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Sixtus V

Sixtus V was elected Pope on 21 April 1585, and inherited from his predecessors a State in disastrous conditions. The situation in both government finances and law and order was disastrous. Anyone venturing out of Rome without an armed escort was almost sure to fall into the hands of bandits.

Pope Sixtus dealt with the situation energetically; he dismissed numerous old judges, reduced the number of police and at the same time ruthlessly hunted down bandits, and once the rule of law was restored, improved government finances.

The lifetime of Sixtus V covered one of the most dramatic periods in the history of the Church:

	Excommunication of Martin Luther
	Henry VIII’s Acts of Union which sanctioned the break between the English Church and the Roman Church
	Council of Trent
	John Calvin’s acts and antidote to the Council of Trent
	Battle of Lepanto between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League

The faith, energy and intelligence of Sixtus V were needed to face these overwhelming events.
The policy of Sixtus V, which he started while he was a bishop and then cardinal, were characterised by the reform of the rules of the Church; he was therefore the Pope of the Catholic reformation.
He was known to be a hard, inflexible man.
Sixtus V, whose name was Felice Peretti, was born in 1520 in Grottamare, in the Marche district, and died in Rome in 1590.