Gregory IX., Pope, 1227–1241

To one of the most peace-loving of popes succeeded a man of strong passions and an iron strength of will. Hugolinus, Cardinal-bishop of Ostia, already elected in S. Gregorio on the Septizonium and proclaimed as Gregory IX. on March 19, 1227, belonged to the family of Conti of Anagni, and was related to Innocent in the third degree. He had outlived the reigns of several popes, and in his youth had been deeply stirred by the great events which had taken place under Alexander III. Innocent, his perhaps younger relative, had made him Bishop of Ostia, and he had fortified this seaport with new walls. During many years he managed the affairs of the Church in Italy as well as in Germany, where as legate he conducted the difficult negotiations in the quarrel for the succession. We have seen him as the earliest protector of the order of Minorites. A flame of the fire of Francis and Dominic glowed within his breast, moulded his innate strength of character, and made him indomitable and defiant to the point of utter scorn of all opposition. An aged and eloquent man of blameless life, of intimate knowledge of both civil and canon law, and of earnest faith, he presented, both in form and aspect, the appearance of a patriarch, while his unimpaired memory diminished the impression of age.