Popes Flashcards
St. Gregory I
“The Great” 590-604
64th Pope.
Family was wealthy, 2 pope ancestors. Became a monk, studied a lot. Was forcibly elected Pope and grew to be a very good one. Energetic and Practical.
Julius II
1503-1513
The 216th pope
Best known for commissioning Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel, was far from virtuous. He frequently traded absolution of sins for monetary wealth.
Leo X
1513-1521
217th Pope
Became cardinal at 13 years old. Enjoyed easy lifestyle, was an avid hunter. Condemned 41 errors of Martin Luther in the bull Exsurge Domine of 1520.
Excommunicated Martin Luther
Clement VII
1523-1534
219th Pope
Illegitimate but declared legitimate and created cardinal. Commanded Sack of Rome in 1527 because of bad relationships with Charles V. Refused to let Henry VIII divorce Catherine of Aragon.
Paul III
1534-1549
220th Pope
Fathered 4 children under a wife and mistresses. Loved carnivals. Fathered the Jesuits. Established Congregation of the Roman Inquisition to destroy heresy. Commissioned Michelangelo’s “Last Judgement”.
Paul V
1605-1621
233rd Pope
“Proud Roman”. Oversaw many projects in Rome: St. Peter’s Basilica, Trajan Aqueducts, enrichment of the Vatican Library. Art Collector, rich and powerful.
Urban VIII
1623-1644
235th Pope
Unpopular Pope: gave jobs and positions to his family (nepotist), bad translator of Latin verses. The best thing he did was appointing Bernini to construct the new St. Peter’s Basilica.
Innocent X
1644-1655
236th Pope
Opposed by France. Unattractive. Lived a blameless life, but was still suspicious and uncertain. No one wanted to pay for his funeral.
Pius VII
1800-1823
250th Pope
Servant of God (Investigation for Sainthood)
Forced to sign a concordant with Bonaparte in 1801. Went to Paris to coronate Napoleon Bonaparte but was rudely treated and therefore Bonaparte crowned himself. Was generous to Bonaparte’s family at his fall.
Pius IX
1846-1878
255th Pope
Blessed
Papal States seized his land. He was a great church leader, but politically not. In 1856 he defined the dogma of Immaculate Conception, and in 1870 the Papal Infallibility.
Pope Alexander VI
1492 - 1503
214th Pope
A Spanish-born pontiff from the powerful Borgia family. Libertine behavior and nepotism, his uncle was Pope Callixtus III, Had three children and multiple mistresses. When he died, his body rapidly decomposed and bloated, leading to suspicions of poisoning.
St. Leo I (St. Leo the Great)
440 - 461
The 45th pope.
Helped spare the Romans from Atilla the Hun in 452, stopping him from conquering the city.
St. John XXIII
1958 - 1963
the 261st pope
Responsible for organizing the Second Vatican Council. Initiated reforms in Catholic doctrine on the relation to those of other faiths and human rights.
Francis
213 - Present
The 266th pope.
Set a number of ‘firsts’ for the Catholic Church. He is the first pope elected from outside of Europe, hailing from Argentina.
St. John Paul II
1978 - 2005
264th Pope
Canonized in 2014, the 264th pope. Set a record for the fastest progress to sainthood in Catholic history.
St. Gregory VII
The 157th pope.
Continued his predecessor’s work of purging corruption from the clergy. The pope repeatedly excommunicated Henry IV of Germany.
Sabinian
the 65th pope.
Not as generous as his predecessor. Most noted for his refusal to provide the poor with food from the papal granaries.
Nicholas II
The 155th pope.
Reformed the process of papal elections by investing sole power of selection to the Cardinals in an attempt to curtail the influence of political factions.
Stephen VI
The 113th pope.
Exhumed the body of his predecessor Formosus, and held a trial against him. The unwilling clergy in attendance later strangled him.
St. Peter
30/33 – 64/68
1st Pope
Served as one of the Twelve Apostles. Catholics consider him the first pope, citing Matthew 16:18, ‘Now I say to you that you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.’
Benedict XVI
2005 - 2013
The 265th pope.
The first pope to renounce his position since Celestine V in 1294. After renouncing his position, his title became Pope Emeritus.
St. Agatho
678 - 681
the 79th pope.
Oldest Pope Ever Elected
Believed to be a Benedictine monk before his election. Was over one-hundred years old when he began his reign.
Paul III
1534 - 1549
The 220th pope.
Organized the Council of Trent to address the abuses and return the Church to faithfulness and purity. He excommunicated Henry VIII of England.
Clement V
1305 - 1314
195th Pope
He then moved his court from its home in Rome, Italy to Avignon, France. Clement was the first of seven French popes who would reside in France from 1309 to 1379.
Initiated the persecution of the Knights Templar with the bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae under pressure from King Philip IV of France.
Gregory XI
1370 - 1378
201st Pope
Moved the papal court back to Rome in 1377, hoping to gain more control over papal land. Gregory died shortly after the move, and, under the influence of a threatening crowd, an Italian pope, Urban VI, was elected. The last French pope.
Urban VI
1378 - 1389
202nd Pope
Western Schism
An unpopular choice among the French cardinals, who elected their own pope, Clement VII, who took up residence back in Avignon.
Antipope Clement VII
1378 - 1394
1st Antipope
Western Schism
He was a leader of the cardinals who declared the unpopular Italian pope Urban VI’s election invalid, and he was chosen antipope at Fondi, Papal States, as Clement VII on Sept. 20, 1378.
Martin V
1417 - 1431
206th Pope
Elected in 1417 and took up residence in Rome.
Ended the Western Schism.
Innocent III
1198 - 1216
176th Pope
Convened the Fourth Council of the Lateran, 1215. Initiated the Fourth Crusade but later distanced himself from it and threatened participants with excommunication when it became clear that the leadership abandoned a focus on conquest of the Holy Land and instead intended to sack Christian cities
Urban II
1088 - 1087
159th Pope
Called for the first Crusade
