Pope Urban VIII (Latin: Urbanus VIII; Italian: Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568– 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal territory by force of arms and advantageous politicking, and was also a prominent patron of the arts and a reformer of Church missions.
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 in Europe. He was also an opponent of Copernicanism and involved in the Galileo affair. He is the last pope to date to take the pontifical name "Urban".
Biography
Early life
C. 1598 painting of Maffeo Barberini at age 30 by Caravaggio.
Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini was born in April 1568, the son of Antonio Barberini, a Florentine nobleman, and Camilla Barbadoro.[1] He was born at Barberino Val d'Elsa in "Tafania" house. His father died when he was only three years old and his mother took him to Rome, where he was put in the charge of his uncle, Francesco Barberini, an apostolic protonotary.[2] At the age of 16, he became his uncle's heir.[3] He was educated by the Society of Jesus ("Jesuits"), and received a doctorate of law from the University of Pisa in 1589.
In 1601, Barberini, through the influence of his uncle, was able to secure from Pope Clement VIII appointment as a papal legate to the court of King Henry IV of France. In 1604, the same pope appointed him as the Archbishop of Nazareth,[2] an office joined with that of Bishop of the suppressed Dioceses of Canne and Monteverde, with his residence at Barletta. At the death of his uncle, he inherited his riches, with which he bought a palace in Rome, which he made into a luxurious Renaissance residence.
Barberini was considered someone who could be elected as pope, though there were those such as Cardinal Ottavio Bandini who 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 Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi dismissing Barberini's chances as long as Barberini remained a close ally of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, whose faction Barberini supported. Ludovisi had discussions with Cardinals Farnese, Medici and Aldobrandini on 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 of Pope 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.
Despite an early friendship and encouragement for his teachings, Urban VIII was responsible for summoning the scientist and astronomer Galileo to Rome in 1633 to recant his work. Urban VIII was opposed to Copernican heliocentrism and he ordered Galileo's second trial after the publication of Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, in which Urban's point of view is argued by the character "Simplicio".
Urban VIII was a skilled writer of Latin verse, and a collection of Scriptural paraphrases as well as original hymns of his composition have been frequently reprinted.
The 1638 papal bull Commissum Nobis protected the existence of Jesuitmissions in South America by forbidding the enslavement of natives who were at the Jesuit Reductions.[8][9] At the same time, Urban VIII repealed the Jesuit monopoly on missionary work in China and Japan, opening these countries to missionaries of other orders and missionary societies.[10]
Urban VIII issued a 1624 papal bull that made the use of tobacco in holy places punishable by excommunication;[11]Pope Benedict XIII repealed the ban one hundred years later.[12]
The pope created 74 cardinals in eight consistories throughout his pontificate, and this included his nephews Francesco and Antonio, cousin Lorenzo Magalotti, and the pope's own brother Antonio 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 reserved in pectore.
Policy on private revelation
In the papal bull Sanctissimus Dominus Noster of 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
Urban VIII's military involvement was aimed less at the restoration of Catholicism in Europe than at adjusting the balance of power to favour his own independence in Italy. In 1626, the duchy of Urbino was incorporated into the papal dominions,[16] and, in 1627, when the direct male line of the Gonzagas in Mantua became extinct, he controversially favoured the succession of the Duke Charles of Nevers against the claims of the Habsburgs. He also launched the Wars of Castro in 1641 against Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, whom he excommunicated. Castro was destroyed and its duchy incorporated into the Papal States.
For the purposes of making cannon and the baldacchino in St Peters, massive bronze girders were pillaged from the portico of the Pantheon leading to the well known lampoon: quod non fecerunt barbari, fecerunt Barberini, "what the barbarians did not do, the Barberini did."[10]
The Barberini Vase, now re-named 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 Emperor Severus Alexander and his family at Monte Del Grano. The discovery of the vase is described by Pietro Santi Bartoli and 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 Sir William Hamilton Ambassador to the Royal Court in Naples. It was later sold to the Duke and Duchess of Portland, and has subsequently been known as the Portland Vase. Following catastrophic damage, this glass vase (1-25BC) has been reconstructed three times and resides in the British Museum. The Portland vase itself was borrowed and near copied by Josiah Wedgewood who appears to have added modesty drapery. The vase formed the basis of Jasperware.
A consequence of these military and artistic endeavours was a massive increase in papal debt. Urban VIII inherited a debt of 16 million scudi, and by 1635 had increased it to 28 million.
According to contemporary John Bargrave, in 1636 members of the Spanish faction of the College of Cardinals were 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; namely Laudivio Zacchia.[18] When Urban VIII travelled to Castel Gandolfo to 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 a consistory and 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
Bust by Giovanni GonnelliConstitutio contra astrologos iudiciarios, 1631
Urban VIII's death on 29 July 1644 is said to have been hastened by chagrin at the result of the Wars 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 the Palace of the Conservators on the Capitoline Hill was rapidly destroyed by an enraged crowd, and only a quick-thinking priest saved the sculpture of the late pope belonging to the Jesuits from a similar fate.[20]
Following his death, international and domestic machinations resulted in the papal conclave not electing Cardinal Giulio Cesare Sacchetti, who was closely associated with some members of the Barberini family. Instead, it elected Cardinal Giovanni Battista Pamphili, who took the name of Innocent X, as his successor at the papal conclave of 1644.
Portrayals in fiction
Urban VIII is a recurring character in the Ring of Firealternative history hypernovel by Eric Flint et al. where he is favorably portrayed. He is especially prominent in 1634: The Galileo Affair (in which he makes the fictional Grantville priest, Larry Mazzare, a cardinal), and in 1635: The Cannon Law, 1635: The Papal Stakes, and 1636: The Vatican Sanction. He is somewhat less favorably presented in Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson.
Pope Innocent X, born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death in January 1655.
The Wars of Castro were a series of conflicts during the mid-17th century revolving around the ancient city of Castro, which eventually resulted in the city's destruction on 2 September 1649. The conflict was a result of a power struggle between the papacy – represented by members of two deeply entrenched Roman families and their popes, the Barberini and Pope Urban VIII and the Pamphili and Pope Innocent X – and the Farnese dukes of Parma, who controlled Castro and its surrounding territories as the Duchy of Castro.
The House of Barberini are a family of the Italian nobility that rose to prominence in 17th century Rome. Their influence peaked with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623, as Pope Urban VIII. Their urban palace, the Palazzo Barberini, completed in 1633 by Bernini, today houses Italy's Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica.
The House of Pamphili was one of the papal families deeply entrenched in Catholic Church, Roman and Italian politics of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Francesco Barberini was an Italian Catholic Cardinal. The nephew of Pope Urban VIII, he benefited immensely from the nepotism practiced by his uncle. He was given various roles within the Vatican administration but his personal cultural interests, particularly in literature and the arts, meant that he became a highly significant patron. His secretary was the antiquarian Cassiano dal Pozzo who was also a discerning patron of the arts. Francesco was the elder brother of Cardinal Antonio Barberini and Taddeo Barberini who became Prince of Palestrina.
Antonio Barberini was an Italian Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Reims, military leader, patron of the arts and a prominent member of the House of Barberini. As one of the cardinal-nephews of Pope Urban VIII and a supporter of France, he played a significant role at a number of the papal conclaves of the 17th century. With his brothers Cardinal Francesco Barberini and Taddeo Barberini he helped to shape politics, religion, art and music of 17th century Italy. He is sometimes referred to as Antonio the Younger or Antonio Barberini iuniore to distinguish him from his uncle Antonio Marcello Barberini.
Taddeo Barberini (1603–1647) was an Italian nobleman of the House of Barberini who became Prince of Palestrina and Gonfalonier of the Church; commander of the Papal Army. He was a nephew of Pope Urban VIII and brother of Cardinals Francesco Barberini and Antonio Barberini. Thanks to their uncle's famous nepotism, the brothers shaped 17th-century Italian politics, religion, art, music and architecture.
Francesco Barberini, iuniore was an Italian Cardinal of the family of Pope Urban VIII (1623–1644) and of the Princes of Palestrina.
Antonio Marcello Barberini, O.F.M. Cap. was an Italian cardinal and the younger brother of Maffeo Barberini, later Pope Urban VIII. He is sometimes referred to as Antonio the Elder to distinguish him from his nephew Antonio Barberini.
The 1623 papal conclave was convened on the death of Pope Gregory XV and ended with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini as Pope Urban VIII. It was the first conclave to take place after the reforms that Gregory XV issued in his 1621 bull Aeterni Patris Filius.
Maffeo Barberini was an Italian nobleman of the Barberini and Prince of Palestrina. He was appointed Gonfalonier of the Church.
Girolamo Colonna was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and member of the noble Colonna family.
Orazio Giustiniani was an Italian Catholic Cardinal.
The 1644 papal conclave was called upon the death of Pope Urban VIII. It lasted from 9 August to 15 September 1644; the cardinal electors chose Cardinal Giovanni Battista Pamphili, who took office as Pope Innocent X.
Giulio Cesare Sacchetti was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and was twice included in the French Court's list of acceptable candidates for the Papacy, in 1644 and 1655.
Vincenzo Maculani was an Italian Catholic Cardinal, inquisitor and military architect. He was known as a severe man, harsh and without compassion, who preferred the black cappa of his order to the brighter red he was later entitled to wear as a cardinal.
Francesco Adriano Ceva was a Catholic Cardinal from Savoy.
Giovanni Giacomo Panciroli was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and Cardinal Secretary of State.
Lelio Falconieri (1585–1648) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal.
Luigi Capponi was an Italian Catholic cardinal who became archbishop of Ravenna.
↑ Ernesta Chinazzi, Sede Vacante per la morte del Papa Urbano VIII Barberini e conclave di Innocenzo X Pamfili, Rome, 1904, 13.
Sources
Barton, Eleanor Dodge (1964). "Further Notes on the Barberini Tapestries". Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 62 (329): 114–118.
Collins, Roger (2009). Keepers of the Keys of Heaven: A History of the Papacy. Basic Books.
Cosner, Charlotte (2021). The Golden Leaf: How Tobacco Shaped Cuba and the Atlantic World. Vanderbilt University Press.
Keyvanian, Carla (2005). "Concerted Efforts: The Quarter of the Barberini Casa Grande in Seventeenth-Century Rome"". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 64 (3). doi:10.2307/25068166. JSTOR25068166.
Ott, Michael T. (1912). "Pope Urban VIII". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.XV. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
Pattenden, Miles (2020). "Cardinals and the Non-Christian World". In Hollingsworth, Mary; Pattenden, Miles; Witte, Arnold (eds.). A Companion to the Early Modern Cardinal. Brill.
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
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