Pope Sixtus V (Italian:Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), bornFelice Piergentile, was head of theCatholic Church and ruler of thePapal States from 24 April 1585 to his death, in August 1590. As a youth, he joined theFranciscan order, where he displayed talents as a scholar and preacher, and enjoyed the patronage ofPius V, who made him acardinal. As a cardinal, he was known asCardinal Montalto.
As Pope, he energetically rooted out corruption and lawlessness across Rome, and launched a far-sighted rebuilding programme that continues to provoke controversy, as it involved the destruction of antiquities. The cost of these works was met by heavy taxation which caused much suffering. His foreign policy was regarded as over-ambitious; he excommunicated KingHenry IV of France and renewed the excommunication of QueenElizabeth I of England. He is recognized as a significant figure of theCounter-Reformation. He is the most recent pope to date to take on thepontifical name "Sixtus".
Felice Piergentile was born on 13 December 1521 atGrottammare, in thePapal States,[2][3] to Francesco Piergentile (also known as Peretto di Montalto, from the city of originMontalto delle Marche), and Mariana da Frontillo. His father had taken refuge in Grottammare to escape the oppression of theduke of Urbino, finding there a job as a gardener. Sixtus was the last pope from such a poor background untilPius X was electedin 1903.[4]
Felice later adoptedPeretti as his family name in 1551, and as acardinal was known as "Cardinal Montalto" (to reflect his affection for his homeland).[5]
At the age of 9 years, Felice returned toMontalto to join his uncle in theFranciscan Convent of San Francesco delle Fratte. At the age of 12, he was initiated as a novice of theFranciscan Order, assuming the name of Fra Felice (Friar Felix) in 1535, maintaining his birth name. From this year, he started philosophical and theological studies, moving between different convents of the Order. He finally completed his studies in the Franciscan Magna Domus ofBologna on September 1544. Three years earlier he had been ordained as a deacon.
About 1552 he was noticed by CardinalRodolfo Pio da Carpi, Protector of theFranciscan order, Cardinal Ghislieri (laterPope Pius V) and Cardinal Carafa (laterPope Paul IV), and from that time his advancement was assured. He was sent toVenice asinquisitor general of theVenetian Holy Inquisition,[6] but was so severe and conducted matters in such a high-handed manner that he became embroiled in quarrels. In 1560, the Venetian government asked for his recall.
After a brief term asprocurator of his order, he was attached in 1565 to the papal legation toSpain headed by Cardinal Ugo Boncompagni (laterPope Gregory XIII) which was sent to investigate a charge ofheresy levelled againstBartolomé Carranza,Archbishop of Toledo. The violent dislike which Peretti conceived for Boncompagni had a marked influence on his subsequent actions. He hurried back to Rome upon the accession of Pius V, who made himapostolic vicar of his order and then, in 1570,cardinal.[6]
During the pontificate of his political enemy Gregory XIII (1572–1585), Cardinal Montalto, as he was generally called, lived in enforced retirement, occupied with the care of his property,[6] the Villa Montalto, erected byDomenico Fontana close to the cardinal's church on theEsquiline Hill, overlooking the ancientBaths of Diocletian. The first phase (1576–1580) of the building was enlarged after Peretti became pope and was able toclear buildings to open four new streets in 1585–86. The villa contained two residences, thePalazzo Sistino or "Palazzo di Termini"[note 1] and the casino, called thePalazzetto Montalto e Felice.
This clearance programme was an undoubted gain in the relief it brought to the congestion of the crowded medieval city. Clearly, however, Romans displaced by it were furious, and resentment was still felt centuries later until the decision was taken to buildRoma Termini railway station, inaugurated byPope Pius IX in 1863, on the site of the Villa, which became doomed to destruction.
Cardinal Montalto's other occupation at this period was with his studies, one of the fruits of which was an edition of the works ofAmbrose.[6] As pope he would personally supervise the printing of an improved edition of Jerome'sVulgate.
Though not neglecting to follow the course of affairs, Felice carefully avoided every occasion of offence. This discretion contributed not a little to his election to the papacy on 24 April 1585, with the title of Sixtus V to honourPope Sixtus IV, also a Franciscan like himself. One of the things that commended his candidacy to certain cardinals may have been his physical vigour, which seemed to promise a long pontificate.[6] Hispapal coronation was held on 1 May 1585 and he was crowned by theprotodeaconFerdinando de' Medici.
The terrible condition in whichPope Gregory XIII had left thePapal States called for prompt and stern measures. Sixtus proceeded with an almost ferocious severity against the prevailing lawlessness. Thousands ofbrigands were brought to justice: within a short time, the country was again quiet and safe.[6] It was claimed[7] that there were more heads on spikes across thePonte Sant'Angelo than melons for sale in the marketplace. And clergy and nuns were executed if they broke their vows of chastity.[8]
Next Sixtus set to work to repair the finances. By the sale of offices, the establishment of a new "Monti" and by levying new taxes, he accumulated a vast surplus, which he stored up against certain specified emergencies, such as acrusade or the defence of theHoly See. Sixtus prided himself upon his hoard, but the method by which it had been amassed was financially unsound: some of the taxes proved ruinous, and the withdrawal of so much money from circulation could not fail to cause distress.[6]
Immense sums were spent upon public works,[6] in carrying through the comprehensive planning that had come to fruition during his retirement, bringing water to the waterless hills via his newaqueduct, theAcqua Felice which fed twenty-seven new fountains; laying out new arteries in Rome, which connected the great basilicas, even setting his engineer-architectDomenico Fontana to replan theColosseum as a silk-spinning factory housing its workers.
Inspired by the ideal of the Renaissance city, Pope Sixtus V's ambitious urban reform programme transformed the old environment to emulate the "long straight streets, wide regular spaces, uniformity and repetitiveness of structures, lavish use of commemorative and ornamental elements, and maximum visibility from both linear and circular perspective."[9] The Pope set no limit to his plans, and achieved much in his short pontificate, always carried through at top speed: the completion of the dome ofSt. Peter's; theloggia of Sixtus in theBasilica di San Giovanni in Laterano; the chapel of the Praesepe inSanta Maria Maggiore; additions or repairs to theQuirinal,Lateran andVatican palaces; the erection of fourobelisks, including that inSaint Peter's Square; the opening of six streets; the restoration of theaqueduct ofSeptimius Severus ("Acqua Felice");[6] the integration of theLeonine City in Rome as XIVrione (Borgo).[10]
Besides numerous roads and bridges,[6] he improved the city's air by financing the reclamation of thePontine Marshes. Good progress was made, with more than 9,500 acres (38 km2) reclaimed and opened to agriculture and manufacture. The project was abandoned upon his death.
A fragment of the Septizonium is shown in this engraving dating to 1582.Pope's Cabinet at Stourhead, built for Sixtus V
Sixtus had no appreciation of antiquities, which were employed as raw material to serve his urbanistic and Christianising programs:Trajan's Column and theColumn of Marcus Aurelius (at the time misidentified as theColumn of Antoninus Pius) were made to serve as pedestals for the statues of SS Peter and Paul; theMinerva of theCapitol was converted into an emblem ofChristian Rome; theSeptizodium ofSeptimius Severus was demolished for building materials.[6] When he was taken to a cross in a church in Rome that was supposedly miraculously bleeding, Sixtus suspected that it was a fake. He took an axe and said "As Christ I adore you; as wood I cut you". He split the cross and revealed that it contained sponges soaked in blood within it.[11]
The spatial organization, monumental inscriptions and restorations throughout the city reinforced the control, surveillance, and authority that alluded to his power.[12]
The subsequent administrative system of the Catholic Church owed much to Sixtus. He limited theCollege of Cardinals to seventy. He doubled the number of the congregations and enlarged their functions, assigning to them the principal role in the transaction of business (1588). He regarded theJesuits with disfavour and suspicion. He considered radical changes to their constitution, but death prevented the execution of his purpose.[6]
In May 1587, the Sixtine Septuagint was published under the auspices of Sixtus V.[14]
In May 1590 the Sixtine Vulgate was issued.[15] The edition was preceded by the BullAeternus ille, in which the Pope declared the authenticity of the new Bible.[16][17] The bull stipulated "that it was to be considered as the authentic edition recommended by theCouncil of Trent, that it should be taken as the standard of all future reprints, and that all copies should be corrected by it."[18] "This edition was not to be reprinted for 10 years except at the Vatican, and after that any edition must be compared with the Vatican edition, so that "not even the smallest particle should be altered, added or removed" under pain of the "greaterexcommunication."[16]Jaroslav Pelikan, without giving any more details, says that this edition "proved to be so defective that it was withdrawn".[19]
In his larger political relations, Sixtus entertained fantastic ambitions, such as the annihilation of theTurks, the conquest ofEgypt, the transport of theHoly Sepulchre to Italy, and the accession of his nephew to the throne of France. The situation in which he found himself was difficult: he could not countenance the designs of those he considered asheretical princes, and yet he mistrusted KingPhilip II of Spain and viewed with apprehension any extension of his power.[6]
Sixtus agreed to renew theexcommunication of QueenElizabeth I of England, and to grant a large subsidy to theArmada of Philip II, but, knowing the slowness of Spain, would give nothing until the expedition actually landed in England. This way, he saved a fortune that would otherwise have been lost in the failed campaign. Sixtus had CardinalWilliam Allen draw up theAn Admonition to the Nobility and People of England and Ireland, a proclamation to be published in England if the invasion had been successful. The extant document comprised all that could be said against Elizabeth I, and the indictment is therefore fuller and more forcible than any other put forward by the religious exiles, who were generally reticent in their complaints. Allen carefully consigned his publication to the fire, and it is only known of through one of Elizabeth's spies, who had stolen a copy.[20]
Sixtus excommunicated KingHenry III of Navarre, who was theheir presumptive to the throne of France,[21] and contributed to theCatholic League, but he chafed under his forced alliance with King Philip II of Spain, and looked for an escape. The victories of Henry and the prospect of his conversion to Catholicism raised Sixtus V's hopes, and to a corresponding degree determined Philip II to tighten his grip upon his wavering ally. The Pope's negotiations with Henry's representative evoked a bitter and menacing protest and a categorical demand for the performance of promises. Sixtus took refuge in evasion and temporised until his death on 27 August 1590.[6]
Sixtus extended the penalty of excommunication relating to the Roman Catholic Church's teachingon contraception andon abortion. While the Church taught that abortion and contraception were gravely sinful actions, it did not apply to all mortal sins the additional penalty ofexcommunication.[citation needed]
Some theologians argued that only after proof of the "quickening" (when the mother can feel the fetus's movement in her womb, usually about 20 weeks into gestation) that there was incontrovertible evidence that ensoulment had already occurred. Until Sixtus V, canon lawyers had applied the code fromGratian whereby excommunications were only given to abortions after the quickening. In 1588 the pope issued a papal bull,Effraenatam orEffrenatam ("Without Restraint"), which declared that the canonical penalty of excommunication would be levied for any form of contraception and for abortions at any stage in fetal development.[22] The reasoning on the latter would be that the soul of the unborn child would be denied Heaven.[23]
Sixtus also attempted in 1586 to introduce into the secular law in Rome theOld Testament penalty foradultery, which is death. The measure ultimately failed.[24]
Sixtus V died on 27 August 1590 frommalaria. The pope became ill with a fever on 24 August which intensified the following day.
As Sixtus V lay on his deathbed, he was loathed by his political subjects, but history has recognized him as one of the most important popes. On the negative side, he could be impulsive, obstinate, severe, and autocratic. On the positive side, he was open to large ideas and threw himself into his undertakings with energy and determination; this often led to success. His pontificate saw great enterprises and great achievements.[6]
About 5,000bandits were executed by Sixtus V in the five years before his death in 1590, but there were reputedly 27,000 more at liberty throughoutCentral Italy.[25]
^Rhodes, Anthony Richard Ewart (1983). "Pius X – Signs of Conciliation".The Power of Rome in the Twentieth century: The Vatican in the Age of Liberal Democracies, 1870–1922.London:Sidgwick and Jackson. p. 179.ISBN9780283990038.
^Drucker, Johanna (2010). "Species of Espaces and other spurious concepts addressed to reading invisible features of signs within systems of relations".Design and Culture.2 (2):135–153.doi:10.2752/175470710X12696138525541.S2CID144253902.
^"Effraenatam in English".Who will not detest such an abhorrent and evil act, by which are lost not only the bodies but also the souls? (Popes believe in the limbo of the little ones) Who will not condemn to a most grave punishment the impiety of him who will exclude a soul created in the image of God and for which Our Lord Jesus Christ has shed His precious Blood, and which is capable of eternal happiness and is destined to be in the company of angels, from the blessed vision of God, and who has impeded as much as he could the filling up of heavenly mansions (left vacant by the fallen angels), and has taken away the service to God by His creature?
^Diarmuid MacCulloch,Reformation: Europe's House Divided 1490–1700 (London, 2008)
