Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/643

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PAUL


581


PAUL


with the name of Farnese, all speak eloquently of the remarkable personality of the pontiff who turned the tide in favour of religion. If to this we add the favour accorded by Paul to the new religious orders then ap- pearing, the Capuchins, Barnabites, Theatines, Jes- uits, Ursulines, and many others, we are forced to con- fess that his reign was one of the most fruitful in the annals of the Church.

Panvinius, Pont. Romanorum vita:; Pallavicini, Concilio di Tre?Uo: Pastor, Gesch. der P&pste, V; Eh.ses, Concilium Triden- tinum, V: voN Ranke. Hist, of the Popes in the XVI-XVIII Centuries; Artaud de Montor, Hist, of the Popes (New York, 1867).

James F. Loughlin.

Paul IV, Pope (Giovanni Pietro Caraffa), b. near Benevento, 28 June, 1476; elected 2.3 May, 1555; d. 18 Aug., 1559. The Caraffa were one of the most illustrious of the noble families of Naples, and had given distinguished scions to Church and State. The name of Cardinal Oliviero Caraffa recurs frequently in the history of the pajjacy during the days of the Re- naissance. One of the great cardinal's merits was that of superintending the training of his young relative, Giovanni Pietro, whom he introduced to the papal Court in 1494, and in whose favour he resigned the See of Chieti (in Latin, Thealc). from which word he was thenceforward known as Thcatinus. Leo X sent him on an embassy to England and retained him for some years as nuncio in Spain. His residence in Spain served to accentuate that detestation of Spanish rule in his native land which characterized his public pohcy (luring his pontificate. From early childhood he led a lilamf'les.s life; and that longing for asceticism which had prompted him to seek admission into the Domin- ican and the Camaldolese Orders asserted itself in 1524 when he persuaded Clement VII, though with difficulty, to accept the resignation of his benefices and permit him to enter the congregation of clerics regular founded by St. Cajetan, but popularly named "The- atines", after Caraffa, their first general. The young congregation suffered more than its share during the sack of Rome in 1527, and its few members retired to Venice. But the sharp intellect of Paul III had per- ceived the importance of the institute in his projected reform of the clergy, and he suniiiioncil the Theatines back to Rome. Caraffa was jjlaci d by the pontiff on the committee named to outline the project of reform of the papal Court; and on 22 Dec, 1536 he was created cardinal with the title of San Pancrazio. Later he was made Archbishop of Naples; but, owing to the emperor's distrust and fear of him. it was only with difficulty he could maintain his episcopal rights. Although Caraffa %vas highly educated and surpassed most of his contemporaries in the knowledge of Tireek and Hebrew, still he remained throughout medieval in life and thought. His favourite author was St. Thomas Aquinas. The few (ipiiscula which he found time to write were Scholastic in character. For the party of Pole, Contarini, and iMorone he had the most heartfelt detestation; and liis elevation boded them no hapjiiness. Caraffa was the h<\id and front of every cITort made by Paid III in the interest of re- form. He reorganized the Inqui.sition in Italy on papal lines and for a generation was the terror of misbeliev- ers. How so austere a person could be chosen pope was a mystery to everyone, especially to himself. "I have never conferred a favour on a human being", he said. It is most likely that the octogenarian would have refused the dignity, were it not that the emper- or's agent. Cardinal iVIendoza, had pronounced de- cidedly that Charles would not permit Caraffa to be pope. This was to challenge every principle for which the aged cardinal had stood during his long career. He was elected in spite of the emperor, and for four years held aloft the banner of the independence of Italy. Historians seem to be unjust towards Paul IV. That unbending Italian patriot, born whilst Italy was


"a lyre with four strings", Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, was certainly justified in using the pres- tige of the papacy to preserve some relics of liberty for his native country. 'The Austrian and Spanish Habs- burgers treated Paul IV with studied contempt, and thus forced him to enter an alliance with France. Neither in the matter of the succession to the empire nor in the conclusion of the religious peace were the interests of the Holy See consulted in the slightest degree.

Paul IV elevated to the cardinalate his nephew Carlo Caraffa, a man utterly unworthy and without any ecclesiastical training, and enriched other rela- tives with benefices and estates taken from those who favoured the Spaniards. At the end of the unfortunate war with Philip II the aged pope lost faith in his nephews and banished them from the Court. Still more disastrous were his relations with England, which had been reconciled to Rome by Mary, and Cardinal Pole. Paul IV refused to sanction Pole's settlement in regard to the confiscated goods of the Church, and demanded restitution. Pole himself was relieved by the pontiff of his legatine office and ordered to come to Rome to stand before the Inquisition. LTpon the death of Mary and Pole, he rejected Elizabeth's claim to the crown, on the ground that she was of illegiti- mate birth. His activity was more fruitful in the spiritual concerns of the Church. He could boast that no day passed without seeing a new decree of reform. He made the Inquisition a powerful engine of govern- ment, and was no respecter of persons. The great Cardinal Morone was brought before the tribimal on suspicion of heresy and committed to prison. Paul established the hierarchy in the Netherlands and in the Orient.

The pontificate of Paul IV was a great disappoint- ment. He who at the beginning was honoured by a public statue, lived to see it thrown down and muti- lated by the hostile populace. He was buried in St. Peter's 19 Aug., 1559, and was later transferred to S. Maria sopra Minerva.

Lives by CARAft-ioLl andBROMATO: voN Ranke. tfis^ o/(Ae Popes in the X VI-X VIII Centuries; Reumont, Gesch. der Stadt Rom; Artaud de Montor, History of the Popes (New York, IS67).

James F. Lodghlin.

Paul V, Pope (Camillo Borghese), b. at Rome, 17 Sept., 1550; elected 16 May, 1605; d. 28 Jan., 1621. Although proud to call himself, as we read on the facade of St. Peter's and on his epitaph, a Roman, Borghese was descended from a noble family of Siena which held important po-sitions in that city, and claimed St. Catherine for a relative. Their removal to Rome was caused by the endless disturbances which made life in Siena unbearable. Camillo was carefully trained in jurisprudence at Perugia and Padua, and becnmc a ciiimnist of marked ability. He rose in the C(•(■lr^i,■l^li,■;ll ,■.■, IV, T >l , ■:!. Ill V, if ncil i'miiLIIv; in l.-)96he w:i.s iii,Hlee:,i.|in.il bv < ■l.iiiciil V 1 1 1 , :iii(l becviiiie Car- dmal-\ icar of Uonie. He held aloof from all parties and factions, devoting all his spare time to his law- books. In consequence, on the death of Leo XI, all eyes were centred on him, and he ascended the papal throne without engagement or obligation of any sort. His legal training was soon visible in all his words and actions. He knew nothing of compromises, and pro- ceeded to rule the Church not from the standpoint of diplomacy but from the decretals. He conceived it his duty to maintain inviolate every right and claim advanced by his predecessors. This made his charac- ter at times assume a very stern and uncompromis- ing aspect. His first public act was to send home to their sees the prelates and even the cardinals who were sojourning at Rome upon one or other pretext. The Council of Trent had cleclared it a grave sin for a bishop to be an absentee. That he was engaged in Rome doing the business of the Holy See made no dif- ference. Paul was soon involved in controversy with