Pope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV reigned for barely two and a half years and made two lasting institutional changes. Born Alessandro Ludovisi in Bologna in 1554, he was educated by the Jesuits at the Roman College and took a doctorate in law at Bologna, then served as a judge in the curia and as papal legate to Savoy. He was made Archbishop of Bologna and a cardinal in 1616, and was elected in February 1621 at sixty-seven, already frail. He relied heavily on his nephew Ludovico Ludovisi, whom he made a cardinal at twenty-five and who effectively conducted the government. His first reform concerned papal elections. Bulls of 1621 and 1622 required that voting be by written secret ballot, that cardinals not vote for themselves, and that the procedure follow a fixed form — replacing the older methods of acclamation and open negotiation that had produced so much corruption. The system he established governed conclaves substantially unchanged into the twentieth century. His second was the creation in 1622 of the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, a central body to direct and fund missionary work worldwide. Until then missions had been run largely by the Spanish and Portuguese crowns under the padroado, which tied evangelisation to colonial politics. Propaganda placed it under Roman control, trained indigenous clergy, and became one of the most consequential curial departments. He supported the Catholic side in the Thirty Years' War, subsidising the emperor and Maximilian of Bavaria, and secured the Palatinate's electoral title and the Heidelberg library, which was shipped to the Vatican. He canonised Ignatius, Francis Xavier and Teresa of Ávila in 1622, and died in 1623.
- Lived: 1554 CE – 1623 CE
- Nationality: Italian
- Roles: pope, cleric
