This article will be permanently flagged as inappropriate and made unaccessible to everyone. Are you certain this article is inappropriate? Excessive Violence Sexual Content Political / Social
Email Address:
Article Id: WHEBN0000037869 Reproduction Date:
Pope Leo XI (2 June 1535 – 27 April 1605), born Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, was Pope from 1 to 27 April 1605.[1]
Alessandro Ottoviano de' Medici was born in Florence,[2] son of Francesca Salviati and Ottaviano. He was a nephew of Leo X.[3]
Father Alessandro served as the Florentine ambassador to Pope Pius V from 1569 to 1584.[4] Gregory XIII made him bishop of Pistoia in 1573, archbishop of Florence in 1574,[5] and was made Cardinal-Priest of Santi Quirico e Giulitta in 1583.[2]
In 1596, Clement VIII sent him as legate to France where Maria de' Medici was queen.[6] Alessandro was a friend and disciple of St. Philip Neri.
On 14 March 1605, eleven days after the death of Clement VIII, 62 cardinals entered the conclave. Prominent among the candidates for the papacy were the great historian Baronius and the famous Jesuit controversialist Robert Bellarmine. But Pietro Aldobrandini, the leader of the Italian party among the cardinals, allied with the French cardinals and brought about the election of Alessandro against the express wish of King Philip III of Spain. King Henry IV of France is said to have spent 300,000 écus in the promotion of Alessandro's candidacy.[7]
On 1 April 1605, Cardinal Medici was elected pope. He chose to be called Leo XI in honor of his uncle Pope Leo X.[2]
When he was elected, Leo XI was almost seventy years of age, and he died twenty seven days later.[8] His death came as a result of fatigue and cold in the ceremony of taking possession of the Basilica of St John Lateran. He was called Papa Lampo ("Lightning Pope") because his papacy was so short.
Media related to at Wikimedia Commons
Vatican City, Holy See, Saint Peter, Pope John Paul II, Catholicism
Christianity, Anglicanism, Lutheranism, Saint Peter, Protestantism
Vatican City, Kraków, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope, Pope Francis
Pope John Paul II, Pope Francis, Pope, Catholicism, Pope Paul VI
House of Bonaparte, House of Vasa, House of Savoy, House of Lorraine, House of Habsburg
Rome, Pope, Catholicism, Pope Pius XII, Pope John Paul II
Pope, Catholicism, Pope John Paul II, Thomas Aquinas, Pope Pius XII
1550, Gregorian calendar, Julian calendar, Boris Godunov, 1675
Order of Saint Benedict, Pope, Saint Peter, Pope John Paul II, Catholic Church