Born to the esteemed Barberini family of Florence, which had produced many popes, Urban VIII (1568 - 1644) enjoyed a lengthy but controversial pontificate marred by war, nepotism, and anti-intellectualism. A complicated man, he was also a patron to artists, canonized a number of saints, and extended the papal territory. On his participation during the Thirty Years War, the Barberini pope remains a conundrum.

Educated by his Mother

Maffeo was born to the esteemed Florentine Barberini family in 1568. His father, Antonio (who died when Barberini was only three), and mother, Camilla Barbadoro, were both of the nobility. Barberini was educated by his mother, who later took him to Rome to begin his philosophical studies under his uncle Francis Barberini, "apostolical protonotary," a title denoting a member of the first college of prelates of the Roman Curia.

Continuing his formal education with the Jesuits at their leading seminary, the Collegio Romano, Barberini graduated from Pisa in 1589 with a doctorate in law. He returned to Rome, where Pope Clement VIII (1592) made him governor of Fano, then protonotary. In 1601, as nuncio to the French court, Barberini traveled to France to congratulate Henry IV on the birth of his son, the future Louis XIII. During his years of service he gained influence in the French court, and in 1606 Pope Paul V (1605 - 1621) named him cardinal.

Transferred in 1608 from Montorio to the See of Spoleto, Barberini completed the seminary there and built two additional ones at Spello and Visso. In 1617 Paul V appointed him legate of Bologna. In July 1623, Barberini joined fifty-four other cardinals to elect a successor to Gregory XV. Barberini garnered fifty of those votes.

Became Urban VIII

Barberini took the name Urban VIII. The coronation, however, was postponed for nearly two months as Barberini battled the fever epidemic that had struck Rome. It is said that he prayed to be left to die if his leadership would not be of benefit the Church.

On his first day in the office of pope he issued Bulls of canonization for three saints: Philip Neri, Ignatius Loyola, and Francis Xavier. During his reign he canonized Elizabeth of Portugal (1925) and Andrew Corsini (1629), and beatified eight saints. In 1625, Urban VIII codified the regulations for beatification. He restricted, for example, the depiction of haloes to images of those beatified or canonized. Urban VIII also condemned the book Augustinus, the posthumous work of Dutch theologian Cornelius Jansen, who believed in predestination, which was in opposition to the Jesuits' beliefs.

The literary interests of his youth found expression in his writing of numerous hymns, Scriptural paraphrases, and revisions of the breviary. A book of Latin verse written while he was a cardinal, Maphei Cardinalis Barberini poemata, was published in 1637. But of all his proclamations, one in particular would have enormous historical impact.

Befriended, then Rejected Galileo

Urban VIII was initially enthusiastic about the scientific discoveries of Galileo, who dedicated his 1623 work on comets, Il Saggiatore (The Assayer), to his patron, friend, and pope, Urban VIII. While still a cardinal, Urban VIII had supported Galileo one evening at court as Galileo challenged Cardinal Gonzaga on a scientific question regarding floating bodies. And after ascending the throne, Urban VIII summoned Galileo to Rome, promising him that he could continue to write about Copernican theory, which put the sun rather than the Earth at the center of the universe, as long as he treated it as a mathematical hypothesis.

When Galileo published Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World, in 1632, however, the pope had a change in attitude. It is often suggested that the pope felt mocked by Galileo's Dialogue, rather than intellectually disagreed with its premises (Galileo has a character named Simplicio make the Church's official argument). Despite his ill health and the plague lingering just outside the city's gates, Urban VIII summoned Galileo from Florence to Rome. In Rome, Galileo was interrogated by the Inquisition, the part of the Catholic Church responsible for investigating possible heresies.

The Papal Court of the Inquisition found Galileo's work went against Church doctrine and thus seemed to question God's omnipotence. Having been found "vehemently suspect of heresy, namely of having held and believed a doctrine that is false and contrary to the divine and Holy Scripture," as the Inquisition wrote, Galileo was condemned by the pope and exiled to Siena, where he lived the rest of his life under house arrest.

Urban VIII rejected all pleas to have Galileo exonerated. Galileo died in 1642. Over 350 years later, the Church issued a pardon for the scientist, diminishing centuries of accusations that the Church was opposed to scientific inquiry.

Extended the Papal Reign

Under Urban VIII, Catholic foreign missions flourished. He provided enormous financial assistance for missionary work, enlarged the bailiwick of the Congregation of Propaganda, and in 1627 created the Collegium Urbanum, whose purpose was to train missionaries for work in foreign countries.

One of the pope's most conspicuous weaknesses was his nepotism. Less than a week after his installation as pope, Urban named his nephew Francesco Barberini cardinal, then Vatican librarian, and in 1632, vice chancellor. Another nephew, Antonio, became cardinal in 1627, then commander-in-chief of the pope's army, and legate at Avignon, Urbino, Bologna, Ferrara, and Romagna. Taddeo Barberini, a third nephew, was created Prince of Palestrina and Prefect of Rome. The pope's brother (also named Antonio) became a cardinal in 1628. Additional members of the family won gifts of land and titles.

Urged by his nephews into a war with the Duke of Parma over a petty incident of protocol, in January 1642 Urban VIII excommunicated the duke and took control of his fiefs. Allied with Modena, Tuscany, and Venice, the duke marched on Rome and ousted the papal troops. Peace was declared, but Urban VIII refused to yield. The following year hostilities erupted once more, and by March 1644 the pope, humiliated, was forced to accept the peace.

Urban VIII spent lavishly on military fortifications, building a munitions factory at Tivoli, creating a military port at Civitavecchia, and erecting numerous forts along Rome's Tiber river. He also built numerous churches, monasteries and papal villas, and enhanced the city with a variety of civic beautification projects. Appreciative of the arts, Urban VIII hired the brilliant Baroque sculptor and architect Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598 - 1680) to create the baldachin over the high altar at the Basilica of St. Peter, the Triton fountain in the Piazza Barberini in Rome, and his own famous tomb at St. Peter's.

War-Time Pontificate

Despite the raging of the Thirty Years War throughout Europe, a war that would last throughout his pontificate, Urban VIII was strangely remote and loathe to actively, zealously take the side of the Catholic Hapsburgs. Though the war began as a battle between Catholics and Protestants in Germany, it eventually spread throughout central Europe transforming itself into a struggle for dominance, and for Germany, by the powerful Hapsburg family of Austria and Spain.

The battle was critical for the Catholic Church, yet Urban VIII gave little support to the Catholic Hapsburgs. It has been suggested that Urban felt menaced by the powerful Hapsburgs and therefore failed to adequately assist the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II in his war against Sweden's Gustavus Adolphus and the remaining Protestants. When France entered the fray, the pope had the option of excommunicating Louis XIII and his minister Richelieu, yet he refrained from doing so. By the end of his reign as pope, the Catholic Counterreformation had definitely subsided.

Urban VIII died July 29, 1644.

Online

Calvinists and Jansenists, www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/2961/jansen1.htm (February 28, 2006).

Catholic Encyclopedia, www.newadvent.org/ (February 28, 2006).

Columbia Encyclopedia, http://aol.bartleby.com/ (February 28, 2006).

Institute and Museum of the History of Science-Florence, http://galileo.imss.firenze.it/ (February 28, 2006).

Papal Library, www.saint-mike.org/ (February 28, 2006).

Rice University Electronic Studios, http://es.rice.edu/ (February 28, 2006).

Web Gallery of Art, http://www.wga.hu/index1.html (February 28, 2006).

1568–1644, pope (1623–44), a Florentine named Maffeo Barberini; successor of Gregory XV. Throughout his pontificate the Thirty Years War raged in Germany. For various political reasons, Urban gave little help to the Catholics. The old story that Urban rejoiced at Protestant victories because he hated the Hapsburgs is, however, false. His policy in Italy was unsuccessful, and he was humiliated by defeat at the hands of the Farnese of Parma.

Urban was very active in church affairs: he published the revised breviary, normalized liturgical practice, canonized many saints, instituted new orders, and continued the reformation of the church. He built and decorated extensively in Rome. Urban sanctioned the second condemnation of Galileo for his support of the Copernican theory that placed the sun, rather than the earth, at the center of the universe, but later freed him. He condemned the posthumous work of Cornelis Jansen, Augustinus. Urban's strict legislation against easy acceptance of miracles is still in effect. He was succeeded by Innocent X.

Urban VIII (POPE) (Maffeo Barberini; 1568–1644; reigned 1623–1644), Italian pope. After studies at Jesuit schools in Florence and Rome, he read law in Pisa (doctorate "in utroque jure" [both canon and civil law] in 1588), and entered the Roman prelature, backed by his uncle Francesco Barberini. He worked at the Signatura Tribunal, becoming prothonotary apostolic upon his uncle's resignation (1593) and then clerk of the Apostolic Chamber (1599). In 1592, his countryman Clement VIII appointed him governor of Fano, sending him later on important diplomatic missions. In 1604, he was consecrated titular archbishop of Nazareth and sent as nuncio to Paris. In this capacity, he was able to gain support for the Jesuits in France, but could not secure acceptance of the Tridentine decrees. Created cardinal by Paul V in 1606, he returned to Rome (1607), soon to be appointed bishop of Spoleto, a charge he held until 1617, adding for a time (1611–1614) the legation to Bologna. In both positions, he showed himself a strict administrator and a diligent reformer. In 1617, he resigned his diocese and returned to Rome as prefect of the Signatura Tribunal. A member of several important Roman congregations, he was also active in the intellectual and artistic circles of the city. His election to the papacy in the summer of 1623 was the result of a compromise between the different factions that supported stronger candidates, although he was perceived as favorable to France.

Soon after his elevation to the see of Peter, he manifested his intention to take charge as both a spiritual and a secular leader. This he achieved through nepotism, elevating to the cardinalate his brother Antonio and his nephews Francesco and Antonio, and giving administrative positions to his brother, Carlo, and his nephew Taddeo. As "Cardinal Nephew," administrator of the pontifical state, Francesco Barberini was to exert a great influence under the strict control of his uncle. Urban VIII was an absolute pope who wanted to ignore the college of cardinals, which he viewed as overly influenced by European powers (to compensate, the cardinals received the title of "Eminence" in 1630). In order to foster the independence of the Holy See, he strengthened the Papal States, building the stronghold of Castelfranco near Bologna, reinforcing Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, and fortifying Civitavecchia's harbor. He was able to annex (1625–1631) the duchy of Urbino; however, his attempt to take over neighboring territories in Parma and Piacenza were thwarted by an Italian coalition (1644) that forced him to surrender the cities of Castro and Montalto, which had been occupied by papal forces in 1641.

Urban VIII's pontificate coincided with the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). From the beginning of his pontificate, he had attempted to maintain a strict neutrality between the Habsburg and the Bourbons (Valtelline War, 1624–1626, War of the Mantuan Succession, 1627–1631) as "Common Father" of all Catholics. During the war in Germany, he refused to support the imperial armies, seeking through his representatives to influence and control the process of re-Catholicization. Only in 1632 did he intervene by offering limited financial support and seeking diplomatic action. But the Holy See's efforts were hindered by the French alliance with Protestant powers and Urban's rejection of direct negotiation with heretics; on the eve of his death, the pope was able to foster a peace conference at Münster (1644).

On the religious level, Urban VIII took several important decisions. Probably the most famous one was to have his former friend Galileo Galilei prosecuted by the Roman Inquisition in 1633. He had to recant his heliocentric theories and was kept under house arrest until his death in 1642. By the bull In Eminenti, dated 1642, but published in 1643, Urban initiated a series of papal interventions in the Jansenist conflict, proscribing both Cornelius Jansenius' book Augustinus and the Jesuit theses that attacked it. The Barberini pope is associated with the reform of the liturgical books (Breviary, Martyrologium, Missal, Pontifical); by revising the beatification and canonization processes he rendered sainthood more difficult to achieve. Urban VIII strengthened and expanded the competence of the De Propaganda fide congregation, giving his name to the college established to educate priests for mission territories.

More a prince than a pastor, Urban VIII was criticized during his lifetime for his visions of grandeur as manifested in the art work he commissioned (exemplified by Bernini's baldachin in St. Peter's). He was above all a political pope, whose goal was the independence of the Holy See through a strong papal state and active diplomacy. This goal was not achieved because of Urban VIII's resistance to confessional divisions in Europe and his deep misgivings about Habsburg Spain and Germany.

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—JACQUES M. GRES-GAYER

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