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Pope Urban VII
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Urban VII | |
|---|---|
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| Birth name | Giovanni Battista Castagna |
| Papacy began | September 15, 1590 |
| Papacy ended | September 27, 1590 |
| Predecessor | Sixtus V |
| Successor | Gregory XIV |
| Born | August 4, 1521 Rome, Italy |
| Died | September 27, 1590 (aged 69) Rome, Italy |
| Other popes named Urban | |
| Styles of Pope Urban VIII |
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| Reference style | His Holiness |
| Spoken style | Your Holiness |
| Religious style | Holy Father |
| Posthumous style | His Holiness |
Pope Urban VII (August 4, 1521 – September 27, 1590), born Giovanni Battista Castagna, was Pope for thirteen days in September 1590. He was of Genoese origin, although born in Rome. He was chosen successor of Pope Sixtus V (1585–90) on September 15, 1590, but died of malaria (September 27, 1590) before consecration, making his either the shortest or second shortest papal reign in history, depending on whether Stephen II is considered a real Pope (he has not been so considered by the Catholic Church since 1961).
He had previously served as governor of Bologna and as archbishop of Rossano, and was for many years nuncio to Spain; his election to the papacy was largely backed by the Spanish faction.
Urban VII's short passage in office gave rise to the world's first known public smoking ban, as he threatened to excommunicate anyone who "took tobacco in the porchway of or inside a church, whether it be by chewing it, smoking it with a pipe or sniffing it in powdered form through the nose".
"Pope Urban VII" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.- The Death of the Popes by Wendy J. Reardon, 2004.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sixtus V |
Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Peter (deprecated A.D. 495), Vicar of Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles Supreme Pontiff (Pontifex Maximus) Patriarch of the West (deprecated 2006), Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province Servant of the Servants of God Pope 1590 |
Succeeded by Gregory XIV |