Pope Leo XI

Leo XI
Papacy began	1 April 1605
Papacy ended	27 April 1605
Predecessor	Clement VIII
Successor	Paul V
Orders
Ordination	22 July 1567 by Antonio Altoviti
Consecration	by Francisco Pacheco de Villena (Toledo)
Created Cardinal	12 December 1583
Personal details
Birth name	Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici
Born	(1535-06-02)2 June 1535 Florence, Duchy of Florence
Died	27 April 1605(1605-04-27) (aged 69) Rome, Papal State
Other Popes named Leo

Pope Leo XI (2 June 1535 – 27 April 1605), born Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, was Pope from 1 April 1605 to 27 April of the same year.

Biography

He was born in Florence: his mother, Francesca Salviati, was a daughter of Jacopo Salviati and Lucrezia de' Medici, a sister of Leo X, while his father, Ottaviano, was a more distant scion of the Medici family. After a late start, he was ordained priest, and Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, sent him as an appropriate ambassador to Pope Pius V, a position which he held for fifteen years. Gregory XIII made him bishop of Pistoia in 1573, archbishop of Florence in 1574, and Cardinal-Priest of Santi Quirico e Giulitta in 1583.

In 1596, Clement VIII sent him as legate to France where Maria de' Medici was queen. Alessandro was a friend and disciple of St. Philip Neri.

Tomb of Leo XI in St. Peter's Basilica, by Alessandro Algardi.

Papal styles of Pope Leo XI
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	None

On 14 March 1605, eleven days after the death of Clement VIII, 62 cardinals entered the conclave. Prominent among the candidates for the papacy were the great historian Baronius and the famous Jesuit controversialist Robert Bellarmine. But Pietro Aldobrandini, the leader of the Italian party among the cardinals, allied with the French cardinals and brought about the election of Alessandro against the express wish of King Philip III of Spain. King Henry IV of France is said to have spent 300,000 écus in the promotion of Alessandro's candidacy. On 1 April 1605, Alessandro ascended the papal throne with the name Leo XI after his uncle Pope Leo X, being then almost seventy years of age, but was taken ill immediately after his coronation and died within the month.

He was nicknamed Papa Lampo ("Lightning Pope") for the brevity of his pontificate.

See also

• List of popes from the Medici family

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Leo XI

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope Leo XI
• Monument to Leo XI St Peter's Basilica

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