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Name:
Pope Gregory XIII
Born: Ugo Buoncompagni
Preceded by: St. Pius V (1566 - 1572)
Succeeded by: Sixtus V (1585 - 1590)
Roman Catholic Pope #227
Dates:
Born: 1502
Died: 1585
Pope: May 14, 1572 - April 10, 1585 (12 years, 10 months)
Biography:
Gregory XIII (1502-1585) served as pope from 1572 through 1585. He played an important
role at Council of Trent (1545, 1559-63) and was a vociferous critic of German
Protestants. As part of his effort to combat the heresy of Protestantism, he founded
numerous colleges and seminaries in Europe for the purpose of teaching and promoting
the "true" Christian faith. He has been sharply criticized for holding a public
thanksgiving at Rome for the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre.
He is perhaps best known for creating the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar still in use in the West today. According to the Julian calendar, the year is 365 days 6 hr, a bit long. By the 16th century all of this accumulated time had moved the vernal equinox to March 11 from March 21. So, in 1582 Gregory simply "deleted" 10 days from the new calendar, which now included "leap days" in order to make up for more accumulated time in the future. By 1585, it had replaced the older Julian calendar in most Catholic countries. Protestant countries adopted it only gradually and some Eastern Orthodox countries did not do so until the 20th century.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
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