Pope Gregory XV (1621-1623)

The Pope Who Set the Rules for the Conclave

Before Gregory XV, the election of the pope remained a loosely regulated process, vulnerable to pressures from factions of cardinals and Catholic monarchs. By imposing the written secret ballot, individual voting, and the prohibition against voting for oneself, the bull Aeterni Patris Filius professionalized the conclave. These rules, complemented by the ceremonial of Decet Romanum Pontificem, formed “the canonical basis of papal elections until the 20th century”: the 1623 conclave that elected Urban VIII was the first to apply them.^[13][14] Few popes can claim to have settled for three centuries the very manner in which their successors would be chosen.

The Pope of the “Five Saints” of 1622

On March 12, 1622, on the forecourt of Saint Peter’s draped with hangings and illuminated, Gregory XV canonized five saints whose names summarize the great Catholic renaissance of the 16th century: the founder of the Jesuits Ignatius of Loyola, the apostle of the Indies Francis Xavier, the reformer of the Carmelites Teresa of Ávila, the founder of the Oratory Philip Neri, and the Castilian peasant Isidore the Farmer.^[15][16] Never before had the Church inscribed so many saints on the same day, nor gathered in a single ceremony such a concentration of major figures of the Counter-Reformation.

The Pope Founder of the Propagation of the Faith

By creating, on January 6, 1622, the Congregation de Propaganda Fide, Gregory XV endowed the Church with its first central missionary ministry. Until then, evangelization of the New World and Asia largely depended on the crowns of Spain and Portugal under the patronato system. The new congregation aimed to restore to the Holy See the leadership of missionary efforts and coordinate the preaching of the Gospel “to the ends of the earth.”^[17][18] This body, long simply called “the Propaganda”, survives today under the name Dicastery for Evangelization.

A Birth into Bolognese Nobility

Alessandro Ludovisi was born in Bologna on January 9, 1554, the third of seven children of Pompeo Ludovisi, Count of Samoggia, and Camilla Bianchini.^[19] The Ludovisi were a noble family of Bologna, then part of the Papal States and one of Italy’s great legal centers. The entire career of the future pope would bear the mark of this milieu: the rigor of law, attachment to Rome, and a solid network of alliances.

A Jesuit Student at the Roman College

The young Alessandro was sent to Rome for higher studies. There he pursued humanities and philosophy at the Roman College, the institution founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola and become the educational flagship of the Society of Jesus.^[20][21] This formation was decisive: Gregory XV would be the first pope shaped by the Jesuit ratio studiorum, and it is easier to understand, in light of this youthful debt, why he solemnly canonized Ignatius and Xavier. His lifelong closeness to the Society of Jesus is rooted in these college years.

The Jurist and Man of the Curia

Ludovisi then obtained, at the University of Bologna, the doctorate in utroque iure — in both canon and Roman law — on June 4, 1575.^[22] His rise was that of a great Curial jurist. Pope Gregory XIII, also from Bologna, appointed him judge of the Capitol; Clement VIII made him a referendary of the two Signatures (1593–1596), then vice-gerent of Rome (1597–1598), and auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota (1599–1612), the highest tribunal of the Church.^[23][24] For thirteen years, Ludovisi sat among the finest canonists of his time — experience that would nourish his pontifical legislation.

Archbishop of Bologna and Nuncio to Savoy

In 1612, Pope Paul V appointed him archbishop of his native city, Bologna (March 12, 1612; episcopal consecration May 1).^[25][26] That same year, he was sent as apostolic nuncio to Savoy to arbitrate the conflict between the Duke of Savoy and Spain over Montferrat — a delicate diplomatic mission revealing his talents as a negotiator.^[27] As a resident bishop and diplomat, he embodied the ideal type of the Tridentine prelate, formed by the Council of Trent to unite pastoral governance and service to the Holy See.

Cardinal of Paul V

On September 19, 1616, Paul V created Ludovisi cardinal-priest; in 1618 he received the title of Santa Maria in Traspontina.^[28] An elderly and respected cardinal, renowned for his uprightness and legal knowledge, he belonged to none of the great factions dividing the Sacred College — a decisive asset when the time of the conclave came.

The Succession of Paul V

Paul V died on January 28, 1621. The conclave that followed was dominated by the rivalry between France and Spain, and by the ambitions of the powerful Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of the late pope. It was precisely Borghese’s influence that brought Cardinal Ludovisi to the throne: “On February 9, Ludovisi himself was elected successor to Paul V, mainly through the influence of Cardinal Borghese,” notes the Catholic Encyclopedia.^[29] A compromise candidate, elderly and conciliatory, Ludovisi united cardinals who were otherwise opposed.

An Elderly and Ill Pope

At his election, Alessandro Ludovisi was sixty-seven years old and in frail health, weakened by digestive troubles.^[30] Many saw him as a transitional pope, destined for a short reign. History would prove them right about the duration—twenty-nine months—but wrong about the impact: despite his age and illness, Gregory XV would carry out remarkable legislative and diplomatic activity, relying on a young and energetic entourage.

The Name Gregory

The newly elected chose to reign under the name Gregory, in homage to his protector and fellow Bolognese, Gregory XIII (1572–1585), the pope of the calendar reform and a great promoter of colleges and missions.^[31] The choice announced a program: to continue the Tridentine work of clergy formation and the expansion of the faith.

Ludovico Ludovisi, the Cardinal-Nephew

On the third day of his pontificate, Gregory XV elevated his nephew Ludovico Ludovisi, aged twenty-five, to the cardinalate and effectively entrusted him with the supervision of Church affairs.^[32] This brilliant young man became one of the most active cardinal-nephews in history: he governed the Secretariat of State, led diplomacy, protected religious orders, and became a great patron of the arts. The pope also appointed his brother Orazio as captain general of the Church and Duke of Fiano.^[33] This familial deployment, typical of Baroque Rome, earned the pontificate the reproach of nepotism—a real criticism, but one that must be weighed against the effectiveness of the Ludovisi government.

Why Reform the Papal Election?

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the conclave had become a battleground for cardinal factions and the great Catholic powers. The practices of acclamation (election “by inspiration,” often orchestrated) and compromise opened the door to maneuvering, pressure, and the right of exclusion (the jus exclusivæ) claimed by France, Spain, and the Empire.^[34] Gregory XV, an experienced canonist, sought to cleanse this mechanism and remove the election of the successor of Peter from intrigue.

Aeterni Patris Filius (November 15, 1621): The Secret Ballot

The bull Aeterni Patris Filius, dated November 15, 1621, established the secret written ballot as the ordinary mode of election.^[35] Three forms remained recognized—the scrutiny (scrutinium), compromise, and quasi-inspiration—but the scrutiny became the rule, surrounded by strict guarantees: each cardinal writes the name of his candidate, only one, on a ballot; no one may vote for himself; the secrecy of the vote is protected. The bull states that the goal is to abolish abuses arising from tumultuous elections and external pressures.^[36][37]

“From now on, the election shall be by secret ballot: each cardinal shall give his vote to a single candidate, and no one shall be allowed to vote for himself.” — Gregory XV, bull Aeterni Patris Filius, November 15, 1621 (operative clause)^[38]

Decet Romanum Pontificem (1622): The Ceremony

The following year, the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem (12 March 1622) complemented the first by establishing the detailed ceremonial of the conclave: the form and folding of ballots, how to deposit, count, and burn them, and the material organization of the enclosure.^[39][40] Together, the two texts constitute a true code of papal election, unprecedented in precision.

Legislation That Lasted Until the 20th Century

The strength of this reform lies in its longevity. The Ludovisi system remained the canonical basis of conclaves until the early 20th century, and several of its principles—vote secrecy, individual ballot, prohibition of voting for oneself—remain at the heart of current law.^[41][42] The conclave of 1623, which brought Maffeo Barberini to the throne as Urban VIII, was the first conducted under the new rules.^[43] A pope of twenty-nine months had thus regulated, for three centuries, the rite of his own succession.

Five Saints in One Day

On March 12, 1622, in a lavishly decorated St. Peter’s Basilica, Gregory XV proclaimed the sainthood of five servants of God by a single decree.^[44][45] The event was unprecedented: it was the first collective canonization of multiple saints on the same day, and one of the most resounding ceremonies of the Catholic Reformation. Rome was filled with processions, fireworks, concerts, and performances, and similar celebrations erupted as far as Madrid, Lisbon, Goa, Mexico, and Japan, wherever Jesuits and Carmelites preached.^[46]

The table below summarizes the five saints and what they represent.

“Four Spaniards and One Saint”

A famous quip circulated in Rome at the time. Since four of the five new saints were Spanish — only Philip Neri was Italian (Roman by adoption) — some Romans wittily summarized the ceremony with a sharp phrase: “The pope canonized four Spaniards and one saint.”^[47] The barb revealed the Roman irritation at Spanish dominance over Italy at the time, but also the special devotion Romans had for their beloved Philip Neri, “the apostle of Rome.”

“The pope canonized four Spaniards and one saint.” — Saying attributed to Romans after the canonization of March 12, 1622^[48]

A Harvest of the Catholic Reformation

Beyond the anecdote, this canonization carries a profound spiritual significance. In a single act, the Church sealed the holiness of the Counter-Reformation: the missionary zeal of the Jesuits with Ignatius and Xavier, the mystical reform of the Carmelites with Teresa, the sanctification of the secular clergy with Philip Neri’s Oratory, and the holiness of the simple layman at work with Isidore the Farmer — a Madrilenian peasant of the twelfth century, a farm labourer in the service of Juan de Vargas, beatified by Paul V in 1619 and now patron of Madrid and of farmers.^[49] The message was clear: the path to holiness is open to religious, priests, missionaries, and peasants alike.

“Know that even in the kitchen the Lord walks among the pots, helping you in both interior and exterior matters.” — Saint Teresa of Ávila, Book of Foundations, ch. 5^[50]

That same year, Gregory XV also beatified the Franciscan Peter of Alcántara (18 April 1622) and the Dominican Albert the Great, confirming the momentum of a pontificate focused on exalting reforming saints.^[51][52]

Why a Congregation for Missions?

At the beginning of the 17th century, the spread of the Gospel outside Europe depended almost entirely on the Iberian crowns. Through the patronato real (Spanish) and padroado (Portuguese) systems, the kings appointed bishops, financed missions, and controlled the dispatch of missionaries to the Americas, Africa, and Asia. This system enabled heroic evangelizations — in China, in Japan, and India — but it mixed the interests of faith with those of the crowns, leaving the Holy See sidelined from directing the missionary work.^[53]

January 6, 1622: The Birth of Propaganda

On January 6, 1622, the Solemnity of the Epiphany — the feast of Christ’s manifestation to the nations — Gregory XV established the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (“Propaganda Fide”).^[54] The congregation was confirmed and endowed with its powers by the bull Inscrutabili divinæ providentiæ on June 22, 1622, which asserted for the pope, to the highest degree, the duty and right to spread the faith as the primary task of the shepherd of souls.^[55][56]

“Unfathomable are the designs of divine Providence […]: it falls to the Roman Pontiff, as a good shepherd, to bring the Gospel to nations that do not yet know Christ.” — Gregory XV, bull Inscrutabili divinæ providentiæ, June 22, 1622 (summary)^[57]

Francesco Ingoli and the Organization

The new congregation gathered thirteen cardinals, two prelates, and a secretary.^[58] The first secretary, the priest from Ravenna Francesco Ingoli, remained its driving spirit for twenty years: he structured the administration, collected information on the state of missions worldwide, and gave Propaganda its first missionary doctrine.^[59] Under his impetus, the Urban College for missionary training and a polyglot printing press to publish catechisms and grammars in evangelization languages were soon established.

Reclaiming Missions from the Crowns’ Control

The deeper goal of Propaganda Fide was to restore to the Holy See the leadership of missions and to promote an indigenous clergy in mission lands, countering the crowns’ tendency to treat the local Church as an extension of their administration.^[60] This orientation — entrusting the Gospel to pastors native to the land — would remain one of the congregation’s great principles, sometimes in tension with colonial powers.

A Secular Institution

De Propaganda Fide was, for more than three and a half centuries, the central government of all Catholic missions. Reorganized by successive popes, it was renamed the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (1967), then integrated in 2022 into the Dicastery for Evangelization.^[61] Four centuries after its foundation, the institution established by Gregory XV remains at the heart of the Church’s mission.

Support for Ferdinand II and the Catholic League

Elected one year after the Battle of White Mountain (8 November 1620), where the imperial army and the Catholic League crushed the Protestant insurgents of Bohemia, Gregory XV decisively committed the papacy to the side of the House of Habsburg and the Catholic League. He granted considerable subsidies to Emperor Ferdinand II and the Duke of Bavaria — estimated to total several hundred thousand florins, possibly up to a million gold ducats over the entire pontificate — to support the Catholic cause within the Empire.^[62][63]

The Transfer of the Palatine Electorate to Maximilian of Bavaria

Gregory XV’s greatest diplomatic success was the transfer of the electoral dignity: the office of Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, taken from the Palatine Elector Frederick V (the “Winter King” of Bohemia, a Calvinist), was awarded to the Catholic Maximilian I of Bavaria.^[64][65] This transfer, secured in early 1623, strengthened the Catholic majority in the imperial electoral college and represented a major strategic victory for Rome in the great confessional conflict.

The Palatine Library of Heidelberg

In gratitude, Maximilian of Bavaria presented the pope with one of the most precious treasures of German Protestantism: the Bibliotheca Palatina of Heidelberg, capital of the Palatine Electorate, captured by Catholic troops. Containing about 3,500 manuscripts and thousands of printed works, this library was transported to Rome in 1623 and incorporated into the Vatican Library, where part of its holdings still bear the name Palatini.^[66][67] The operation was entrusted to the Greek scholar Leone Allacci, who arrived in Heidelberg in December 1622: he had the books packed in 196 crates carried on mule-back across the Alps; delayed by bad weather, the convoy did not reach Lake Como until 25 May 1623, and the Vatican finally received 184 crates on 9 August 1623, shortly after the pope's death.^[68]

“In gratitude to Pope Gregory XV, Maximilian presented him with the Palatine Library of Heidelberg, containing about 3,500 manuscripts.” — Catholic Encyclopedia, article Pope Gregory XV^[69]

Subsidies to Poland Against the Turks

Gregory XV did not only support the Catholic cause within the Empire. He also aided the King of Poland, Sigismund III Vasa, engaged against the Ottoman Empire; his subsidies contributed to the Polish effort during the campaign culminating in the Battle of Khotyn (1621), where the Polish-Lithuanian army of Grand Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz held back the offensive of Sultan Osman II until the first snows of autumn, stopping the Turkish advance in central Europe.^[70][71][72] Faithful to the long pontifical tradition of defending Christendom, the elderly pope proved an ally of Catholic princes on both western and eastern fronts.

The Question of the Valtellina

The pontificate also had to confront the thorny issue of the Valtellina, a strategic Catholic Alpine valley linking Spanish Milan to Austrian Tyrol, contested between Spain and France. To avoid a rupture between the two great Catholic powers, Gregory XV agreed in 1623 that papal garrisons would temporarily occupy the valley’s forts as a neutral deposit, pending a settlement.^[73] A prudent but fragile solution: the crisis would flare up again under his successor. It illustrates the arbitrating role the papacy sought to maintain between France and Spain.

The Bull Omnipotentis Dei Against Witchcraft (1623)

On March 20, 1623, Gregory XV promulgated the constitution Omnipotentis Dei, the last major papal ordinance concerning witchcraft.^[74] The text, often misunderstood, is in fact more measured than previous legislation: it reserves the death penalty only for cases where it is “proven that a pact was made with the devil and a homicide committed with his aid”, and mitigates the penalties for other cases.^[75] Far from a repressive frenzy, the act shows a desire to proportion the punishment to the actual gravity of the facts, in the context of the great witch hunts then ravaging both Protestant and Catholic Europe.

The Ludovisi Patronage: Guercino, Villa Ludovisi, Saint Ignatius

The pontificate coincided with a peak of Roman Baroque, driven by the cardinal-nephew Ludovico Ludovisi, one of the greatest patrons of his century. He brought the painter Guercin (Guercino) to Rome, also from the Bologna region, and assembled in his Villa Ludovisi a collection of antiques and paintings among the most famous in Europe.^[76] It was also he who, after his uncle’s death, initiated the construction of the church of Saint Ignatius of Rome, at the heart of the Roman College, to honor the recently canonized founder of the Jesuits — the very church where Gregory XV now rests.

Administrative and Legal Reforms

An experienced canon lawyer, Gregory XV left an important administrative legacy. Beyond the reform of the conclave and the creation of Propaganda Fide, he reorganized several Roman congregations, legislated on ecclesiastical benefices and clergy discipline, and ensured the implementation of the decrees of the Council of Trent. His brief reign was, proportionally, one of the most active in governance of the early 17th century.^[77]

Death at the Quirinal (July 8, 1623)

Weakened from the start of his reign, Gregory XV died at the Quirinal Palace in Rome on July 8, 1623, after twenty-nine months as pope.^[78][79] His death opened the 1623 conclave — the first conducted under his own rules — which elected Maffeo Barberini, Urban VIII, on August 6.

Burial at Saint Ignatius of Rome

Gregory XV was initially buried at Saint Peter’s, then his body was transferred to the church of Saint Ignatius of Rome — built by his nephew Ludovico after the canonization of Ignatius in 1622, at the pope's own suggestion — in the sumptuous Ludovisi Chapel.^[80][81] The funerary monument uniting uncle and nephew would be sculpted a century later by Pierre Le Gros the Younger (c. 1709–1714). The pope thus rests near the tomb of Saint Ignatius and Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, at the heart of the Jesuit house that formed him — a powerful symbol of his lifelong fidelity to the Society of Jesus.

Assessment of a Brief Pontificate

How should Gregory XV be judged? The nepotism of the Ludovisi is an undeniable shadow, typical of Baroque Rome. But the institutional legacy is exceptional for a reign of twenty-nine months: a conclave law that lasted three centuries, a canonization that crowned the heroes of the Catholic Reformation, a mission congregation that structured the evangelization of the world, and a diplomacy that strengthened the Catholic cause in the Thirty Years’ War. The first pope formed by Jesuits, a skilled jurist, and a devoted servant of the Tridentine Church, Alessandro Ludovisi proves that a pontificate is measured less by its length than by the scope of its decisions.

Reference Sources

• Treccani, Enciclopedia dei Papi, “Gregorio XV” — the most comprehensive scholarly synthesis on his biography, Curial career, pontificate, Ludovisi nepotism, and patronage.^[82]
• Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent), “Pope Gregory XV” (1909) — the classic factual framework on his birth, career, conclave reform, canonizations, Propaganda Fide, and Thirty Years’ War diplomacy.^[83]
• Encyclopædia Britannica, “Gregory XV (pope)” — concise entry on the pontificate, Palatine electorate, and Heidelberg library.^[84]

On the Conclave Reform and Propaganda Fide

On the 1622 Canonization

• America Magazine and EWTN Vatican, 400th anniversary dossiers (2022) — account of the 12 March 1622 ceremony, the phrase “four Spaniards and one saint,” worldwide celebrations.^[85][86]

• Pope Paul V (1605-1621) — his predecessor, who made Ludovisi an archbishop and then a cardinal.
• Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644) — his successor, the first pope elected under the new conclave rules.
• Pope Gregory XIII (1572-1585) — the great Bolognese pope whose name Alessandro Ludovisi took.
• Saint Ignatius of Loyola — founder of the Jesuits, canonized on March 12, 1622.
• Saint Teresa of Ávila — reformer of the Carmelites, canonized the same day.
• The Dicastery for Evangelization — the current successor of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.
• The foundation of the Society of Jesus — the order that formed the future pope and whose saints he honored.
• The Papal States — the temporal setting of Bologna, his birthplace, and of papal diplomacy.