URBAN
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URBAN
a rule, followed his own judgment; even his nephews
had Uttle influence during the first ten years of his
pontificate. He honoured the cardinals by ordering
them to give precedence only to crowned heads, and
in a Decree of 10 June, 1630, bestowed upon them the
title of "Eminence", their former title having been
"Illustrious and Most Reverend". In 1626 he
extended the Papal territory by inducing the aged
Duke Francesco Maria della Rovere to cede his Duchy
of Urbino to the Church. Towards the end of his
pontificate his nephews involved him in a useless war
with Odoardo Farnese, the Duke of Parma, with
whom they had quarrelled on questions of etiquette
during his visit to Rome in 1639. In revenge they
induced Urban to prohibit the exportation of grain
from Castro into the Roman territory, thus depriv-
ing Farnese of an income without which he could not
pay the interest on his monii, or bonds. The duke's
creditors complained to the pope, who took forcible
possession of Castro, 13 October, 1641, in order to
assure the payment. This proved ineffective, and
on 13 January, 1642, Urban excommunicated Farnese
and deprived him of all his fiefs. Backed by Tuscany,
Modena, and Venice, the duke set out towards Rome
at the head of about 3000 horsemen, putting to flight
the papal troops. Peace negotiations were concluded
near Orvieto, but not accepted by the pope. In 1643
hostilities were renewed and continued without deci-
sive success until the pope finally concluded a dis-
graceful peace on 31 March, 1644. He was obliged
to free the duke from the ban and restore all the
places taken by the papal troops.
Urban spent heavy sums on armaments, fortifica- tions, and structures of every kind. At Castelfranco he erected the costly but unfavourably situated Fort Urbano, established an extensive manufactory of arms at Tivoli, and transformed Civitavecchia into a military port. He strongly fortified the Castel of Sant' Angelo, Monte Cavallo, and built various for- tifications on the right side of the Tiber in Rome. He erected the beautifully situated papal villa at Castle Gandolfo, founded the Vatican Seminary, built va- rious churches and monasteries, beautified streets, piazzas, and fountains. The three bees in his escutcheon attract the attention of every observant visitor in Rome. In the Basilica of St. Peter he erected the baldachin over the high altar, the tomb of Countess Matilda, translating her remains from Mantua, and his own tomb, opposite that of Paul III. For some of these structures he used bronze from the roof of the Pantheon, thus causing the well- known but unwarranted pasquinade: "Quod non fecerunt Barbari, fecerunt Barberini."
The pontificate of Urban extended over one of the most critical periods in the history of the Catholic Church, the Thirty Years War. Ranke and Gre- gorovius (see bibliography) attribute Urban's actions in this war to his intention to humiliate the two Houses of Habsburg (Austria and Spain), whose too great power was a constant menace to Italy and Rome; hence^ they declare, he favoured France and did not subsidize Emperor Ferdinand II in his war against Gustavus .'Vdolphus and the Protestants. An imbias.sed study of the situation will lead to a dif- ferent conchision. Neither as pontiff nor as tem- poral ruler coidd Ilrban remain a disinterested on- looker, and he had no other motive than the welfare of the Catholic Church. As the common Father of Christendom he interj'osed concerning the Val- tellina, a strategically important valley between Venice and the Cirisons, which was eagerly coveted by France as well as Spain. He refused to join the alliance which France had made with Venice and Savoy against Spain in 1624, and was instrumental in bringing about the Treaty of Monzon, !\ March, 1626, which g,'ive equal rights upon the Valtellina (o France and Spain. He also refusc(l to enter the league which
France had concluded with Venice and Savoy at the
beginning of the war of the Mantuan succession in
1629. "It is impossible for me", he WTites to Nagni,
the French nuncio, 2 April, 1629, "to put in jeopardy
the common fatherhood and, in consequence, to be
no longer able to heal and pacify, which is the proper
business of the pope as the vicar of Christ" (Nunzia-
tura di Francia, Vat. Lib. Cod. 71, and Nicolletti,
III, 1451-58).
Equally false are the accusations of Ranke and Gregorovius that Urban opposed the ekct ion of Fer- dinand's oldest son as King of Rome and advocated the dismissal of Wallenstein as commander-in-chief of the imperial army through his nuncio at the Electoral Diet of Ratisbon in 1630. The first accusation was already branded as a calumny by Cardinal Francesco Barberini in a conference with the imperial ambassa- dor Savelli on 16 March, 1629 (Nunziatura di Ger- mania. Cod. 118, fol. 89); the second is refuted by Urban himself, who on 17 January, 1632, congratu- lated WaUenstein on his reassumption of the command and sent him the Apostohc blessing (Registrum bre- vium, XXXI, 87). It is, however, true that Urban did not subsidize the imperial army and the Catholic League as liberally as he could and should have done. Nevertheless, he sent (1632-34) two million francs out of his own means to the Catholic troops in Germany. Urban did not join the League of the Catholic Estates, which was planned by the emperor, as the League was directed not only against Gustavus Adolphus, but also against France; hence it could not be joined by the pope as the common father of Catholics. He urged Louis XIII and Richelieu to desist from subsi- dizing the King of Sweden, but refused to excommuni- cate them, as he feared a repetition of what had occurred in England under Henry VIII and Eliza- beth (Nunziatura di Germania, Cod. 127, fol. 266).
The greatest calumny that has been spread about Urban is his alleged sympathy wiih Gustavus Adol- phus, whose death he is said to have mourned and for whose soul he is said to have celebrated a Requiem Mass. What Urban thought of the Swedish king and how he mourned his death is manifest from a Brief, addressed to Ferdinand on 14 Dec, 1632, when the i)ope received the news that Gusta\-us Adolphus had fallen in liattle (16 Nov., 1632). The Brief is published in the original Latin by Ehses (see bibliog- raphy). Tlie following quotation will suffice: "We give eternal thanks to the Lord of vengeance because he rendered retribution to the proud and shook from the neck of the Cathohcs their most bitter enemy." The Mass which he is said to have celebrated in the German National Church, the Anima, at Rome on 11 Dec, was in reality a Mass of thanksgiving, of which Alaleone, the papal master of ceremonies, says expressly: "This Mass was celebrated in thanksgiv- ing upon receiving the message of the death of the King of Sweden" (Cod. Vat. 9252, II, 71 sq.). On the next day the "Te Deum" was sung in the Sistine Chapel in presence of the pope, "ob tetitiam necis regis Sueciie interfecti", after which the pope himself chanted the versieles and orations (ibid.).
It is as yet difficult to pa.ss a correct judgment on Urban from every point of view. His life remains still to be written fairly. His private life was beyond all reproach, and the common welfare of the Church seems to have been the mainsjiring of his pontifical labours. His one fault was sciuandering money on his nephews, army, and fortifications, while .stinting Ferdinand and the C^atholic I^'ague in Germany.
NiroLETTI, Vila di Papa Vrbano VIIT' sloria drl sua pontifi- calo (8 \-o\k. of 1400-l.>nO pOROs oach), MS. in Vatican Library, Collection Barberini, consists of a compilation of despatches of the papal nunciature. BuUarium romanum, XIII-XV (Turin. ISfiS); RegislTum brennm, quo- a S. D. N. Vrbano PP. VIII ad jyrinripen scripla sunt in Vatican Library, Collection B.arberini; KlEWNlNO. Nunlialurhericlile aus DetilsrHanrl. IV (Berlin. 1895- 97), 1-2; Hanke, Rdm. Papsle. tr. Foster. II (Londcn. 1906), 241-94; GRKOOBovins, Urban VIII im Widerapruch zu Spanier)
