Pope Gregory XIII

Pope Gregory XIII (Latin: Gregorius XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was the head of the Catholic Church from 13 May 1572 to his death in 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally accepted civil calendar to this date.

Pope Gregory XIII
Bishop of Rome
Diocese	Rome
See	Holy See
Papacy began	13 May 1572
Papacy ended	10 April 1585
Predecessor	Pius V
Successor	Sixtus V
Previous post(s)	Bishop of Vieste (1558–1560) Legate to Spain (1565) Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura (1565) Cardinal-Priest of San Sisto Vecchio (1565–1572)
Orders
Ordination	c. 1558
Consecration	1558
Created cardinal	12 March 1565 by Pius IV
Personal details
Born	Ugo Boncompagni 7 January 1502 Bologna, Papal States
Died	10 April 1585 (aged 83) Rome, Papal States
Motto	Aperuit et clausit ("Opened and closed")
Coat of arms
Other popes named Gregory

Early life

Ugo Boncompagni was born in 1502, in Bologna.^[1]

Bishop

Pope Paul IV appointed him Bishop of Viesti in 1558.^[1]

Cardinal

In 1564, he was made a cardinal by Pope Pius IV.^[1]

Pope

Cardinal Boncompagni was elected Pope at age 70;^[2] and he chose to be called Gregory XIII.

Pope Gregory was involved in Italian and European political disputes.^[1]

He founded the Gregorian University in Rome.^[3]

In the last year of his life, Gregory received an embassy from Japan.^[2]

Gregorian calendar

Pope Gregory is famous for his correction of mistakes in the Julian calendar. To accomplish the necessary changes, the Gregorian calendar skipped ten days between 4 October 1582 and 15 October 1582.^[4]

• 1582 – Gregorian calendar reset, when 4 October was followed by 15 October.^[5]

Related pages

• List of popes