Pope Urban VII

Urban VII
Papacy began 15 September 1590
Papacy ended 27 September 1590 (13 days)
Predecessor Sixtus V
Successor Gregory XIV
Orders
Ordination 30 March, 1553
by Filippo Archinto
Consecration 4 April, 1553
by Girolamo Verallo
Created Cardinal 12 December, 1583
Personal details
Birth name Giovanni Battista Castagna
Born 4 August 1521(1521-08-04)
Rome, Papal State
Died 27 September 1590(1590-09-27) (aged 69)
Rome, Papal State
Other Popes named Urban
Papal styles of
Pope Urban VII
Reference style His Holiness
Spoken style Your Holiness
Religious style Holy Father
Posthumous style none

Pope Urban VII (4 August 1521 – 27 September 1590), born Giovanni Battista Castagna, was Pope for thirteen days in September 1590. He was of Genoese origin, although born in Rome. He was created Cardinal-Priest of S. Marcello in 1584. He was chosen successor of Pope Sixtus V (1585–1590) on 15 September 1590, but died of malaria (27 September 1590) before coronation, making his the shortest papal reign in history.

He had previously served as governor of Bologna and as archbishop of Rossano, and was for many years nuncio to Spain; his election to the papacy was largely backed by the Spanish faction.

Urban VII's short passage in office gave rise to the world's first known public smoking ban, as he threatened to excommunicate anyone who "took tobacco in the porchway of or inside a church, whether it be by chewing it, smoking it with a pipe or sniffing it in powdered form through the nose".[1]

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Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Sixtus V
Pope
1590
Succeeded by
Gregory XIV