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226th Roman Pontiff
Gregory XIII
GREGORIVS Tertius Decimus
Ugo Boncompagni
226th Successor of St Peter · 1572–1585 · Italy · b. Bologna, Papal States
1572
Elected
1585
Reign ended
13 years
Length
16th
Century
The Life
Subject and later the sovereign of the Papal States. Built the Gregorian Chapel in the Vatican. First pope to bestow the Immaculate Conception as the patron saint of the Philippine Islands through the bull Ilius Fulti Praesido (1579).
Strengthened diplomatic ties with Asian nations. Reformed the calendar (1582).
Portrait: Attributed to Bartolomeo Passarotti / Wikimedia Commons