into the Papal dominions,[16]and, in 1627, when the direct male line of theGonzagasinMantuabecame extinct, he controversially favoured the succession of the DukeCharles of Neversagainst the claims of theHabsburgs.He also launched theWars of Castroin 1641 againstOdoardo Farnese,Duke of Parma and Piacenza,whom heexcommunicated.Castrowas destroyed and itsduchyincorporated into the Papal States.

Urban VIII was the last pope to extend the Papal territory. He fortifiedCastelfranco Emiliaon the Mantuan frontier and commissionedVincenzo Maculanito fortify theCastel Sant'Angeloin Rome. Urban VIII also established anarsenalin the Vatican, an arms factory atTivoliand fortified the harbour ofCivitavecchia.

For the purposes of making cannon and thebaldacchinoin St Peter's, massive bronze girders were pillaged from the portico of thePantheonleading to the well known lampoon:quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini,"what the barbarians did not do, the Barberini did."[10]

Patron of the arts[edit]

Urban VIII expended vast sums bringing polymaths likeAthanasius Kircherto Rome and funding various substantial works by the sculptor and architectBernini,from whom he had already commissionedBoy with a Dragonaround 1617 and who was particularly favored during Urban VIII's reign. As well asseveral portrait busts of Urban,Urban commissioned Bernini to work on the family palace in Rome, thePalazzo Barberini,the college of thePropaganda Fide,theFontana del Tritonein thePiazza Barberini,thebaldacchinoandcathedrainSt Peter's Basilicaand other prominent structures in the city. Numerous members of Barberini's family also had their likeness caught in stone by Bernini, such as his brothersCarloandAntonio.Urban also had rebuilt the Church ofSanta Bibianaand the Church ofSan Sebastiano al Palatinoon thePalatine Hill.

The Barberini patronised painters such asNicolas PoussinandClaude Lorrain.One of the most eulogistic of these artistic works in its celebration of his reign, is the hugeAllegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Powerpainted byPietro da Cortonaon the ceiling of the large salon of the Palazzo Barberini.

The Barberini Vase, now renamed the Portland Vase

Another such acquisition, in a vast collection, was the purchase of the 'Barberini vase'. This was allegedly found at the mausoleum of the Roman EmperorSeverus Alexanderand his family at Monte Del Grano. The discovery of the vase is described byPietro Santi Bartoliand referenced on page 28 of a book on The Portland Vase.[17]Pietro Bartoli indicates that the vase contained the ashes of the Roman Emperor. However, this together with the interpretations of the scenes depicted on it are the source of countless theories and disputed 'facts'. The vase remained in the Barberini family collection for some 150 years before passing through the hands of SirWilliam HamiltonAmbassador to the Royal Court in Naples. It was later sold to theDuke of Portland,and has subsequently been known as thePortland Vase.Following catastrophic damage, this glass vase (1-25BC) has been reconstructed three times and resides in theBritish Museum.The Portland vase itself was borrowed and near copied byJosiah Wedgwoodwho appears to have added modesty drapery. The vase formed the basis ofJasperware.

Later life[edit]

Statue of Pope Urban VIII sculpted byBerniniand his students between 1635 and 1640, and on display at thePalazzo dei ConservatoriinRome

A consequence of these military and artistic endeavours was a massive increase in papal debt. Urban VIII inherited a debt of 16 millionscudi,and by 1635 had increased it to 28 million.

According to contemporaryJohn Bargrave,in 1636 members of theSpanishfaction of theCollege of Cardinalswere so horrified by the conduct of Pope Urban VIII that they conspired to have him arrested and imprisoned (or killed) so that they could replace him with a new pope; namelyLaudivio Zacchia.[18]When Urban VIII travelled toCastel Gandolfoto rest, the members of the Spanish faction met in secret and discussed ways to advance their plan. But they were discovered and the pope raced back to Rome where he immediately held aconsistoryand demanded to know who the new pope was. To put an end to the conspiracy, the pope decreed that all Cardinal-Bishops should leave Rome and return to their own churches.[18]

With the Spanish plan having failed, by 1640 the debt had reached 35 million scudi, consuming more than 80% of annual papal income in interest repayments.[19]

Death and legacy[edit]

Bust byGiovanni Gonnelli
Constitutio contra astrologos iudiciarios,1631

Urban VIII's death on 29 July 1644 is said to have been hastened by chagrin at the result of theWars of Castro.Because of the costs incurred by the city of Rome to finance this war, Urban VIII became immensely unpopular with his subjects.

On his death, the bust of Urban VIII that lay beside thePalace of the Conservatorson theCapitoline Hillwas rapidly destroyed by an enraged crowd, and only a quick-thinking priest saved the sculpture of the late pope belonging to theJesuitsfrom a similar fate.[20]

Following his death, international and domestic machinations resulted in the papal conclave not electing CardinalGiulio Cesare Sacchetti,who was closely associated with some members of the Barberini family. Instead, it elected Cardinal Giovanni Battista Pamphili, who took the name ofInnocent X,as his successor at thepapal conclave of 1644.

Portrayals in fiction[edit]

Urban VIII is a recurring character in theRing of Firealternative historyhypernovel byEric Flintet al. where he is favorably portrayed. He is especially prominent in1634: The Galileo Affair(in which he makes the fictional Grantville priest, Larry Mazzare, a cardinal), and in1635: The Cannon Law,1635: The Papal Stakes,and1636: The Vatican Sanction.He is somewhat less favorably presented inGalileo's DreambyKim Stanley Robinson.He is a sinister character in the radio playIn Praise of Evilby David Pownall, first broadcast on BBC Radio in 2013. The play features an imaginary meeting between the Pope and the composerMonteverdi.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Barton 1964,p. 115.
  2. ^abcOtt 1912.
  3. ^Keyvanian 2005,p. 294.
  4. ^"Sede Vacante 1623".27 September 2015.Retrieved22 January2019.
  5. ^Pirie, Valérie (1935).The Triple Crown: An Account of the Papal Conclaves from the Fifteenth Century to the Present Day.p. 159.
  6. ^"Urban Viii - Barberini and Rome".Archived fromthe originalon 2013-07-21.Retrieved2012-03-06.
  7. ^History of the popes; their church and state (Volume III)by Leopold von Ranke (Wellesley CollegeLibrary, reprint; 2009)
  8. ^Mooney 1910.
  9. ^Joel S. Panzer,The Popes and Slavery,Staten Island, New York, Society of St. Paul, 1996, pp.89-91.
  10. ^abvan Helden, Al (1995)."The Galileo Project".Rice University.Retrieved2007-09-07.
  11. ^Buescher 2017.
  12. ^The Popes and Tobacco 1910,pp. 612–613.
  13. ^Walsh Pasulka, Diana (2015).Heaven Can Wait: Purgatory in Catholic Devotional and Popular Culture.Oxford University Press. p. 127.ISBN9780195382020.Retrieved30 November2017.
  14. ^Boruchoff, David A. (2014)."Martín de Murúa, Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, and the Contested Uses of Saintly Models in Writing Colonial American History".In Kirk, Stephanie; Rivett, Sarah (eds.).Religious Transformations in the Early Modern Americas.University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 283.ISBN9780812290288.
  15. ^Windeatt, Mary Fabyan (2013).Saint Benedict: The Story of the Father of the Western Monks.TAN Books.ISBN9781618904614.
  16. ^Collins 2009,p. 382.
  17. ^Brooks, Robin (Robin Jeremy) (2004).The Portland Vase: the extraordinary odyssey of a mysterious Roman treasure(1st ed.). New York, NY: HarperCollins.ISBN0-06-051099-4.OCLC54960357.
  18. ^abPope Alexander the Seventh and the College of CardinalsbyJohn Bargrave,edited byJames Craigie Robertson(reprint; 2009)
  19. ^Duffy, Eamon (1997).Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes.Yale University Press.ISBN978-0-300-09165-6.
  20. ^Ernesta Chinazzi, Sede Vacante per la morte del Papa Urbano VIII Barberini e conclave di Innocenzo X Pamfili, Rome, 1904, 13.

Sources[edit]

Works[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toUrbanus VIII.
Wikiquote has quotations related toPope Urban VIII.
  • Italian Academies Themed Collection—British Library. Includes information about Barbernini's membership of Italian academies, and of his links with other intellectuals of his time
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Pope
6 August 1623 – 29 July 1644 		Succeeded by


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