Urban VIII | |
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Bishop of Rome | |
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Church | Catholic Church |
Papacy began | 6 August 1623 |
Papacy ended | 29 July 1644 |
Predecessor | Gregory XV |
Successor | Innocent X |
Previous post(s) |
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Orders | |
Ordination | 24 September 1592 |
Consecration | 28 October 1604 by Fabio Blondus de Montealto |
Created cardinal | 11 September 1606 by Paul V |
Personal details | |
Born | Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini 5 April 1568 |
Died | 29 July 1644 Rome, Papal States | (aged 76)
Parents | Antonio Barberini & Camilla Barbadoro |
Coat of arms | ![]() |
Other popes named Urban |
Pope Urban VIII (Latin: Urbanus VIII; Italian: Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal territory by force of arms and advantageous politicking, and was also a prominent patron of the arts, commissioning works from artists like Bernini and a reformer of Church missions. His papacy also covered 21 years of the Thirty Years' War.
However, the massive debts incurred during his pontificate greatly weakened his successors, who were unable to maintain the papacy's longstanding political and military influence in Europe. He was also an opponent of Copernicanism and involved in the Galileo affair which saw the astronomer tried for heresy. He is the last pope to date to take the pontifical name "Urban".
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