History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1MacCaffrey, James
Religion
History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1
MacCaffrey, James
Catholic Church -- History -- Modern period, 1500-
It is not to be
wondered at, therefore, that one hundred years after his death he was
beatified, and forty years later, in 1712, he was canonised formally
by Clement XI.
When the cardinals met in conclave, mainly by the intervention of
Cardinal Granvelle, viceroy of Philip II. in Naples, Cardinal
Buoncompagni was elected almost immediately, and proclaimed under the
title of Gregory XIII. (1572-85). He had been a distinguished student
and professor of law at the University of Bologna, where he had the
honour of having as his pupils many of the ablest ecclesiastics of the
age. Later on he was sent as confidential secretary to the Council of
Trent. On his return from this assembly he was created cardinal, and
appointed papal legate in Spain. At the time of his election to the
Papacy he had reached his seventieth year. As a young man his life was
not blameless from the point of view of morality, but after he became
a priest nothing could be urged against his conduct even by his worst
enemies. Though it must be admitted that he was not of such an ascetic
and spiritual temperament as his predecessor, he was a man of
irreproachable character, not over anxious to promote his own
relatives, and determined to strengthen the Catholic Church by raising
the standard of education and by appointing to the episcopate none but
the most worthy ecclesiastics. Hence he drew lavishly upon the funds
of the Holy See to erect Catholic Colleges in Rome and in several
countries of Europe. He founded the magnificent /Collegium Romanum/
for the education of students from all parts of the world, and placed
it under the administration of the Jesuits, in whom he reposed the
most signal confidence. As the circumstances that led to the
establishment of the /Collegium Germanicum/ had not improved, he
conferred on it more generous endowments, and united it later on with
the college which he had founded for the Hungarians. Owing to the
persecutions in England and Ireland and the suppression of
institutions for the education of the clergy, Gregory XIII. founded an
English College (1579) and provided funds for the erection of an Irish
College. The money intended for this latter institution was spent in
assisting the Irish in their wars against Elizabeth. In addition to
this, more than twenty colleges situated in various parts of Europe,
amongst them being the Scotch College at Pont-a-Mousson, owe their
origin in whole or in part to his munificence. He was, also, very
determined that none but the most worthy men should be appointed to
episcopal sees, and with this object in view he took pains to inquire
personally about the merits of distinguished ecclesiastics in each
country, and to prepare lists of them for use as vacancies might
arise. He was equally careful in the appointments which he made to the
college of cardinals. In order to keep touch with the progress of
affairs in Germany he established a nunciature at Vienna in 1581, and
another at Cologne in the following year.
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