25 Most Evil People of the 16th Century CE

Key Facts

Other names	Ugo Boncompagni
Born	1502
Location	Bologna, Italy
Bloodline
Married	Mistress, Maddalena Fulchini
Children	Giacomo Boncompagni
Position	Pope (1572-1585)
Died	April 10, 1585 (aged 83)

Source of Facts and Important Announcement

Status	Under Article 64.6 of the Covenant of One-Heaven (Pactum De Singularis Caelum) by Special Qualification shall be known as a Saint, with all sins and evil acts they performed forgiven.
Date of formal Beatification	Day of Redemption UCA[E1:Y1:A1:S1:M9:D1] also known as Fri, 21 Dec 2012.
Source of Facts	Self Confession and Revelation of Sainthood by the Deceased Spirit as condition of their confirmation as a true Saint.

Background

He was born in the city of Bologna, where he studied law and graduated in 1530. Afterwards, he taught jurisprudence for some years; his students included notable figures such as Alexander Farnese, Reginald Pole and Charles Borromeo.

At the age of thirty-six he was summoned to Rome by Pope Paul III (1534–1549), under whom he held successive appointments as first judge of the capital, abbreviator, and vice-chancellor of the Campagna; by Pope Paul IV (1555–1559) he was attached as datarius to the suite of Cardinal Carafa; and by Pope Pius IV (1559–1565) he was created cardinal priest and sent to the council of Trent.

He also served as a legate to Philip II of Spain (1556–1598), being sent by the Pope to investigate the Cardinal of Toledo. It was here that he formed a lasting and close relationship with the Spanish King, which was to become very important during his foreign policy as Pope.

Within 24 hours of the death of Pope Pius V in May 1572, upon the influence of the Spanish crown, Ugo Boncompagni was elected Pope Gregory VIII.

One of the first acts of Pope Gregory XIII on seizing the throne was to appoint his son Giacomo Boncompagni a Cardinal at age 24 and prefect of Castel Sant'Angelo. Pope Gregory VIII also made his son General Governor of the Papal Army. In 1576 he later appointed his son Governor of Fermo. In 1579 he was made Duke of Sora a position that continued with descendents of Pope Gregory XIII until 1796.

A Pope active in international and domestic affairs, he encouraged the plans of Phillip II to dethrone Elizabeth I of England (1558–1603) thus succeeded in developing an atmosphere of subversion and imminent danger among English Protestants, who looked on any Roman Catholic as a potential traitor.

In 1578, to further the plans of exiled English and Irish catholics such as Nicholas Sanders William Cardinal Allen and James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, Gregory armed adventurer Thomas Stukeley providing a ship and an army of 800 men to land in Ireland to aid in the hoped for overthrow of Elizabeth's rule through the Catholic leader and former leader of the first Desmond rebellion, Fitzmaurice. When Stukeley failed to follow through, Pope Gregory VIII commissioned Jesuit Dominic O'Collins and 50 militia as a second mission in 1579, which failed totally, with O'Collins and the Jesuit milita being captured and executed.

In France, Pope Gregory XIII funded and supported the actions of Charles IX in slaughtering tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children known as the Huguenots. On the same day when over 20,000 Huguenots were massacred, Pope Gregory VIII celebrated a Te Deum at Mass in Rome. He later commissioned three frescoes depicting the events in the Sala Regia of the Vatican Palace commended to painter Giorgio Vasari and a commemorative medal, with his portrait and on the obverse a chastising angel, sword in hand and the legend UGONOTTORUM STRAGES ("Slaughter of the Huguenots ").

Most Evil Crimes

List of most evil crimes

Type	Year	Crime
		Of crimes against humanity: (1572) St Bartholomew's Day Catholic troops of Charles IX sweep through Paris slaughtering between 10,000 and 20,000 Huguenots (Protestants); an estimated 700,000 flee during campaign.
		Of moral indignity, depravity and inhumanity: (1572) That Pope Gregory XIII writes to France's Charles IX of Huguenot massacre: "We rejoice with you that with the help of God you have relieved the world of these wretched heretics".
		Of murder: (1580) 879 heresy trials are recorded in late 1500s after Spanish Christians bring Inquisition to Mexico.
		Of murder: (1582) Avignon 18 individuals are burned as witches under Grand Inquisitor Sebastian Michaelis at Avignon, France.
		Of murder: (1583) Vienna Viennese grandmother is tortured then burned alive after Jesuits claim she cursed her 16-year-old granddaughter with 12,652 demons "kept as flies".


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