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Pope Gregory XV

Pope Gregory XV

1554 CE1623 CE · Italy (Soncino/Bologna)

Born Alessandro Ludovisi in Bologna and educated by the Jesuits, Gregory XV reigned only two and a half years but left durable institutional marks. In 1622 he founded the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide) to coordinate global Catholic missions, a body that shaped missionary work for centuries. That same year he canonized Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Avila, and Philip Neri. He reformed the procedures of papal elections, introducing secret written ballots that long governed conclaves. Frail throughout his reign, he relied heavily on his capable cardinal-nephew Ludovico Ludovisi to administer affairs.

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Stop 0 of 21554–1621Birthplace And Archbishop

Italy (Soncino/Bologna)איטליהItaly

We know they were here, but the specifics of what they did at this stop aren’t recorded yet in our corpus.

About Italy (Soncino/Bologna)

Renaissance-era Italian Jewish printing and exegesis; Sforno and Abarbanel both lived in Italy.

In Italy (Soncino/Bologna) at the same time

Pope Innocent IX

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In the same place & time

Sages whose lives overlapped with Pope Gregory XV’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.

The world in their lifetime

Thinkers and teachers of other traditions whose lives overlapped with Pope Gregory XV’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.

Works

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