LEO XI.. Pope 1605. Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici. He was born in Florence in 1535 and made Bishop of Pistoia in 1573, Archbishop of Florence and cardinal in 1574, holding later the cardinal-bishopries of Albano and Palestrina. Clement VIII. intrusted him in 1596 with the difficult mission to the Court of France, soon after the conversion of henry IV., and he acted for the Holy See in the conclusion of the Peace of Ver •ins. He became Pope on April 1, 1605, but reigned only twenty-six days.
Leo XII., Pope 1823-29. Annihale della Genga. He was born near Spoleto in 1760. and educated in Rome for the priesthood, which he received in 1783. After serving as chamberlain and secretary to Pius VI. he was made titular Archbishop of Tyre in 1793 and appointed Nuncio at Cologne, though the fortunes of war obliged him to change his residence several times. Under Pius V11. he was employed on diplomatic missions in Ger many, and after Napoleon's fall was the bearer of the Pope's congratulations to Louis XVIII. Ile was made a cardinal in 1816, and held the Bishopric of Sinigaglia until I S20. when he re turned to Rome as Cardinal-Vicar. In 1823 he was elected to succeed Pope Pius VII. His pontificate was marked by great zeal for the welfare of the Church. both in Europe and abroad. At home he condemned the secret societies, espeeially the Free and the Carbonari. Consult: Wise man, Recollections of the Last Pour Popes (Lon don, 1855) ; Artand de Montor. Histoirc du pope IA'on XII. (2 vols.. Paris, IS43).
Leo XIII., Pope 1878-1903. Gioaeehino Vincen zo Raliaello Luigi Peed.. lie was born in the an cestral seat of his family at Carpineto. 37 miles from Rome...March 2. 1810. and educated in the Jesuit college at Viterbo and the Collegio Romano, making further studies in law and the ology after taking his doetor's degree from the latter. lle was ordained priest and made a domestic prelate by Gregory XVI. in 1837. As delegate successively at Benevento, Spoleto, and Perugia, he displayed great energy, and was especially successful in the task of suppressing brigandage. In 1843 he was made Archbishop of Damietta in partibus, and sent as Xuneio to Brussels, where he exercised a powerful influence in the support of the Church against secularist attacks. At the end of 1845 he was recalled to undertake the administration of the See of Perugia, and made his entry there the following summer amid universal rejoicings. Ile ruled his diocese with great zeal, promoted education, and cared for the material wants of the poor by founding monti di pieta (loan associations under eeclesiastical direction). The year of revolu tions (1848) brought many troubles to the Church in Perugia as elsewhere, which were met by the Archbishop with increased zeal and devotion. His services were recognized by Pope Pius IX.,
who made him a cardinal in 1853, carrying out an intention expressed by Gregory XVI. before his death. He was not, however, promi nent in the Papal councils, being supposed to be hardly a persona grata to the powerful An tonelli. He continued his labors at Perugia under difficulties which increased after the annex ation of Umbria to the dominions of Victor Em manuel in 1860, and the promulgation of numer ous laws inimical to religious interests. He raised his voice in energetic protest against what he considered the spoliation of the Church and against tampering with the law of marriage, and declined to join in a public reception to Victor Emmanuel when he visited Perugia. In 1877 lie was brought to Rome to fill the important office of Cardinal Camerlengo, and a few months later, on the death of Pius IX., was called upon to perform the administrative functions attached to it during a vacancy in the Holy See. On February 20, 1878, he was chosen to fill the vacancy, taking the title of Leo XIII. in imita tion of the Pope of his boyhood.
The combined learning, holiness, and states manlike sagacity displayed by him made his long, almost unprecedented. reign one of the most nota ble in the recent history of the Church. The great causes to which he devoted the last quarter cen tury of his life are best marked by the numerous well-considered eneyelicals in which he spoke through the Catholic hierarchy to the world. His first dealt with the study of theology, and com mended the system of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the study of whose works lie did all in his power to encourage, regarding it as the best means of meeting the difficulties of modern philosophy. In later ones he dealt acutely and broadly with social questions, the famous Rerun?, Novanon of 1891 being regarded as going a long way to meet the claims of modern socialism. Those on Christian marriage (1880) and on Freemasonry (ISSl ) were more on traditional lines; hut one which eonimended the diligent study of the Bible (1893) and those of 1894 and 1896 on the re union of Christendom were of a nature to sur prise and conciliate those who had no accurate knowledge of the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. The restoration of Christian unity had always been specially near his heart. He dis played a particular interest in the English-speak ing race, addressing a touching letter ad Angles in 1894; and the decision of the commission which in 1B96 pronounced that Anglican ordina tions were invalid had an important bearing on the attitude of the High-Church party toward Rome. His recognition of the importance of this race, especially in the New World, was marked by the establishment of a permanent representative in the United States and one in Canada who were responsible immediately to him.