GREGORY. 



GiTEOonY XV., popi<, dofceiidcd from a noble family at 

 Bologna, and named bcfoi-e his clertion, Aloxandcr Lndo- 

 vifi, was born in the year i^SA- ^^^ "'■''^ educated among 

 the Jefnitsut Rome, and then roturned to Bologna, where lie 

 lludlcd the civil law, and took his degree of dodtor in that 

 faculty. Having attained this literary honour, he went 

 back to Rome, where he acquired the friendlliip of three 

 popes, WK. Gregory XIV , Clement VIII., and Patd V., of 

 whom the lull appointed him archbilhop of Bologna, and fent 

 him out as nuncio to adjull fome differences which had taken 

 place between the Spaniards and the duke of Savoy. For 

 his able conduct in this difficult buiinefs he was promoted to 

 the rank of cardinal. On his return he refided on liis diocefe 

 till the death of his patron Paul, in 162 1, when he went 

 into conclave with the otlier cardinals, and was almoll uiia- 

 nimoully chofeu pope, and afl'umed the name of Gregory XV. 

 Where his own particular fcntiments were not immediately 

 concerned, he was a man of mild manners and very humane 

 difpofition, but the whole of his papacy was marked with a 

 violent excefs of zeal and bigotry againft the Proteftants. 

 As the Hugonots of France had, by the violation of the 

 cdi6l of Nantz, been driven to take up arms in their own 

 defence, he wrote to Lewis XIII., exhorting him, by every 

 argument in his power, to dellroy or extirpate them; and to 

 prove the extent of his zeal, he accompanied the letter with 

 a bull, intended to animate the Papills in their fanguinary 

 and favagc undertaking. He next publiflied a bull, prefcrib- 

 ing a new form in the election of a pope, by which the 

 cardinals were allowed to give their fuftragcs fecretly, by 

 vay of I'crutiny, by which lie intended to prevent the chiefs 

 of parties from iiaving fo great an influence in future elettions. 

 As a politician, he lupported, to the utnioll of his power, 

 the emperor Ferdinand II. and Maximilian, duke of Bavaria, 

 againil the elector palatine of the Rhine, fon-in-iaw of 

 James I. of Great-Britain : by his aid they were enabled 

 to conquer the palatinate, an event that gratified liim as well 

 by the injury which it did to the interefts of the reformed 

 religion in Germany, as by the lliare which it gave him in 

 the Ipoil of the valuable library of Heidelberg, a part of 

 which was transferred to tiie Vatican. He alio attempted 

 the deilruCtion of Calvinifm, by endeavouring to perfuade 

 Lewis XIII. to allow the duke of Savoy to feize upon 

 Geneva, the nurfery of that fylU-m ; but in this objeft he 

 xvas difappointed. He was likewife unfuccefsfiil in an at- 

 tempt which he made to reinllatc the Jefuits at Venice, from 

 whence they had been banifhed during the pontilicate of 

 Paul V. In 1622 the Turks invaded ioland with a formi- 

 dable army ; to reiift their power, Gregory fent immenfe 

 fupjilies of money to Sigifmund, by which he was enabled 

 to with Hand the barbarian power, and finally to gain a fi"-nal 

 vidfory over them. About the fame time the pope infli- 

 tuted the famous college, " De propaganda tide," and en- 

 dowed it with ample revenues for the maintenance of perfons 

 to be educated for foreign niilfions. Gregory endeavoured 

 to turn to his own purpofe the intended marriage between 

 the prince of Wales, fon of James I. and the infanta of 

 Spain : he refufed to grant a difpeufation for the marriage, 

 but upon very fevere conditions, to all wliich James feenicd 

 willing to fubmit, when the affair was fuddenly fufpended 

 by the pope's death, wliich happened in 1623, after he had 

 filled the papal lee about two years and a half. He was 

 the author of lome literary produdtions, which have been 

 loft, likewife of " Epillola ad Regem Perfarum Schah 

 Abbas, cum notis Hegalfoni ;" and " The Decilion of the 

 Rota.'" He is highly commended for his piety and great 

 learning, particularly in canon law, and for his charity to 

 the fick and poor. He was, in a certain degree, the encou- 



rager and patron of learning, and when his nepliew, cardinal 

 Ludovifi, had formed a kind of literary academy in his pa- 

 lace, he was frequently prcfent at their meetings, and did all 

 in his power to promote the extenfion of fcience and ufeful 

 learning. He was a great friend to the Jefuits, and canon- 

 ized their founder, Francis Xavier, and by him the fee of 

 Paris was withdrawn from fubjeclion to that of Sens, and 

 eredlcd into an archbifliopric. Moreri. Univer. Hill. Bower. 

 GitKGOiiY of Neo-Ca;fare3, furnamed Thaumaturgiis, or 

 Wonder-worker, from the miracles which he pretended to 

 perform, was born at Neo-Cjefarea, in Pontus, ;:nd flourilhed 

 in the third century ; he is tifually ftyled a faint, and was 

 known, before his converfion to Chnftianity from Paganifm, 

 by the name of Theodorus. His father was a zealot for 

 the principles in wliich he educated his fon, but he caufed 

 him to be inftrudtcd in the elements of ufeful and ornamental 

 learning. He provided for him the moft able tutors, one of 

 whom earneftly recommended to his pupil the ftudy of the 

 Roman law, as what might be highly advantageous to him in 

 future hfc. With this advice he complied, and made himfelf 

 mafter of the principles of the fcience. Having laid the found- 

 ation of learning at home, he fet out upon his travels. In 

 Phcenicia he endeavoured to improve his knowledge of law 

 under the celebrated profeffors of that fcience who refided 

 there. He had a filler married to a lawyer in high elleem with 

 the governor of Paleltine, and chofcn by him to be one 

 of his counfellors. This lady was fent for by her hufband to 

 Csfarea, and as the ofRcer who came to efcort her brought 

 with him a greater number of carriages than were fufficient 

 for her and thofe who would attend her, Gregory was in- 

 duced to make one of the party. At Berytus he attended 

 a fchool of philofophy lately opened by the celebrated 

 Origen. For five years Gregory and his brother were 

 difciples of this great mafter, who inftrudted them in logic, 

 phyfics, geometry, aftronomy, and ethics. He encouraged 

 them in reading all forts of ancient authors, poets, and philo- 

 lophers, whofe tenets were not fceptical. He reftrained 

 them only from fuch as denied a deity, or a fuperintending 

 providence. It was during their attendance upon Origen 

 that they became enlightened and zealous Chriftians; he in- 

 troduced them to a knowledge of the facred fcripturcs, and 

 explained to them the paffages which to their minds might 

 appear obfcure and difficult. About the year 239. Gre- 

 gory returned home : he took leave of Origen witli great 

 regret, but not before he had pronounced before a numerous 

 auditory a panegyrical oration in praife of his tutor, which 

 is ellcemed by Dupin one of the fincft pieces of rhetoric in 

 all antiquity, and which affords at once a proof of the 

 writer's eminent abilities, and of Origen's excellent method 

 of educating thofe who were placed under his tuition. The 

 tutor was attached to his pupil, and after his return to Neo- 

 Cnefarea, lie wrote him a letter, intending, no doubt, that 

 he fliould make what ufe he pkafed of it, commending his 

 excellent parts, which, he faid, qualified him cither to 

 become a Roman lawyer of the ilrft rank, or a philofophcr 

 of eminence among the Greeks, but he could rather wifli 

 that he would employ his great talents in the fervicc of the 

 Chriftiau religion, which might be cffentially benefited by 

 his exertions. His celebrity led many to folicit him to open 

 a ichool of philofophy in his native city, but a diffidence in 

 himlelf led him rather to withdraw from public notice. He 

 was next urged to undertake the office of Chrillian bifliop, 

 an application wliich he refifted a long time, though, at 

 length, he was induced to accept the charge, and was or- 

 dained, accordiog to Dr. Lardner, by Phiedinus, bifliop of 

 Amafea, about the year 245. He was recommended to 

 give all his exertions to his native city, which was large and 



populous, 



