CATHOLIC CHURCH], [MANUSCRIPT]

VITA DE SISTO V] A Manuscript Life of Pope Sixtus V (Pope 1585-1590), in Italian, Extending Over 248 Pages

      N.p., N.d. Eighteenth Century - 248 numbered pages of text. 6 further blank leaves to end. Bound in contemporary vellum, lettered in gilt to spine. Small split to vellum at bottom edge of lower board. Lightly soiled, hinges straining slightly. Light and occasional marking to text. A manuscript life of Pope Sixtus V, in Italian. Felice Peretti, (1521-1590), a significant counter-Reformation Pope for the final five years of his life. After entering a Franciscan convent at Montalto at the age of 9, Peretti rose radpily through the ranks of the Catholic Church, serving as Priest, Inquisitor, Professor at Sapienza, Bishop, Confessor to Pius V, and Cardinal-Priest at the age of 49. Following the death of his predecessor Gregory XIII, a four-day conclave elected Peretti as Pope on the 24th April, 1585. Not a theoretician, Sixtus V led the Church and the Papal States from penury and brigandage into peace and prosperity. He excelled as a manager of men, formalising the establishment of fifteen permanent congregations to lighten the workload of the Pope, without sacrificing ultimate authority, in his 1588 Bull 'Immense aeterni Dei'. Sixtus' most lasting legacy was the architectual works which he oversaw. The cupola of St Peter's and the Quirinal were finalised under his rule, and the Lateran Palace erected, along with the Vatican Library and its printing house, a significant aspect of the late C16th drive against the printing-presses of Northern Europe. A most practical Pope, Sixtus was a pivotal figure of the Counter Reformation, and an ideal practical leader emulated by his successors, particularly Clement VIII. [Attributes: First Edition]