Pope Paul V (Latin:Paulus V;Italian:Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), bornCamillo Borghese, was head of theCatholic Church and ruler of thePapal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honoredGalileo Galilei as a member of the papalAccademia dei Lincei and supported his discoveries.[2] In 1616, Pope Paul V instructed CardinalRobert Bellarmine to inform Galileo that theCopernican theory could not be taught as fact, but Bellarmine's certificate allowed Galileo to continue his studies in search for evidence and use thegeocentric model as a theoretical device. That same year Paul V assured Galileo that he was safe from persecution so long as he, the Pope, should live. Bellarmine's certificate was used by Galileo for his defense at thetrial of 1633.[3]
Trained in jurisprudence, Borghese was made Cardinal-Priest ofSant'Eusebio and theCardinal Vicar of Rome byPope Clement VIII. He was elected as Pope in 1605, following the death ofPope Leo XI. Pope Paul V was known for being stern and unyielding, defending the privileges of the Church. He met with Galileo Galilei in 1616 and was involved in the controversy overheliocentrism. He canonized and beatified several individuals during his papacy and created 60 cardinals in ten consistories.
His insistence on ecclesiastical jurisdiction led to conflicts with secular governments, notably withVenice, which resulted in aninterdict on the city in 1606. This disagreement was eventually mediated byFrance andSpain in 1607. Pope Paul V's diplomacy also strained relations withEngland, as his actions were perceived as undermining moderate Catholics in the country.
Camillo Borghese was born inRome on 17 September 1550 into theBorghese family ofSiena which had recently established itself in Rome. He was the eldest of seven sons of the lawyer and Sienese patrician Marcantonio Borghese and his Flaminia Astalli, a Roman noblewoman. Camillo was carefully trained in jurisprudence atPerugia andPadua, and became a canonist of marked ability.[4]
Clement VIII also bestowed upon himepiscopal consecration in 1597 after his appointment asBishop of Jesi; the co-consecrators were Cardinal Silvio Savelli (formerLatin Patriarch of Constantinople) and CardinalFrancesco Cornaro (former Bishop of Treviso).[5] Bishop Borghese retained the diocese of Iesi until 1599. He held aloof from all parties and factions, devoting all his spare time to his law-books.
WhenPope Leo XI died, 1605, Cardinal Borghese became pope over a number of candidates includingCaesar Baronius andRobert Bellarmine; his neutrality in the factional times made him an ideal compromise candidate.[6]
In character he was very stern and unyielding, a lawyer rather than diplomat, who defended the privileges of the Church to his utmost. His first act was to send home to theirsees the bishops who were sojourning in Rome, for theCouncil of Trent had insisted that every bishop reside in his diocese.[4]
Paul met withGalileo Galilei in 1616 after Cardinal Bellarmine had, on his orders, warned Galileo not to hold or defend theheliocentric ideas ofCopernicus. Whether there was also an order not to teach those ideas in any way has been a matter for controversy. A letter from Bellarmine to Galileo states only the injunction that the heliocentric ideas could not be defended or held; this letter was written expressly to enable Galileo to defend himself against rumors concerning what had happened in the meeting with Bellarmine.[7]
In 1618, aDecreto de Nuestro Sanctissimo Padre el Papa Paulo V. en favor dela Immaculada Concepción dela Sanctissima Virgen Madre de Dios y Señora Nuestra (Decree of our most holy father Pope Paul V in favor of the Immaculate Conception of the blessed Virgin Mary,..) was published in Lima, Peru.[8]
The pope created 60 cardinals in ten consistories held during his pontificate. He named his nephewScipione Borghese as a cardinal (continuing the trend of nepotism) and also named Alessandro Ludovisi, who would become his immediate successor,Pope Gregory XV, as a cardinal.
Paul's insistence of ecclesiastical jurisdiction led to a number of quarrels between the Church and the secular governments of various states, notablyVenice, where patricians, such as Ermolao Barbaro (1548–1622) of the nobleBarbaro family, argued in favor of the exemption of the clergy from the jurisdiction of the civil courts. Venice passed two laws obnoxious to Paul, one forbidding the alienation of real estate in favour of the clergy, the second demanding approval of the civil power for the building of new churches.[4] Two priests charged by the Venetian state with cruelty, wholesale poisoning, murder and licentiousness, were arrested by theVenetian Senate and put in dungeons for trial. Having been found guilty, they were committed to prison.[citation needed]
Paul V insisted that they be released to the Church. He demanded the release of the priests as not being amenable to the secular law. When this was refused, the Pope threatened aninterdict on account of the property laws and the imprisonment of ecclesiastics, which threat was presented to the Senate on Christmas 1605. The Venetian position was ably defended by a canon lawyer,Paolo Sarpi, who extended the matter to general principles defining separate secular and ecclesiastical spheres. In April 1606 the Popeexcommunicated the entire government of Venice and placed aninterdict on the city. Father Sarpi strongly advised the Venetian government to refuse to receive the Pope's interdict, and to reason with him while opposing force by force. The Venetian Senate willingly accepted this advice and Fra Paolo presented the case to Paul V, urging from history that the Pope's claim to intermeddle in civil matters was a usurpation; and that in these matters the Republic of Venice recognized no authority but that of God. The rest of the Catholic clergy sided with the city, with the exception of theJesuits, theTheatines, and theCapuchins. The dissenting clergy were forthwith expelled from Venetian territories.Masses continued to be said in Venice, and the feast ofCorpus Christi was celebrated with displays of public pomp and "magnificence", in defiance of the Pope. Within a year (March 1607) the disagreement was mediated byFrance andSpain. The Most Serene Republic refused to retract the laws, but asserted that Venice would conduct herself "with heraccustomed piety." The Jesuits, which Venice considered subversive Papal agents, remained banned. No more could be expected. Paul withdrew his censure.[citation needed]
The Venetian Republic rewarded Fra Paulo Sarpi, its successful canon lawyer, with the distinction of state counsellor in jurisprudence and the liberty of access to the state archives, which infuriated Pope Paul. In September 1607, after unsuccessfully attempting to lure Father Sarpi to Rome, the Pope responded by putting out a contract on his life.[10] Father Sarpi was the target of at least two assassination plots in September and October. Stabbed three times with astiletto,[11] Fra Sarpi somehow managed to recover, while the assassins found refuge in the Papal States.[12]
Paul V's hard-edged Catholic diplomacy cut the ground from under moderateCatholics inEngland. His letter of 9 July 1606 to congratulateJames I on his accession to the throne was three years late and seemed to English eyes merely a preamble to what followed, and his reference to theGunpowder Plot, made against the life of the monarch and all the members ofParliament the previous November, was unfortunate for the Papal cause, for Papal agents were considered by the English to have been involved (the effigy of Pope Paul V is still burnt every year during theLewes Bonfire celebrations). However, the Pope in that letter pleaded with James not to make the innocent Catholics suffer for the crime of a few, and Paul V also promised to exhort all the Catholics of the realm to be submissive and loyal to their sovereign—in all things not opposed to the honour of God. Theoath of allegiance James demanded of his subjects, however contained clauses to which no 17th-century Catholic could in conscience subscribe: the oath of allegiance was solemnly condemned in a brief published a matter of weeks later (22 September 1606, extended 23 August 1607). This condemnation served only to divide English Catholics. The other irritant (to the papacy) in English relations was Cardinal Bellarmine's letter to the English archpriestGeorge Blackwell, reproaching him for having taken the oath of allegiance in apparent disregard of his duty to the Pope. The letter received enough circulation to be referred to in one of James's theological essays (1608), and Bellarmine was soon fencing in a pamphlet exchange with the king of England.
Hasekura gave the Pope a letter (fromDate Masamune) which requested a trade treaty between Japan andNew Spain. The letter also asked for Christian missionaries to be sent to Japan. The Pope agreed to the dispatch of missionaries, but left the decision for trade to theKing of Spain.
Paul V died on 28 January 1621 of astroke in theQuirinal Palace and was succeeded as pope byPope Gregory XV. The pope had been ill for more than three months following a series of strokes, and died six hours following his last stroke the morning of his death. He was interred in the basilica ofSanta Maria Maggiore.
James I,De Triplici Nodo, Triplex Cuneus, (his anonymous pamphlet encouraging loyalty to the Crown, accompanied by letters from Paul V about the Catholic Church's opinion of the Oath of Allegiance, and James' responses to them).
Stephen A. Coston,King James VI & I and Papal Opposition, 1998.
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