SKARGA
34
SKARGA
symbol of his forced inactivity during the reign of
Gregory XIII and the remarkable energy which he
displayed during the five years of his pontificate. He
was a born ruler and especially suited to stem the tide
of disorder and lawlessness which had broken out
towards the end of the reign of Gregory XIII. Hav-
ing obtained the co-operation of the neighbouring
states, he exterminated, often with excessive cruelty,
the system of brigandage which had reached immense
proportions and terrorized the whole of Italy. The
number of bandits in and about Rome at the death of
Gregory XIII has been variously estimated at from
twelve to twenty-seven thousand, and in little more
than two years after the accession of Sixtus V the
Papal States had become the most secure country in
Europe.
Of almost equal importance with the extermination of the bandits was, in the opinion of Sixtus V, the rear- rangement of the papal finances. At his accession the papal exchequer was empty. Acting on his favourite principle that riches as well as severity are necessary for good government, he used every available means to replenish the state treasury. So successful was he in the accumulation of money that, despite his enor- mous expenditures for public buildings, he had shortly before his death deposited in the Castello di Sant' Angelo three million scudi in gold and one million six hundred thousand in silver. He did not consider that in the long run so much dead capital withdrawn from circulation was certain to impoverish the country and deal the death-blow to commerce and industry. To obtain such vast sums he economized everywhere, except in works of architecture; increased the number of salable public offices; imposed more taxes and ex- tended the monti, or public loans, that had been insti- tuted by Clement VII. Though extremely econom- ical in other ways, Sixtus V spent immense sums in erection of public works. He built the Lateran Palace ; completed theQuirinal; restored the Church of Santa Sabina on theAventine; rebuilt the Church and Hos- pice of San Girolamo dei Schiavoni ; enlarged and im- proved the Sapienza; founded the hospice for the poor near the Ponte Sisto; built and richly ornamented the Chapel of the Cradle in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore; completed the cupola of St. Peter's; raised the obelisks of the Vatican, of Santa Maria Maggiore, of the Lateran, and of Santa Maria del Popolo; re- stored the columns of Trajan and of Antoninus Pius, placing the statue of St. Peter on the former and that of St. Paul on the latter; erected the Vatican Library with its adjoining printing-office and that wing of the Vatican Palace which is inhabited by the pope; built many magnificent streets; erected various monas- teries; and supphed Rome with water, the "Acqua Felice", which he brought to the city over a distance of twenty miles, partly underground, partly on elevated aqueducts. At Bologna he founded the Collegio Mon- talto for fifty students from the March of Ancona.
Far-reaching were the reforms which Sixtus V in- troduced in the management of ecclesiastical affairs. On 3 Dec, 1.5S0, he issued the Bull "Postquam verus", fixing the number of cardinals at seventy, namely, six cardinal-bishops, fifty cardinal-priests, and fourteen cardinal-deacons. Before his pontificate, ecclesiasti- cal business was generally discharged by the pope in consistory with the cardinals. There were, indeed, a few permanent cardinalitial congregations, but the sphere of their competency was very limited. In his Bull "Immen.sa :rterni Dei", of 11 February, 1,588, he established fifteen i)ernianent congregations, some of which were concerned with spiritual, others with tem- poral affairs. Thoy were the Congregations: (1) of the Inquisition; (2) of the Segnatura; (.3) for the Estab- lishment of Churches; (1) of Rites and Ceremonies; (5) of the Index of Forbidden Books; (fi) of the Coun- cil of Trent; (7) of the Regulars; (8) of the Bishops; (9) of the Vatican Press; (10) of the Annona, for the
provisioning of Rome and the provinces; (11) of the
Navy; (12) of the Public Welfare; (13) of the Sapi-
enza; (14) of Roads, Bridges, and Waters; (15) of
State Consultations. These congregations lessened
the work of the pope, without in any way limiting his
authority. The final decision belonged to the pope.
In the creation of cardinals Sixtus V was, as a rule,
guided by their good qualities. The only suspicion of
nepotism with which he might be reproached was giv-
ing the purple to his fourteen-year-old grand-nephew
Alessandro, who, however, did honour to the Sacred
College and never wielded an undue influence.
In 1.588 he issued from the Vatican Press an edi- tion of the Septuagint revised according to a Vatican MS. His edition of the Vulgate, printed shortly be- fore his death, was withdrawn from circulation on account of its many errors, corrected, and reissued in 1592 (see Bellarmine, Robert Francis Romulus, Venerable). Though a friend of the Jesuits, he ob- jected to some of their rules and especially to the title "Society of Jesus". He was on the point of changing these when death overtook him. A statue which had been erected in his honour on the Capitol during his lifetime was torn down by the rabble immediately upon his death. (For his relations with the various temporal rulers and his attempts to stem the tide of Protestantism, see Counter-Reformation, The.)
Vo.v HuBNER, Sizle-Qidnt (P,lris, 1870), tr. Jernixgham (London, 1872): Balzani, Rome under Sixtus V in Cambridge Modern History, III (London, 1903). 422-35; Robardi, Sijr(t F gesta quinquennalia (Rome, 1590): Leti, Vita di Sisto V (Losanna, 1069), tr. Farneworth (London, 1754), unreliable: Tempesti. Storia delta vita e geste di Sisto V (Rome, 1755): Cesare, Vita di Sisto V (Naples. 1755): Lorentz, Siitus V und seine Zeit (Mainz, 1852): Dcmesnil, Hist, de Sixte-Quint (Paris, 1869): Capranica, Papa Sisto, storia del s. XVI (Milan, i884) : Graziani, Sisto V e la riorganizzazione delta s. Sede (Rome, 1910); Gozzadini. Giovanni Pepoli e Sisto V (Bologna, 1879); Segretain, Sixle-Quinl et Henri IV (Paris, 1861); CuGNONI, Memorie autografe di Papa Sisto V in Archivio delta Soc. Romana di storia patria (Rome, 1882); Benadduci, Sisto V. Dodici lettere i/iedite (Tolentino, 1888): Dalla Sa.n'ta, Un documento inedito per la storia di Sisto V (Venice. 1896) ; Rosai- ScOTTi, Pompilio Eusebi da Perugia e Sisto papa V (Perugia, 1893): Paoli, Sisto V e i banditi (Sassari, 1902); Harper in Amer. Calh. Quarterly Review, III (Philadelphia, 1878), 498-521.
Mich.^el Ott.
Skarga, Peter, theologian and missionary, b. at Grojec, 1536; d. at Cracow, 27 Sept., 1612. He began his education in his native town in 1552; he went to study in Cracow and afterwards in War- saw. In 1557 he was in Vienna as tutor to the young Castellan, Teczynski; returning thence in 1564, he received Holy orders, and later was nominated canon of Lemberg Cathedral. Here he began to preach his famous sermons, and to convert Protes- tants. In 1568 he entered the Society of Jesus and went to Rome, where he became penitentiary for the Polish language at St. Peter's. Returning to Poland, he worked in the Jesuit colleges of Pultusk and Wilna, where he converted a multitude of Protestants, Calvinism being at the time prevalent in those parts. To this end he first published some works of contro- versy; and in 1576, in order to convince the numer- ous schismatics in Poland, he issued his great treatise "On the Unity of the Church of God", which did much good then, and is even now held in great es- teem. It powerfully promoted the cause of the Union. King Stephen Bilthori prized Skarga greatly, often profited by his aid and advice, took him on one of his expeditions, and made him rector of the Academy of Wilna, founded in 1578. In 1584 he was sent to Cracow as superior, and founded there the Brother- hood of Mercy and the "Mons pietatis", meanwhile effecting numerous conversions. He was appointed court preacher by Sigismund III in 1588, and for twenty-four years filled this post to the great advan- tage of the ("Church and the nation. In 15% the Ruthonian Church wa-s united with Rome, largely through his efforts. AMien the nobles, headed by Zebrzydow.ski, revolted against Sigismund III,
