Pope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV (Latin: Gregorius XV; 9 January 1554 – 8 July 1623), born Alessandro Ludovisi, was Pope from 9 February 1621 to his death in 1623.
Biography
Early life
Alessandro Ludovisi was born in Bologna in 1554 to Pompeo Ludovisi, the Count of Samoggia (now Savigno in the Province of Bologna) and of Camilla Bianchini. He was one of seven children and was born as the third child.
He was educated at the Roman College run by the Society of Jesus in Rome and he then went to the University of Bologna to get degrees in canon and Roman law which he received on June 4, 1575. His early career was as a papal jurist in Rome, and there is no evidence that he had been ordained to the priesthood.
He returned to Rome in 1575 and he served as the Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura from 1593 to 1596 and was appointed as the Vicegerent of Rome in 1597, a position he maintained until 1598. He also served as the Auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota from 1599 to 1612.
On 12 March 1612, Pope Paul V appointed him as the Archbishop of Bologna, for which he was presumably ordained to the priesthood and then he was consecrated a bishop on 1 May of that year in the church of San Andrea al Quirinale in Rome.
