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Bible Encyclopedias
Pius V
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or pope of Rome, succeeded Pius IV in 1566. His family name was Michele Ghisleri; he was born of low descent, Jan. 17, 1504, at Bosco, not far from Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. Early in life he entered the Dominican order, and devoted himself soul and body to the monkish piety which his order demanded. He sided with the strict party professing the old opinions, and especially distinguished himself by his zeal in support of the Inquisition, of which tribunal he, as pope, became one of the leading members. As the tendency to which he attached himself triumphed, he rose with the ascendency which it gained. Pope Paul IV spoke of friar Michele as "an eminent servant of God, and much to be honored." He made him bishop of Nepi, and in 1557 cardinal. In this new dignity Ghisleri continued as before, severe in his manner of life, poor and unpretending. He devoted himself to his religious exercises and to the Inquisition. He was austere in his morals, and wished to enforce a strict discipline among the clergy, and especially the monks and nuns, more than fifty thousand of whom are said to have been at that time living and strolling about Italy out of their respective convents, regardless of any of the obligations enjoined by their order (Botta, Storia d' Italia, bk. 12). There was also a monastic order in Lombardy called the "Umiliati," possessed of considerable wealth, the heads of which led openly a most dissolute life, and even kept bravoes or hired assassins to execute their mandates. Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan, who endeavored to check these atrocities, was shot at by one of the monks while at prayers in his oratory. The ball, however, only grazed the skin: the assassin was taken, and revealed his employers, and several preposti or superiors of convents of the Umiliati, were executed. Pius V, having examined the whole affair, suppressed the order, and gave their property to the Jesuits and other orders. He also enforced the authority of the Inquisition over all Italy. There were at that time in several towns, especially in Tuscany, some scholars and other men of learning who advocated the doctrines of the Reformation. Some ladies, also, of high rank, who enjoyed a reputation for learning, such as Vittoria Colonna, Giulia Gonzaga, and Margaret, the wife of Emmanuel Philibert, duke of Savoy, were suspected of a similar bias. Pius demanded of Cosmo, duke of Florence, the person of Carnesecchi, a Florentine nobleman who made a public profession of opinions considered as heretical; being given up to the Inquisition, he was put to death at Rome.
The same happened to Paleario, Bartocci, and Giuiio Zanetti; the last, who was at Padua, being given up to the pope by the Venetian senate, on the plea that he was a native of Fano, and a subject of the Papal States. Numerous informers were kept by the Inquisition in every town of Italy; and such was the terror produced by these severities that the University of Pisa was almost deserted both by teachers and students. The pope also enforced the strict observance of the index of forbidden books, and enacted severe penalties against those who printed or introduced or kept such books. The printing presses of Italy, those of Giunti of Florence, and others, declined greatly in consequence, and many printers emigrated to Switzerland or Germany. Pius V likewise enforced the canons against those priests who kept concubines; but instead of leaving to the civil magistrates the repression of this abuse, he insisted upon the bishops acting both as magistrates and judges, attached armed men to their episcopal courts, and provided prisons for the punishment of offenders. Thus frequent collisions were occasioned between the secular and the ecclesiastical authorities, especially at Naples and Milan. Similar disputes took place also concerning the ecclesiastical inspectors and collectors sent by the pope to visit and demand accounts of all Church property throughout Italy. Pius proceeded on the principle asserted in the false decretals that the pope has the disposal of all the clerical benefices throughout the world. Hence he was also led to reintroduce the famous bull called "In coena Domini," which excommunicates all princes, magistrates, and other men in authority who in any way favor heresy, or who attempt to circumscribe the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, spiritual and temporal, or to touch the property or revenues of the Church; and all those who appeal from the decision of the pope to the general council, as well as those who say that the pope is subject to the council. He ordered this bull, so ultramontane in spirit and tendency, to be read every Thursday before Easter in every parish church throughout the Christian world. France, Spain, and the emperor of Germany strenuously resisted the publication of this bull. In Italy the senate of Venice likewise forbade its publication. At Naples and Milan the Spanish governors did the same, but the bishops and monks refused absolution to those who in any way opposed the bull. After much altercation and some mischief, the civil power attained its object, and the bull was set aside. In Tuscany the bull was allowed to be published, but rather as a matter of form than as a measure upon which judicial proceedings could be grounded. The monks and some of the parochial clergy, however, pretended by virtue of the bull to be exempt from all taxes, and refused the sacrament to the collectors and other revenue officers and their families. The duke of Florence, Cosmoo de Medici, threatened to put the monks in prison and prosecute them.
The Tuscan bishops tried to conciliate matters, and to repress the arrogance of the clergy, but the disturbances continued till the death of Pius V. To conciliate the Tuscan house, Pius created Cosmo de Medici, duke of Florence, by a bull dated Aug., 1569, grand-duke, and his successors heirs to the title, and sent with the bull the model of a crown ornamented with a red lily, the former ensign of the Florentine republic. In the struggle with the Saracens, Pius was a great promoter of the Christian league; and after the glorious victory of Lepanto, won by the Christian combined fleet against the Turks in Sept., 1571, Pius caused Marc Antonio Colonna, commander of the papal galleys, who had distinguished himself in the battle, to make his triumphal entry into Rome on horseback, preceded by the Turkish captives and spoils, and accompanied by the magistrates, noblemen, and heads of trades of the city of Rome. Pius died in May 1572, and was succeeded by Gregory XIII (q.v.). Pius V was canonized by pope Clement XI in 1713.
Though a truly pious man, seeking only the good of the Church, he yet failed, because extremely obstinate in maintaining his opinions. There was no getting him to retract even for the strongest reasons. He was opinionated; and whatever estimate he made he was sure to adhere to inflexibly. Unfortunately he suspected most men, and was not, therefore, very charitable towards any who incurred his displeasure. Besides, he was often disappointed; for a character so stern was sure to make demands no one could meet, and hence he frequently alienated men, until his popedom proved nothing but an annoyance to its ruler, and he was led to declare that it was not propitious to his piety; that it contributed nothing to the salvation of his soul, or to his obtaining the glory of paradise (Ranke, 1, 262). His religion was certainly of a strange composition. He was so exclusive and bigoted as to cherish a bitter hatred against all Christians who differed from him in matters of faith; and while he strove with indefatigable zeal to root our every vestige of dissenting agitation that yet survived in Roman Catholic countries, he persecuted with a still more savage, inveteracy Protestants, whether such as had become free or those still struggling to be so. Thus he gave the papal troops who fought against the Huguenots the injunction "to take no prisoners, but to put all to death," and signified his approbation of Alva's sanguinary proceedings by sending him a consecrated hat and sword. Queen Elizabeth of England he put under ban, and Maximilian II he threatened with excommunication if he should grant toleration (religious) to the Protestants. Surely this was a medley of simplicity, nobleness, personal strictness, devoted religiousness, and morose exclusiveness, of bitter hate and bloody persecution. See Walch, Entwurfeiner vollst. Geschichtk der rom. Papste, p. 392 sq.; Catena, Vita del gloriosissimo papa Pio V; Ranke, Papacy, 1, 259-277; Agatio di Somma, Vida de Pio Quinto; Furillet, Vie du Pape Pie V (1674); Falloux, Hist. de Saint Pie V (1844, 2 vols.); Mendham, Life and Pontificate of Saint Pius V (Lond. 1832, 1844); Bower, Hist. of the Popes (see Index); Soames, Elizabethean Hist. (see Index); Collier, Eccles. Hist. (see Index); Fisher, Hist. of the Reformation, p. 302, 411.
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Pius V'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/p/pius-v.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
