Urban VIII

Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini (1568-1644) was a member of a wealthy family of Florentine merchants. Trained by the Jesuits and having obtained his law degree, he made his way in the administration of the Papal States, reaching the post of apostolic nuncio in Paris. In 1606 he was appointed cardinal by Pope Paul V (1552-1621), two years after he became bishop of Spoleto. In 1623, after the death of Gregory XV (1554-1623), was elected pope under the name of Urban VIII. His pontificate, which coincided with the middle phase of the Thirty Years War, saw a foreign policy that was characterized by a position which was favourable to France and against Spain. His attempt to regain the Duchy of Castro was unsuccessful and he decreed the devolution of the Duchy of Urbino to the State of the Church. A lover of the arts and powerful patron, Pope Urban VIII left his mark on Baroque Rome, for example with the famous bronze baldachin by Bernini in Saint Peter’s Basilica. Under his pontificate the second trial against Galileo was held, and it was he who declared Filippo Neri and Ignatius of Loyola saints, among others.