SIXTUS
33
SIXTHS
probably not of the intention to assassinate, and even
laid Florence under interdict because it rose in fury
against the conspirators and brutal murderers of
Giuliano de' Medici. He now entered upon a two
years' war with Florence, and encouraged the Vene-
tians to attack
Ferrara, which he
wished to obtain
for his nephew
Girolamo Riario.
Ercole d 'Este, at-
tacked by Venice,
found allies in al-
most every Italian
state, and Ludo-
vico Sforza, upon
whom the pope
relied for support,
did nothing to
help him. The
allied princes
forced Sixtus to
make peace, and
the chagrin which
this caused him is
said to have hast-
ened his death.
Henceforth, un- til the Reforma- tion, the secular interests of the papacy were of paramount im- portance. The at- titude of Sixtus towards the con- spiracy of the Pazzi, his wars and treachery, his v^..iM..^j ^-.oi promotion to the Obverse: Vortrait'oy slxtuTlvT" Re- highest offices in verso: Allegorical figure of Constancy, the ChUTCh of with the line from Virgil, ^neid, VI. 853: " To 8par<^ the submissive and crush the
R'ords: " Thou
such men as Pietro
and Girolamo
Riario are blots
upon his career.
Nevertheless, there is a praiseworthy side to his
pontificate. He took measures to suppress abuses
in the Inquisition, vigorously opposed the Wal-
dense.s, and annulled the decrees of the Council
of Constance. He was a patron of arts and letters,
building the famous Sistine Chapel, the Sistine
Bridge across the Tiber, and becoming the .second
founder of the Vatican Library. Under him Rome
once more became habitable, and he did much to im-
prove the sanitary conditions of the city. He brought
down water from the Quirinal to the Fountain of
Trevi, and began a transformation of the city which
death alone hindered him from completing. In his
private life Sixtus IV was blameless. The gross
accusations brought against him by his enemy
Infessura have no foundation; his worst vice was
nepotLsm, and his greatest misfortune was that he
wa-s destined to be placed at the head of the States
of the Church at a time when Italy was emerging
from the era of the republics, and territorial princes
like the pope were forced to do battle with the great
despola.
Pastor. Hinlori/ of the Popes, IV (London, 1894); Greoo- ROVIC8, Romr in the Middle Ages. VII (London. 1902) ; Creiohton, Hist, of the Papacy. IV (London, 1901); Buhkhardt, Gesehichte da- Renaissance in Ilalien (1904); Frantz, Sixtus IV und die Republik Florem (Ratisbon, 1880).
R. Urban Bdtler.
Sixtus V, Pope (Felice Peretti), b. at Grotta- mare near Montalto, 1.3 December, 1.521; elected 24 April, 158.5; crowned 1 May, 1585; d. in the Quirinal, XIV.— 3
27 August, 1590. He belonged to a Dalmatian family
which in the middle of the preceding century had fled
to Italy from the Turks who were devastating lUjTia
and threatened to invade Dalmatia. His father was
a gardener and it is said of FeUce that, when a boy, he
was a swineherd. At the age of nine he came to the
Minorite convent at Montalto, where his uncle, Fri
Salvatore, was a friar. Here he became a novice at
the age of twelve. He was educated at Montalto,
Ferrara, and Bologna and was ordained at Siena
in 1547. The talented young priest gained a high
reputation as a preacher. At Rome, where in 1552 he
preached the Lenten sermons in the Church of Santi
Apostoli, his successful preaching gained for him the
friendship of very influential men, such as Cardinal
Carpi, the protector of his order; the Cardinals Caraffa
and Ghislieri, both of whom became popes; St.
Philip Neri and St. Ignatius. He was successively
appointed rector of his convent at Siena in 1550, of San
Lorenzo at Naples in 1553, and of the convent of the
Frari at Venice in 1556. A year later Pius IV ap-
pointed him also counsellor to the Inquisition at
Venice. His zeal and severity in the capacity of in-
quisitor displeased the Venetian Government, which
demanded and obtained his recall in 1560. Having
returned to Rome he was made counsellor to the Holy
Office, professor at the Sapienza, and general procu-
rator and vicar ApostoUc of his order. In 1565 Pius
IV designated him to accompany to Spain Cardinal
Buoncompagni (afterwards Gregory XIII), who was
to investigate a charge of heresy against Archbishop
Carranza of Toledo. From this time dates the antip-
athy between Peretti and Buoncompagni, which de-
clared itself more openly during the latter's pontificate
(1572-85). Upon his return to Rome in 1566 Pius V
created him Bishop of Sant' Agata dei Goti in the
Kingdom of Naples and later chose him as his con-
fessor. On 17 May, 1570, the same pope created him
cardinal-priest with the titular Church of S. Simeone,
which he afterwards exchanged for that of S. Girolamo
dei Schiavoni. In 1571 he was traiisfrrriHl to the See
ofFermo. He was
popularly known
as the Cardinal di
Montalto. Dur-
ing the pontificate
of Gregory XIII
he withdrew from
public affairs, de-
voting himself to
study and to the
collection of works
of art, as far as
his scanty means
permitted. Dur-
ing this time he
edited the works
of St. Ambrose
(Rome, 1579-
1585) and erected
a villa (now Villa
Massimi) on the
Esquiline.
Gregory XIII died on 10 April, 1.585, and after a conclave of four days Peretti was elected pope by "adoration" on 24 April, 1585. He took the name Sixtus V in memory of Sixtus IV, who had also been a Minor- ite. The legend that he entered the conclave on crutches, feigning the infirmities of old age, and upon his election exultantly thrust aside his crutches and appeared full of life and vigour has long been ex- ploded; it may, however, have been invented as a
81XTUB V — Fontana
L of St. Mary Major
