Knowra Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII, born Maffeo Barberini, led the Catholic Church from 1623 to 1644. His papacy combined major artistic patronage with political ambition and the prosecution of Galileo.
Galileo Galilei : Italian astronomer and physicist tried by the Roman Inquisition in 1633 for defending heliocentrism. Urban’s earlier support for Galileo gave way to a trial authorized during his papacy.
Trial of Galileo : The 1633 Roman Inquisition proceedings that condemned Galileo for defending Copernican astronomy. Urban’s papacy oversaw the trial and its sentence of house arrest.
Baroque architecture : An architectural style using dramatic scale, movement, and ornament, prominent in seventeenth-century Europe. Urban’s commissions helped make Rome a showcase for this style.
Heliocentrism : The astronomical model in which Earth and other planets orbit the Sun. Its defense by Galileo became the central issue in a trial conducted under Urban’s authority.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini : Italian sculptor and architect who became a leading artist of the Baroque era. Urban made Bernini a central artist of his papal building and decoration projects.
Baldacchino of St. Peter's Basilica : Bernini’s monumental bronze canopy over the high altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, completed in the seventeenth century. Urban commissioned this defining monument, made with bronze taken from the Pantheon.
St. Peter's Basilica : A major Renaissance and Baroque church in Vatican City, built over the traditional tomb of Saint Peter. Urban sponsored major additions and decorations to the basilica.
Thirty Years' War : A series of European conflicts from 1618 to 1648, centered on the Holy Roman Empire and involving major powers. Urban’s diplomacy and alliances unfolded amid this war, whose settlement he opposed.
Francesco Barberini : Italian cardinal and diplomat, and nephew of Pope Urban VIII. He advanced Barberini family influence through high ecclesiastical and diplomatic office.
War of Castro : A conflict between the Papal States and the Farnese family over the duchy of Castro, fought in 1641–1644. The war exposed the costs and limits of Urban’s effort to expand papal authority.
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