Pope Paul IV, born Gian Pietro Carafa,
C.R. ( la, Paulus IV; it, Paolo IV; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559) was head of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and ruler of the
Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death in August 1559.
While serving as papal nuncio in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, he developed an anti-Spanish outlook that later coloured his papacy. In response to an invasion of part of the Papal States by Spain during his papacy, he called for a French military intervention. After a defeat of the French and with Spanish troops at the edge of Rome, the Papacy and Spain reached a compromise: French and Spanish forces left the Papal States and the Pope thereafter adopted a neutral stance between France and Spain.
Carafa was appointed bishop of Chieti, but resigned in 1524 in order to found with
St. Cajetan the Congregation of Clerics Regular (
Theatines). Recalled to Rome, and made
Archbishop of Naples
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naples ( la, Archidioecesis Neapolitana) is a Roman Catholic archdioceses in southern Italy, the see being in Naples. A Christian community was founded there in the 1st century AD and the diocese of Naples wa ...
, he worked to re-organize the
Inquisitorial system
An inquisitorial system is a legal system in which the court, or a part of the court, is actively involved in investigating the facts of the case. This is distinct from an adversarial system, in which the role of the court is primarily that of an ...
in response to the emerging
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
movement in Europe, any dialogue with which he opposed (the inquisition itself had been first instituted by
Pope Innocent III who first regulated inquisitional procedure in the 13th century). Carafa was elected pope in 1555 through the influence of Cardinal
Alessandro Farnese in the face of opposition from Emperor Charles V. His papacy was characterized by strong nationalism in reaction to the influence of
Philip II of Spain and the Habsburgs. The appointment of
Carlo Carafa
Carlo Carafa (29 March 1517 – 6 March 1561) was an Italian cardinal, and Cardinal Nephew of Pope Paul IV Carafa, whose policies he directed and whom he served as papal legate in Paris, Venice and Brussels.
Early years
He was born at Naples in ...
as
Cardinal Nephew
A cardinal-nephew ( la, cardinalis nepos; it, cardinale nipote; es, valido de su tío; pt, cardeal-sobrinho; french: prince de fortune)Signorotto and Visceglia, 2002, p. 114. Modern French scholarly literature uses the term "cardinal-neveu'". ...
damaged the papacy further, and scandals forced Paul to remove him from office. He curbed some clerical abuses in Rome, but his methods were seen as harsh. In spite of his advanced age, he was a tireless reformer and issued new decrees and regulations daily, unrelenting in his determination to keep Protestants and recently immigrated
Marranos from gaining influence in the Papal States. He had some hundred of the Marranos of Ancona thrown into prison; 50 were sentenced by the tribunal of the Inquisition and 25 of these were burned at the stake. Paul IV also issued the
Papal bull ''
Cum nimis absurdum
''Cum nimis absurdum'' was a papal bull issued by Pope Paul IV dated 14 July 1555. It takes its name from its first words: "Since it is absurd and utterly inconvenient that the Jews, who through their own fault were condemned by God to eternal sl ...
'', which allowed the Jews to live in Rome but confined them to the neighbourhood ''claustro degli Ebrei'' ("enclosure of the Hebrews") later known as the
Roman Ghetto. He died highly unpopular, to the point that his family rushed his burial to make sure his body would not be desecrated by a popular uprising.
Early life
Gian Pietro Carafa was born in
Capriglia Irpina, near
Avellino, into a prominent noble
House of Carafa of
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
.
His father Giovanni Antonio Carafa died in
West Flanders
)
, settlement_type = Province of Belgium
, image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg
, flag_size =
, image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg
, shield_size =
, image_map ...
in 1516 and his mother Vittoria Camponeschi was the daughter of Pietro Lalle Camponeschi, 5th Conte di
Montorio, a
Neapolitan nobleman, and
Dona Maria de Noronha, a
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
noblewoman of the House of
Pereira.
Church career
Bishop
He was mentored by Cardinal
Oliviero Carafa
Oliviero Carafa (10 March 1430 – 20 January 1511), in Latin Oliverius Carafa, was an Italian cardinal and diplomat of the Renaissance. Like the majority of his era's prelates, he displayed the lavish and conspicuous standard of living that was ...
, his relative, who resigned the
see of Chieti (Latin ''Theate'') in his favour. Under the direction of
Pope Leo X, he was ambassador to England and then papal
nuncio in Spain, where he conceived a violent detestation of Spanish rule that affected the policies of his later papacy.
However, in 1524,
Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...
allowed Carafa to resign his
benefices and join the
ascetic and newly founded Congregation of Clerks Regular, popularly called the
Theatines, after Carafa's
see of ''Theate.'' Following the
sack of Rome in 1527, the order moved to
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
. But Carafa was recalled to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
by the reform-minded
Pope Paul III (1534–49), to sit on a committee of reform of the papal court, an appointment that forecasted an end to a
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "human ...
papacy and a revival of
scholasticism, for Carafa was a thorough disciple of
Thomas Aquinas.
Cardinal
In December 1536 he was made
Cardinal-Priest
A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...
of ''
S. Pancrazio'' and then
Archbishop of
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
.
The
Regensburg Colloquy in 1541 failed to achieve any measure of reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants in Europe, but instead saw a number of prominent Italians defect to the Protestant camp. In response, Carafa was able to persuade Pope Paul III to set up a
Roman Inquisition
The Roman Inquisition, formally the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, was a system of partisan tribunals developed by the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Church, during the second half of the 16th century, respons ...
, modelled on the
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...
with himself as one of the Inquisitors-General. The
Papal Bull was promulgated in 1542 and Carafa vowed, "Even if my own father were a heretic, I would gather the wood to burn him".
Election as pope
He was a surprise choice as pope to succeed
Pope Marcellus II (1555); his severe and unbending character combined with his advanced age and Italian patriotism meant under normal circumstances he would have declined the honor. He accepted apparently because
Emperor Charles V was opposed to his accession.
Carafa, elected on 23 May 1555, took the name of "Paul IV" in honor of
Pope Paul III who named him as a cardinal. He was
crowned as pope on 26 May 1555 by the
protodeacon. He formally took possession of the
Basilica of Saint John Lateran
The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...
on 28 October 1555.
Papacy
As pope, Paul IV's nationalism was a driving force; he used the office to preserve some liberties in the face of fourfold foreign occupation. Like
Pope Paul III, he was an enemy of the
Colonna family. His treatment of
Giovanna d'Aragona, who had married into that family, drew further negative comment from Venice because she had long been a patron of artists and writers.
Paul IV was displeased at the French signing a five-year truce with Spain in February 1556 (in the midst of the
Italian War of 1551–1559) and urged King Henry II to join the Papal States in an invasion of Spanish Naples. On 1 September 1556, King Philip II responded by preemptively invading the Papal States with 12,000 men under the
Duke of Alba
Duke of Alba de Tormes ( es, Duque de Alba de Tormes), commonly known as Duke of Alba, is a title of Spanish nobility that is accompanied by the dignity of Grandee of Spain. In 1472, the title of ''Count of Alba de Tormes'', inherited by ...
. French forces approaching from the north were defeated and forced to withdraw at Civitella in August 1557. The papal armies were left exposed and were defeated, with Spanish troops arriving at the edge of Rome. Out of fear of another sack of Rome, Paul IV agreed to the Duke of Alba's demand for the Papal States to declare neutrality by signing the Peace of Cave-Palestrina on 12 September 1557.
Emperor Charles V criticized the peace agreement as being overly generous to the Pope.
As
cardinal-nephew
A cardinal-nephew ( la, cardinalis nepos; it, cardinale nipote; es, valido de su tío; pt, cardeal-sobrinho; french: prince de fortune)Signorotto and Visceglia, 2002, p. 114. Modern French scholarly literature uses the term "cardinal-neveu'". ...
,
Carlo Carafa
Carlo Carafa (29 March 1517 – 6 March 1561) was an Italian cardinal, and Cardinal Nephew of Pope Paul IV Carafa, whose policies he directed and whom he served as papal legate in Paris, Venice and Brussels.
Early years
He was born at Naples in ...
became his uncle's chief political adviser. Having accepted a pension from the French, Cardinal Carafa worked to secure a French alliance.
[ Carlo's older brother Giovanni was made commander of the papal forces and Duke of Paliano after the pro-Spanish Colonna were deprived of that town in 1556. Another nephew, Antonio, was given command of the papal guard and made Marquis of Montebello. Their conduct became notorious in Rome. However, at the conclusion of the disastrous war with Philip II of Spain in the Italian War, and after many scandals, Paul IV publicly disgraced his nephews and banished them from Rome in 1559.][
With the ]Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...
, the papacy required all Roman Catholic rulers to consider Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
rulers as heretics
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
, thus making their realms illegitimate under customary international law. Consequently, Europe's Catholic monarchs considered Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
a feudal fief of the papacy, to be granted to any Catholic sovereign who managed to secure the recently established Kingdom of Ireland from the control of its Protestant monarchs. Paul IV issued a papal bull in 1555, ', recognising Philip and Mary as King and Queen of England and its dominions including Ireland. He also angered people in England by insisting on the restitution of property confiscated during the dissolution
Dissolution may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books
* ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers
* ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music
* Dissolution, in mu ...
, and rejected the claim of Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
Eli ...
to the Crown.
Paul IV was violently opposed to the liberal Cardinal Giovanni Morone, whom he strongly suspected of being a hidden Protestant, so much that he had him imprisoned. In order to prevent Morone from succeeding him and imposing what he believed to be his Protestant beliefs on the Church, Pope Paul IV codified the Catholic Law excluding heretics and non-Catholics from receiving or legitimately becoming pope, in the bull ''Cum ex apostolatus officio
''Cum ex apostolatus officio'' is the name of a papal bull issued by Pope Paul IV in 1559; it states that only Catholics can be elected Popes, to the exclusion of non-Catholics, including former Catholics who have become public and manifest hereti ...
''.
Paul IV was rigidly orthodox, austere in life, and authoritarian in manner. He affirmed the Catholic doctrine of '' extra ecclesiam nulla salus'' ('outside the Church there is no salvation'), and used the Holy Office
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible f ...
to suppress the Spirituali
The Spirituali were members of a reform movement within the Roman Catholic Church, which existed from the 1530s to the 1560s. The movement is sometimes also called evangelism.
The ranks of the Spirituali included Cardinal Gasparo Contarini (1483� ...
, a Catholic group deemed heretical. The strengthening of the Inquisition continued under Paul IV, and few could consider themselves safe by virtue of position in his drive to reform the Church; even cardinals he disliked could be imprisoned.[
] He appointed inquisitor Michele Ghislieri, the future Pope Pius V, to the position of Supreme Inquisitor despite the fact as Inquisitor of Como
Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como.
Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...
, Ghislieri's persecutions had inspired a citywide rebellion, forcing him to flee in fear for his life.
On 17 July 1555, Paul IV issued one of the most infamous papal bulls in Church history. The bull
A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions,
includin ...
, ''Cum nimis absurdum
''Cum nimis absurdum'' was a papal bull issued by Pope Paul IV dated 14 July 1555. It takes its name from its first words: "Since it is absurd and utterly inconvenient that the Jews, who through their own fault were condemned by God to eternal sl ...
'', ordered the creation of a Jewish ghetto in Rome. The pope set its borders near the Rione Sant'Angelo, an area where large numbers of Jews already resided, and ordered it walled off from the rest of the city. A single gate, locked every day at sundown, was the only means of reaching the rest of the city. The Jews themselves were forced to pay all design and construction costs related to the project, which came to a total of roughly 300 ''scudi''. The bull restricted Jews in other ways as well. They were forbidden to have more than one synagogue per city—leading, in Rome alone, to the destruction of seven "excess" places of worship. All Jews were forced to wear distinctive yellow Jewish hats, especially outside the ghetto, and they were forbidden to trade in everything but food and secondhand clothes. Christians of all ages were encouraged to treat the Jews as second-class citizens; for a Jew to defy a Christian in any way was to invite severe punishment, often at the hands of a mob. By the end of Paul IV's five-year reign, the number of Roman Jews had dropped by half. Yet his anti-Jewish legacy endured for over 300 years: the ghetto he established ceased to exist only with the dissolution of the Papal States in 1870. Its walls were torn down in 1888.
According to Leopold von Ranke, a rigid austerity and an earnest zeal for the restoration of primitive habits became the dominant tendency of his papacy. Monks who had left their monasteries were expelled from the city and from the Papal States. He would no longer tolerate the practice by which one man had been allowed to enjoy the revenues of an office while delegating its duties to another.[
All begging was forbidden. Even the collection of alms for Masses, which had previously been made by the clergy, was discontinued. A medal was struck representing Christ driving the money changers from the Temple. Paul IV put in place a reform of the papal administration designed to stamp out trafficking of principal positions in the Curia.] All secular offices, from the highest to the lowest, were assigned to others based on merit. Important economies were made, and taxes were proportionately remitted. Paul IV established a chest, of which only he held the key, for the purpose of receiving all complaints that anyone desired to make.
During his papacy, censorship reached new heights. Among his first acts as pope was to cut off Michelangelo's pension, and he ordered the nudes of ''The Last Judgment'' in the Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its nam ...
be painted more modestly (a request that Michelangelo ignored) (the beginning of the Vatican's Fig leaf
The expression "fig leaf" is widely used figuratively to convey the covering up of an act or an object that is embarrassing or distasteful with something of innocuous appearance, a metaphorical reference to the Biblical Book of Genesis in which ...
campaign). Paul IV also introduced the Index Librorum Prohibitorum or "Index of Prohibited Books" to Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
, then an independent and prosperous trading state, in order to crack down on the growing threat of Protestantism. Under his authority, all books written by Protestants were banned, together with Italian and German translations of the Latin Bible.
In the Papal States, a Marrano presence was noticeable. In Rome and, even more so, the seaport of Ancona, they thrived under benevolent popes Clement VII (1523–34), Paul III (1534–49), and Julius III (1550–55). They even received a guarantee that if accused of apostasy
Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...
they would be subject only to papal authority. But Paul IV (1555–59), the voice of the Counter-Reformation, dealt them an irreparable blow when he withdrew the protections previously given and initiated a campaign against them. As a result of this, 25 were burned at the stake in the spring of 1556.
Consistories
Throughout his pontificate, Paul IV named 46 cardinals in four consistories, including his future successor Michele Ghislieri (the future Pope Pius V). According to Robert Maryks, the pope decided to nominate the Jesuit priest Diego Laínez to the cardinalate. However, Father Alfonso Salmerón warned Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, ...
of this, as did Cardinal Otto Truchsess von Waldburg. In response, Father Pedro de Ribadeneyra repeated what the saint had said to him: "If our Lord does not lay down his hand, we will have Master Laínez a cardinal, but I certify to you, if it were, that it be with so much noise that the world would understand how the Society accepts these things".
Death
Paul IV's health began to break down in May 1559. He rallied in July, holding public audiences and attending meetings of the Inquisition. But he engaged in fasting, and the heat of the summer wore him down again. He was bedridden, and on 17 August it became clear he would not live. Cardinals and other officials gathered at his bedside on 18 August, where Paul IV asked them to elect a "righteous and holy" successor and to retain the Inquisition as "the very basis" of the Catholic Church's power. By 2 or 3 pm, he was close to death, and died at 5 pm.
The people of Rome did not forget what they had suffered because of the war he had brought on the State. Crowds of people gathered at the Piazza del Campidoglio
The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. T ...
and began rioting even before Paul IV died. His statue, erected before the Campidoglio just months before, had a yellow hat placed on it (similar to the yellow hat Paul IV had forced Jews to wear in public). After a mock trial, the statue was decapitated. It was then thrown into the Tiber
The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest List of rivers of Italy, river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where ...
.
The crowd broke into the three city jails and freed more than 400 prisoners, then broke into the offices of the Inquisition at the Palazzo dell' Inquisizone near to the Church of San Rocco
Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked a ...
. They murdered the Inquisitor, Tommaso Scotti, and freed 72 prisoners. One of those released was Dominican John Craig, who later was a colleague of John Knox. The people ransacked the palace, and then set it afire (destroying the Inquisition's records). That same day, or the next day (records are unclear), the crowd attacked the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The intercession of some local nobility dissuaded them from burning it and killing all those within. On the third day of rioting, the crowd removed the Carafa family coat of arms from all churches, monuments, and other buildings in the city.
The crowd dedicated to him the following pasquinata:
:''Carafa hated by the devil and the sky''
:''is buried here with his rotting corpse,''
:''Erebus has taken the spirit;''
:''he hated peace on earth, our faith he contested.''
:''he ruined the church and the people, men and sky offended;''
:''treacherous friend, suppliant with the army which was fatal to him.''
:''You want to know more? Pope was him and that is enough.''
:
Such hostile views have not mellowed much with time; modern historians tend to view his papacy as an especially poor one. His policies stemmed from personal prejudices—against Spain, for example, or the Jews—rather than any overarching political or religious goals. In a time of precarious balance between Catholic and Protestant, his adversarial nature did little to slow the latter's spread across northern Europe. His anti-Spanish feelings alienated the Habsburgs, arguably the most powerful Catholic rulers in Europe, and his ascetic personal beliefs left him out of touch with the artistic and intellectual movements of his era (he often spoke of whitewashing the Sistine ceiling). Such a reactionary attitude alienated clergy and laity alike: historian John Julius Norwich calls him "the worst pope of the 16th century."
Four or five hours after his death, Paul IV's body was taken to the Cappella Paolina
The Cappella Paolina (the Pauline Chapel) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, Vatican City. It is separated from the Sistine Chapel by the Sala Regia. It is not on any of the regular tourist itineraries.
Michelangelo's two frescoes in the Ca ...
in the Apostolic Palace
The Apostolic Palace ( la, Palatium Apostolicum; it, Palazzo Apostolico) is the official residence of the pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and t ...
. It lay in repose
Lying in repose is the tradition in which the body of a deceased person, often of high social stature, is made available for public viewing. Lying in repose differs from the more formal honor of lying in state, which is generally held at the pr ...
, and a choir sang the Office of the Dead
The Office of the Dead or Office for the Dead (in Latin, Officium Defunctorum) is a prayer cycle of the Canonical Hours in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and Lutheran Church, said for the repose of the soul of a decedent. It is the proper r ...
on the morning of 19 August. Cardinals and many others then paid homage to Paul IV ("kissed the feet of the pope"). The canons of St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
refused to take his body into the basilica unless they were paid the customary money and gifts. Instead, the canons sang the usual office
An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...
in the Cappella del Santissimo Sacramento (Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament). Paul IV's body was taken to the Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its nam ...
in the Apostolic Palace at 6 pm.
Paul IV's nephew, Cardinal-nephew
A cardinal-nephew ( la, cardinalis nepos; it, cardinale nipote; es, valido de su tío; pt, cardeal-sobrinho; french: prince de fortune)Signorotto and Visceglia, 2002, p. 114. Modern French scholarly literature uses the term "cardinal-neveu'". ...
Carlo Carafa
Carlo Carafa (29 March 1517 – 6 March 1561) was an Italian cardinal, and Cardinal Nephew of Pope Paul IV Carafa, whose policies he directed and whom he served as papal legate in Paris, Venice and Brussels.
Early years
He was born at Naples in ...
, arrived in Rome late on 19 August. Worried that the rioters might break in and desecrate the pope's corpse, at 10 pm Cardinal Carafa had Pope Paul IV buried without ceremony next to the Cappella del Volto Santo (Chapel of the Holy Face) in St. Peter's. His remains stayed there until October 1566, when his successor as pope, Pius V, had them transferred to Santa Maria sopra Minerva. In the chapel founded by Paul IV's uncle and mentor, Cardinal Oliviero Carafa
Oliviero Carafa (10 March 1430 – 20 January 1511), in Latin Oliverius Carafa, was an Italian cardinal and diplomat of the Renaissance. Like the majority of his era's prelates, he displayed the lavish and conspicuous standard of living that was ...
, a tomb was created by Pirro Ligorio and Paul IV's remains were placed therein.
In fiction
Paul IV's title in the Prophecy of St. Malachy is "Of the Faith of Peter".
As Paul IV, Carafa appears as a character in John Webster's Jacobean revenge drama '' The White Devil'' (1612).
In the novel '' Q'' by Luther Blissett, while not appearing himself, Gian Pietro Carafa is mentioned repeatedly as the cardinal whose spy and ''agent provocateur'', Qoelet, causes many of the disasters to befall Protestants during the Reformation and the Roman Church's response in the 16th century.
As depicted in Alison MacLeod's historical novel "The Hireling", Cardinal Caraffa befriended the English Cardinal Reginald Pole
Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation.
Early life
Pole was bor ...
during Pole's long exile in Italy. Later on, however, Pole felt deeply hurt and betrayed when Caraffa, once elevated to the Papacy, turned against Pole and charged him with heresy – at the very time when Pole was striving to return England to the Catholic fold and getting Protestant "heretics" burned.
Pope Paul IV is a major villain in Sholem Asch
Sholem Asch ( yi, שלום אַש, pl, Szalom Asz; 1 November 1880 – 10 July 1957), also written Shalom Ash, was a Polish-Jewish novelist, dramatist, and essayist in the Yiddish language who settled in the United States.
Life and work
Asch ...
's 1921 historical novel ''The Witch of Castile'' (Yiddish: ''Di Kishufmakherin fun Kastilien'', Hebrew: Ha'Machshepha Mi'Castilia המכשפה מקשיטליה). The book's depiction of a young Sephardi Jewish woman in Rome being falsely accused of witchcraft and being burned at the stake, dying as a Jewish martyr, is placed in the context of Paul IV's actual persecution of the Jews.
See also
* Cardinals created by Paul IV
References
Bibliography
* Aubert, Alberto. ''Paolo IV. Politica, Inquisizione e storiografia'', Firenze, Le Lettere, 1999
* Booth, Ted W. "Elizabeth I and Pope Paul IV: Reticence and Reformation". ''Church History and Religious Culture'' 94.3 (2014): 316–33
online
*
* Firpo, Massimo. ''Inquisizione romana e Controriforma. Studi sul cardinal Giovanni Morone (1509–1580) e il suo processo d'eresia'', Brescia, Morcelliana, 2005
* Mampieri, Martina. "From Paul IV 'the Evil' to Pius IV 'the Merciful. in ''Living under the Evil Pope'' (Brill, 2019). 160–204.
* Mathews, Shailer. "The Social Teaching of Paul. IV. The Messianism of Paul". ''Biblical World'' 19.4 (1902): 279–28
online
* Pattenden, Miles. ''Pius IV and the Fall of the Carafa: Nepotism and Papal Authority in Counter-Reformation Rome'' (Oxford UP, 2013).
* Pocock, Nicholas, Marinus Marinius, and J. Barengus. "Bull of Paul IV concerning the Bishopric of Bristol". ''English Historical Review'' 12.46 (1897): 303–307. .
* Santosuosso, Antonio. "An Account of the Election of Paul IV to the Pontificate". ''Renaissance Quarterly'' 31.4 (1978): 486–498. .
External links
Article "Paul IV" in ''Dizionario storico dell'Inquisizione''
* ttps://findingaid.lib.byu.edu/viewItem/MSS%208489 Paul IV letter to Philip II, MSS 8489a
L. Tom Perry Special Collections
Brigham Young University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paul 04
1476 births
1559 deaths
People from the Province of Avellino
Inquisitors
Italian popes
Carafa, Giovanni Pietro
Cardinal-bishops of Albano
Cardinal-bishops of Frascati
Cardinal-bishops of Ostia
Cardinal-bishops of Porto
Cardinal-bishops of Sabina
Bishops of Chieti
House of Carafa
Diplomats of the Holy See
Archbishops of Naples
16th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops
Members of the Holy Office
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Burials at Santa Maria sopra Minerva
16th-century popes
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Jewish Roman (city) history