Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

08 November, 2026

Hereford Cathedral (Cathedral Of Saint Mary The Virgin And Saint Ethelbert The King). (Part Eight).



The Hereford Cathedral Choir Screen after conservation 
and restoration at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

The following two paragraphs are from

The Hereford Screen was a star exhibit at the 
1862 International Exhibition in London, and 
was praised as “the grandest and most triumphant achievement of modern architectural art”, before its installation in Hereford Cathedral.

In 1967, this masterpiece of Victorian ironwork 
fell victim to fashionable prejudice and, despite a 
national outcry, was dismantled. The once rusty, disintegrated pieces have now been carefully conserved by 
the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, returning this magnificent Screen to its former splendour.

The Hereford Cathedral Web-Site can be found



Hereford Cathedral Choir Screen in place in Hereford Cathedral 1890-1900. [Editor: It is beyond belief that anybody in authority got rid of this masterpiece in the 1960s, when it was removed, dismantled, and left to rot. Thank God that the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, eventually possessed it and restored it to its former magnificence (see, above).]
Description: Forms part of: Views of the British Isles, in the Photochrom print collection. Print No. “10810”. Title from the Detroit Publishing Co., Catalogue J-foreign section, Detroit, Mich. Detroit Publishing Company, 1905. More information about the Photochrom Print Collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.pgz
Photo Credit: This image is available from The United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ppmsc.08439.
Source: Library of Congress 
(Wikimedia Commons)


Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.


The Choir Stalls support forty 14th-Century Misericords. These Misericords show a mixture of mythological beasts, grotesques, and everyday events, there appears to be no pattern to the content.

In addition to the Misericords in the Choir, there are five others contained in a row of “Judges’ Seats”. It is unclear if these were used as Misericords, or if they are just ornamentation.

In the North-East Transept, of which the Vaulting is supported by a Central Octagonal Pier, a large number of monumental fragments are preserved, forming a rich and varied collection.


Hereford Cathedral.
Photo: 19 August 2013.
(Wikimedia Commons)


There is also a beautiful Altar-Tomb of Alabaster and Polished Marbles erected as a public memorial to a former Dean, Richard Dawes, who died in 1867. The effigy, by Mr. Noble, is a good likeness of the Dean, who was an ardent supporter of the education movement about the middle of the 19th-Century.

The South-East Transept contains memorials of several Bishops of Hereford. The remains of Gilbert Ironside (☩ 1701), together with his Black Marble tombstone, were removed to this place in 1867, when the Church of Saint Mary Somerset, in Upper Thames Street, London, was taken down.

Here, also, may be seen a curious effigy of Saint John the Baptist, and a fine Marble bust, believed to be the work of Roubiliac. The handsome canopied Perpendicular tomb of Richard Mayew (☩ 1516), with effigy fully vested, is on the South Side of the Altar. In the South-East Transept, again, is a doorway that opens into the Vicars’ Cloister, an interesting piece of Perpendicular Work which leads to the College of the Vicars Choral.



Hereford Cathedral. 13th-Century Early-English 
Arcaded Triforium and Clerestory.
Photo: 29 May 2012.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Across from the Retro-Choir, or Ambulatory, is the spacious Early-English Lady Chapel, which is built over the Crypt and approached by an ascent of five steps.

Of the five Lancet Windows at the East End, each with a Quatrefoil opening in the wall above it, Fergusson remarked that “nowhere on the Continent is such a combination to be found”; and he brackets them with the Five Sisters at York Cathedral and the East End of Ely Cathedral.

They are filled with glass by Cottingham as a memorial of Dean Merewether, who is buried in the Crypt, below, and is further commemorated here by a Black Marble slab, with a Brass by Hardman, recording his unwearied interest in the restoration of the Cathedral.


Hereford Cathedral’s Nave Ceiling.
Photo: 3 January 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Mattana
(Wikimedia Commons)


In the Lady Chapel, are Church Monuments of Joanna de Kilpec and Humphrey de Bohun. Joanna was a 14th-Century benefactress of the Cathedral, who gave to the Dean and Chapter an acre (4,000 m2) of land in Lugwardine, and the advowson of the Church, with several Chapels pertaining to it.

On the South Side of the Lady Chapel, separated from it by a Screen of curious design, is the Chantry, erected at the end of the 15th-Century by Edmund Audley, who, being translated to Salisbury, built another there, where he is buried. His Chantry, here, pentagonal in shape, is in two storeys, with two windows in the lower storey and five windows in the higher storey.

PART NINE FOLLOWS.

The Octave Day Of All Saints. 8 November. White Vestments.



English: All Saints’ Day,
Holy Cross Cemetery, Gniezno, Poland.
Flowers and Candles placed to honour deceased relatives.
Español: Celebración de Todos los Santos, 
cementerio de la Santa Cruz, Gniezno, Polonia.
Polski: Uroczystość Wszystkich Świętych,
Cmentarz św. Krzyża w Gnieźnie, Polska.
Photo: 1 November 2017.
Source: Own work.
Author: Diego Delso
(Wikipedia)


Flower image: HERITAGE TYPE CO

Text from “The Liturgical Year”.
By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.

Volume 15.
Time After Pentecost.
Book VI.

The Octave Day Of All Saints.
8 November.

How could we more appropriately conclude the teachings of this Octave than by quoting the words used by The Church, herself, in today’s Liturgy ?

“Strangers as we are, and pilgrims on the Earth, let us fix our hearts and our thoughts on the day which will give to each of us a home, and restore us to Paradise.

“Who, that is on a voyage, would not hasten to return to his Country ! Who, that is on the way home, would not eagerly desire a favourable wind, that he might the sooner embrace his dear ones !


“Parents, brothers, children, friends in multitudes impatiently await us in our Heavenly fatherland; Blessed crowd ! Already secure of their own eternal happiness, they are soliticitous about our salvation.

“What joy for them and for us, when, at length, we see them and they may embrace us !

“How great the delight of that Heavenly Kingdom: No more fear of death; but eternal and supreme happiness ! Let all our earnest desires tend to this: That we may be united with The Saints, that, together with them, we may possess Christ”. [Editor: Saint Cyprian. “De Mortalitate”, xxvi.]


These enthusiastic words, borrowed from Saint Cyprian’s beautiful book “On The Mortality”, are used by The Church in her Second Nocturn; and, in the Third Nocturn, she gives us the strong language of Saint Augustine, consoling the Faithful, who are obliged still to remain in exile, by reminding them of the great beatitude of this Earth.

The beatitude of those who are persecuted and cursed by the World. To suffer gladly for Christ is the Christian’s glory, the invisible beauty which wins for his Soul the good pleasure of God, and procures him a great reward in Heaven. [Editor: Saint Augustine. “De Sermone Domini in monte”, lib. i. cap. v.]

“He that hurteth, let him hurt still”, says Our Lord; “and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is Just, let him be justified still; and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still. Behold, I come quickly; and My reward  is with Me, to render to every man according to his works.


“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end”. Patience, then, Christians ! Patience, all who are now despised, “for time is short; the fashion of this World passeth away !”

It is in the light of our Baptism that we must look upon those foolish men who think themselves strong because they are violent; who call themselves wise, because pleasure is their only law.

When the Man-God, “with the spirit of His mouth”, shall take vengeance on Satan their leader, their lot will be the indignant sentence heard by the Prophet of Patmos: “Without are dogs, murderers, everyone that loveth and maketh a lie”.


Meanwhile, the whole creation, which they made the unwilling slave of their corruption, will answer to their disgraceful fall by a triumphant song of deliverance. Itself will be transformed into a new Heavens and a new Earth.

It will partake of the glory of the children of God, delivered like itself, and will be worthy to contain the new Jerusalem, the Holy City, where in our flesh we shall see God; and where, seated at the right-hand of The Father in The Person of Jesus Christ, our glorified human nature will enjoy for ever the honours of a bride.

Let us go in spirit to Rome, and direct our steps towards the ancient Church, on The Cœlian Hill, which bears the name of The Four Crowned Martyrs.


There are few Saints whose acts have been more disparaged “by a superficial criticism ignorant of archæological science”, such as that of the 16th-, 17th-, and 18th-Centuries. But now “the history and traditions relating to the august monument on The Cœlian Hill have been restored to honour by learned men and antiquaries, whom no-one could accuse of superstition, or of a blind credulity with regard to Mediæval legends”. [De Rossi. “Bulletin”. 1879.]

Such is the unanswerable decision of the Commandant de Rossi. Let us, then, with The Holy Liturgy, offer our homage and Prayers to the Titular Saints of this venerable Church, who once held Offices of trust in the Empire; and let us not forget those other Martyrs, the five sculptors, who, like the former, preferred death to infidelity and now share the glory of their tomb.


Prayer.

Præsta, quæsumus omnipotens Deus: ut, qui gloriosos martyres fortes in sua confessione congovimus, pios apud te in nostra intercessione sentiamus.

Per Dominum . . .


Grant, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that we, who know Thy glorious Martyrs to have been strong in their confession of Thee, may experience their compassion by their interceding for us with Thee.

Through Our Lord . . .

Let us honour all The Saints by a Sequence long sung on this Octave Day by The Church of Seville.


Sequence.

Ad honorem Salvatoris . . .

To the honour of Our Saviour . . .

Let us Pray for our dear departed ones.
The Missals of several Churches furnish us with this earnest supplication.

Sequence.

De profundis exclamantes . . .

As we cry out from the depths . . .

The Holy Four Crowned Martyrs. Feast Day, Today, 8 November. Red Vestments.


Text and Illustrations from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

The Holy Four Crowned Martyrs.
   Feast Day 8 November.

Simple.

Red Vestments.


English: The Four Crowned Saints. Statue commissioned
by the Arte dei Maestri di Pietra e Legname
(Guild of Wood and Stone Cutters),
Orsanmichele, Florence, Italy. Sculptor: Nanni di Banco.
Français: Les Quatre saints couronnés. Statue commandée par l'arte dei Maestri di Pietra e Legname (guilde des tailleurs de bois et de pierre). Orsanmichele, Florence.
Italiano: Tabernacolo dell'arte dei Maestri di Pietra e Legname, con Quattro Santi Coronati di Nanni di Banco. Orsanmichele, Firenze.
Date: 1408.
Source: it:Utente:MM, own picture (April 2005).
Author: Nanni di Banco (Italian, 1375–1421).
(Wikimedia Commons)

These Saints were four brothers, whose names remained long unknown. They were called “The Four Crowned” because they received The Palm of Martyrdom and were Crowned in Heaven, 304 A.D.

Mass: Intret.

Basilica of The Holy Four Crowned Martyrs.
Basilica dei ss Quattro Coronati.
Available on YouTube

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

The designation "Four Crowned Martyrs" or “Four Holy Crowned Ones” (in Latin, Sancti Quatuor Coronati), actually refers to nine separate Martyrs, divided into two groups:

First Group: Severus (or Secundius); Severian(us); Carpophorus (Carpoforus); Victorinus (Victorius, Vittorinus).

Second Group: Claudius; Castorius; Symphorian (Simpronian); Nicostratus; and Simplicius.

According to the Golden Legend, the names of the members of the First Group were not known at the time of their death “but were learned through the Lord’s revelation after many years had passed." They were called the “Four Crowned Martyrs”, because their names were unknown (“Crown” referring to the Crown of Martyrdom).



The Martyrdom of the Four Crowned Martyrs.
Painting by Mario Minniti, in San Pietro dal Carmine, Siracusa, Sicily.
Date: Circa 1620.
Author: Minitti, Mario.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Severus (or Secundius), Severian(us), Carpophorus, Victorinus were Martyred at Rome, or Castra Albana, according to Christian Tradition.

According to the Passion of Saint Sebastian, the four Saints were soldiers (specifically “Cornicularii”, or Clerks, in charge of all the Regiment’s records and paperwork), who refused to sacrifice to Aesculapius, and therefore were killed by order of Emperor Diocletian (284 A.D. - 305 A.D.), two years after the death of the five sculptors. The bodies of the Martyrs were buried in the Cemetery of Santi Marcellino e Pietro, on the fourth mile of via Labicana, by Pope Miltiades and Saint Sebastian (whose skull is preserved in the Church).

The Second Group, according to Christian Tradition, were sculptors from Sirmium, who were killed in Pannonia. They refused to fashion a pagan statue for the Emperor Diocletian or to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods. The Emperor ordered them to be placed alive in lead coffins and thrown into the sea, about 287 A.D. Simplicius was killed with them.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “the Acts of these Martyrs, written by a Revenue Officer, named “Porphyrius”, probably in the 4th-Century A.D., relates to the five sculptors that, although they raised no objections to executing such profane images as Victoria, Cupid, and the Chariot of the Sun, they refused to make a statue of Æsculapius, for a heathen temple. For this they were condemned to death as Christians. They were put into leaden caskets and drowned in The River Save. This happened towards the end of 305 A.D.”



English: Stained-Glass Window of the “Four Crowned Martyrs” in the Assumption Church of Samoëns
(Haute-Savoie, France).
Français: Vitrail (1982) dit des “Quatre Couronnés” dans l’église de l’Assomption à Samoëns (Haute-Savoie).
Les fr:Quatre Saints couronnés sont les patrons
de la confrérie des maçons de Samoëns.
Photo: 29 August 2013.
Source: Own work.
Author: Tangopaso
(Wikimedia Commons)

When the names of the First Group were learned, it was decreed that they should be Commemorated with the Second Group. The bodies of the First Group were interred by Saint Sebastian and Pope Melchiades (Miltiades) at the third milestone on the Via Labicana, in a sandpit where rested the remains of other executed Christians. According to tradition, since the names of the Four Martyred Soldiers could not be authentically established, Pope Melchiades commanded that, since the date of their deaths (8 November) was the same as that of the Second Group, their anniversary should be celebrated on that day.

It is unclear where the names of the Second Group actually come from. The tradition states that Pope Melchiades asked that the Saints be Commemorated as Claudius, Nicostratus, Simpronian, and Castorius. These same names actually are identical to names shared by converts of Polycarp the Priest, in the legend of Saint Sebastian.



Entrance of San Silvestro Chapel, at the Basilica 
dei SS. Quattro Coronati, Rome, Italy, with painting 
of The Four Crowned Martyrs.
Date: Circa 1570.
Source: www.universitadeimarmorari.it/ 
universita.html.
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “this report has no historic foundation. It is merely a tentative explanation of the name Quatuor Coronati, a name given to a group of really authenticated Martyrs, who were buried and venerated in the Catacomb of Saints Peter and Marcellinus, the real origin of which, however, is not known. They were classed with the Five Martyrs of Pannonia in a purely external relationship.”

The bodies of the Martyrs are kept in four ancient sarcophagi, in the Crypt of Santi Marcellino e Pietro. According to a lapid, dated 1123, the head of one of the four Martyrs is buried in Santa-Maria-in-Cosmedin.


Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati, Rome.
Photo: 10 November 2005.
Source: Own work.
Author: Lalupa.
(Wikimedia Commons)

In the 4th- and 5th-Centuries A.D., a Basilica (the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati) was erected and dedicated in honour of these Martyrs on the Caelian Hill, probably in the general area where Tradition located their execution. This became one of the Titular Churches of Rome and was restored several times.

The Four Crowned Martyrs were Venerated early on in England, with Saint Bede noting that there was a Church Dedicated to them in Canterbury. This Veneration can perhaps be accounted for by the fact that Augustine of Canterbury came from a Monastery near the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati, in Rome, or because their Relics were sent from Rome to England in 601 A.D.

Their connection with stone-masonry, in turn, connected them to the Freemasons. One of the scholarly journals of the English Freemasons was called Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, and the Stonemasons of Germany adopted them as Patron Saints of “Operative Masonry.”

The Octave Day Of All Saints’ Day. 8 November. And All-Hallowtide. White Vestments.


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

The Octave Day Of All Saints’ Day.
   8 November.
   And All-Hallowtide.

Greater-Double.

White Vestments.


The Church Triumphant.
The Church Militant.
The Church Suffering.
Illustration from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
who reproduce Text and Illustrations from
The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
1952 Edition,
with the kind permission of
Artist: René de Cramer.
“Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium”.
Used with Permission.



“All-Hallowtide”.
Available on YouTube


This Text is from the YouTube production of
JMJHFPRODUCTIONS ☩ J.M.J.☩

All-Hallows’ Eve (31 October), All Saints’ Day (also known 
as All-Hallow’s Day) (1 November), and All Souls’ Day 
(2 November) are referred to as All-Hallowtide and are a time of honouring the Saints and Praying for all departed Souls.

The term “Hallow” means “Holy”. It is recited in The Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name” (Mt 6:9).

All-Hallows’ Eve http://www.fisheaters.com/customstime...

Indulgences for the Holy Souls In Purgatory: The month of November is dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory and is a privileged time to Pray for them. 

The Church Commemorates all her Faithful children, who have departed from this life, but have not yet attained the joys of Heaven.

Saint Paul warns us that we must not be ignorant concerning the dead, nor sorrowful, “even as others who have no hope . . . the Lord, Himself, shall come down from Heaven . . . and the Dead, who are in Christ, shall rise.”


The Church has always taught us to Pray for those who have gone into Eternity. Even in the Old Testament, Prayers and Alms were offered for the Souls of the Dead by those who thought “well and Religiously concerning the Resurrection.” 

It was believed that “they, who had fallen asleep with Godliness, had great Grace laid up for them”, and that “it is, therefore, a Holy and wholesome thought to Pray for the Dead, that they may be loosed from sins.”

We know that a defiled Soul cannot enter into Heaven. God, Lord of Mercies, grant to the Souls of Your servants and handmaids, the place of refreshment, the bliss of Eternal Rest, and the splendour of Your Light.

Amen.


From 1 November to 8 November, if we visit a Cemetery in a spirit of piety and devotion, and Pray, even just mentally, for the Dead, we may gain a Plenary Indulgence for one Holy Soul on each Day of the Octave (on the usual conditions). This special Indulgence is only applicable to the Dead.

We can Pray any of the Raccolta Prayers: Numbered 582-600, to accomplish this end, and especially the “Dies Iræ” Sequence (Raccolta: Number 587).

[Editor: From Wikipedia: The Raccolta (literally, “collection” in Italian) is a book, published from 1807 to 1950, that listed Roman Catholic Prayers and other Acts of Piety, such as Novenas, for which specific Indulgences were granted by Popes.

[In 1968, it was replaced by the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, listing fewer specific Prayers, but including new general grants that apply to a wide range of Prayerful actions. The Text was in Italian, with the Prayers given in Latin.]


Using a Traditional Missal, one can Pray a number of the Prayers from the 2 November Mass or a Requiem Mass. 

In the Catholic Bible (Douay Rheims), it is ideal to Pray Psalm 129 “the De Profundis”. Also, on 2 November, we can gain a Plenary Indulgence for the Holy Souls by visiting a Church and piously Praying for the Dead, (One “Our Father” and “Creed” suffice), and fulfilling all the usual conditions for a Plenary Indulgence.

The usual conditions for a Plenary Indulgence are:

1.    Pray for the Pope (usually one Our Father and one Hail Mary);

2.    Worthily receive Holy Communion on the day of the Indulgence;

3.    Make a Sacramental Confession within a week (before or after);

4. Be free from all attachment to Sin, even Venial Sin. A sincere and devout act of the will to this end suffices.

* If we fail in the usual conditions, there is still merit in our good Pious Act, but usually only amounts to a Partial Indulgence.

It should be noted that, according to Traditional Church Discipline and Practice, Fasting and Partial Abstinence are OBLIGATORY on the Vigil of Pentecost and ALL SAINTS’ DAY.


To read more about what The Catholic Church Traditionally teaches on Fasting and Abstinence, visit this Web-Site: http://www.fisheaters.com/fasting.html

NOVEMBER: DEVOTION TO THE HOLY SOULS. From Fr. Schouppe’s book, entitled “Purgatory”: “There is in Purgatory, as in Hell, a double pain - the pain of loss and the pain of sense.

The pain of loss consists in being deprived for a time of the sight of God. It is a moral thirst which torments our Soul. The pain of sense, of sensible suffering, is the same as that which we experience in our flesh.” (p.32).


“Speaking in general, the Doctors [of The Church] agree in saying that the pains are most excruciating. The same fire, says Saint Gregory, torments the Damned and purifies the Elect. 

“Almost all Theologians”, says Saint Robert Bellarmine, “teach that the Reprobate and the Souls in Purgatory suffer the action of the same fire.” 

“It must be held as certain, writes the same Bellarmine, that there is no proportion between the sufferings of this life and those of Purgatory.

“Saint Augustine declares precisely the same. They will be saved, no doubt, after the Trial of Fire, but that Trial will be terrible, that torment will be more intolerable than all the most excruciating sufferings in this World. 

“Behold what Saint Augustine says, and what Saint Gregory, Venerable Bede, Saint Anselm, and Saint Bernard, have said, after him. 


“Saint Thomas Aquinas goes even further; he maintains that the least pain of Purgatory surpasses all the sufferings of this life, whatsoever they may be.” (pp 33-34).

Let us, therefore, offer fervent Prayers for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Monthly Tridentine Masses are offered for all our Benefactors, who are also remembered in our Daily Prayers.

Deo grátias !

Thank you !

Please visit our GoFundMe page; http://www.gofundme.com/bpq7mo


The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

The custom of celebrating, during eight days, The Feast of All Saints was established by Pope Sixtus IV in 1430 for the Universal Church.

Let us realise the part played by the Liturgy of The Church initiating us into the Liturgy of Heaven. “As daughter of those very Choirs that are continually singing before the Throne of God and the Lamb,” said Pope Saint Pius X, as well as Pope Urban VIII, “it is proper that Divine Psalmody, by which the Spouse [Editor: The Church] consoles herself during her exile for the absence of her Divine Lord, should be without fault or stain.”

Mass: As on the Feast Day.
Commemoration: The Holy Four Crowned Martyrs.

07 November, 2026

“It Is A Holy Thought And Profitable To Salvation To Pray For The Dead, That They May Be Released From Sin”.



“The Day Of The Dead”
Artist: William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905).
Date: 1859.
(Wikimedia Commons)


“We Will Remember Them”. The Union Jack Club And The Military Wives Choirs Pay Their Own Tributes To The Fallen.



Armistice Day.

Every year, The Union Jack Club has its own Act of Remembrance to The Fallen. Keep an eye on The Union Jack Club’s Web-Site to find out what’s happening and when.

The Web-Site can be accessed

We Shall Remember Them.

Plus, with Remembrance Day approaching,
 The Military Wives Choirs pay their own 
special tribute to our Armed Forces.

The Military Wives Choirs 
are something very, very, special.
Listen to them here:


“Wherever You Are”.
Sung By: The Military Wives Choirs.
Available On YouTube

and


“Abide With Me”.
Sung By: The Military Wives Choirs.
Available On YouTube

“We Will Remember Them”. The Union Jack Club Pays Tribute To The Fallen. Plus, The Military Wives Choirs.



Armistice Day.

On Saturday, 11 November 2023, The Union Jack Club’s own Act of Remembrance took place and you can now watch on the LINK (see, below) to see the eighty-metre-high animations, 
in all their jaw-dropping glory !

We thank the Military Wives Choirs for their kind permission to use the accompanying music, so please make sure your sound is on to enjoy the full effect.


To see this beautiful video, please click on the link HERE

“Cherish”. Sung By: Kool & The Gang.



“Cherish”.
Sung By: Kool & The Gang.
Available on YouTube

Pope Urban VII. Shortest Papal Reign In History.




English: Illustration of Pope Urban VII.
Italiano: Papa Urbano VII.
Date: 1590.
Source: BWEB
Author: Roman Painter.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

Pope Urban VII (Latin: Urbanus VII; who lived 4 August 1521 – 27 September 1590), born Giovanni Battista Castagna, was head of The Catholic Church, and Ruler of The Papal States from 15 September 1590 to 27 September 1590. His thirteen-day Papacy is the shortest in history.

Giovanni Battista Castagna was born in Rome in 1521 to a noble family as the son of Cosimo Castagna of Genoa and Costanza Ricci Giacobazzi of Rome.[1]

Castagna studied in universities all across Italy and obtained a Doctorate in Civil Law and Canon Law when he finished his studies at The University of Bologna. Soon after, he became Auditor of his uncle, Cardinal Girolamo Verallo, whom he accompanied as Datary on a Papal Legation to France.[1]



He served as a Constitutional Lawyer and entered the 
Roman Curia during the Pontificate of Pope Julius III as the Referendary of The Apostolic Signatura. Castagna was chosen to be the new Archbishop of Rossano on 1 March 1553, and he would quickly receive all the Minor and Major Orders culminating in his Ordination to the Priesthood on 30 March 1553 in Rome. He then received Episcopal Consecration, a month after, at the home of Cardinal Verallo.

He served as the Governor of Fano from 1555 to 1559 and 
later served as the Governor of Perugia and Umbria from 
1559 to 1560. During the Reign of Pope Pius IV, he settled satisfactorily a long-standing boundary dispute between the inhabitants of Terni and Spoleto.[1] Castagna would later participate in The Council of Trent from 1562 to 1563 and served as the President of several Conciliar Congregations.

He was appointed as The Apostolic Nuncio to Spain in 1565 and served there until 1572, resigning his Post from his Archdiocese a year later. He also served as The Governor of Bologna from 1576 to 1577. Among other positions, he was The Apostolic Nuncio to Venice from 1573 to 1577 and served also as The Papal Legate to Flanders and Cologne from 1578 to 1580.

Pope Gregory XIII elevated him to the Cardinalate on 
12 December 1583 and he was appointed as The Cardinal-Priest of San Marcello.


After the death of Pope Sixtus V, a Conclave was convoked to elect a successor. Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, had been appointed a Cardinal at the age of fourteen, but was never Ordained to The Priesthood.

At the age of thirty-eight, he resigned the Cardinalate upon the death of his older brother, Francesco, in 1587, in order to succeed to the Title. (There were suspicions that Francesco and his wife died of arsenic poisoning after having dined at Fernando’s Villa Medici, although one story has Fernando as the intended target of his sister-in-law.)

Ferdinando’s foreign policy attempted to free Tuscany from Spanish domination. He was consequently opposed to the election of any candidate supported by Spain. He persuaded Cardinal Alessandro Peretti di Montalto, grand-nephew of Pope Sixtus V to switch his support from Cardinal Marco Antonio Colonna, which brought the support of the younger Cardinals appointed by the Late-Sixtus.[2]

Castagna, a seasoned diplomat of moderation and proven rectitude, was elected as Pope on 15 September 1590 and selected the Pontifical name of “Urban VII”.[2]


Pope Urban VII’s short passage in Office gave rise to the world's first-known public smoking ban, as he threatened to excommunicate anyone who “took tobacco in the Porchway of, or inside, a Church, whether it be by chewing it, smoking it with a pipe, or sniffing it in powdered form through the nose”.[3]

Pope Urban VII was known for his charity to the poor. He subsidised Roman bakers, so they could sell bread under cost, and restricted the spending on luxury items for Members of his Court. He also subsidised Public Works projects throughout The Papal States. Urban VII was strictly against nepotism and he forbade it within The Roman Curia.[4]

Urban VII died in Rome on 27 September 1590, shortly before midnight, of malaria. He had reigned for thirteen days. He was buried in The Vatican. The funeral oration was delivered by Pompeo Ugonio. His remains were later Transferred to the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, on 21 September 1606.

His estate, valued at 30,000 scudi, was bequeathed to the Archconfraternity of The Annunciation, for use as dowries for poor young girls.





English: Pope Urban VII's Coat-of-Arms.
Français: Armoiries du pape Urbain VII : bandé de gueules et d'argent, au chef de gueules, chargé d'une feuille de châtaignier d'or, et soutenu d'une divise d’or
Source du blasonnement :
Date: 9 August 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Odejea
(Wikimedia Commons)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...