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Saint Charles Borromeo

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Religious Figure

The Resume

    (October 2, 1538-November 3, 1584)
    Born in Milan, Italy
    Bishop and saint in the Catholic Church
    Governor of the Papal States
    Archbishop of Milan from 1564-1584
    Know for his reforms of the Church, dedication to educating the clergy and the laity, and fearless efforts to help plague and famine victims
    Earned a double doctorate in canon and civil law from the University of Pavia in Italy
    Feast Day - November 4
    Leader of the Catholic Counter-Reformation answer to the protestant Refomation
    Nephew of Pope Pius IV
    Organized third and final session of the Council of Trent

Why he might be annoying:

    One biographer described him as, 'An austere, dedicated, humorless, and uncompromising personality.'
    He was made a Cardinal at 22 before he was even ordained.
    He wasn't ordained until he was appointed Archbishop of Milan and then only so his family would stop bugging him about getting married.
    He oppressed homosexuals.
    He separated men and women at mass.
    He was 'royalty.'
    At twelve his father granted him the income of a local monastery.
    He had eleven women and one man burned at the stake for witchcraft.
    He got involved in local secular politics and once excommunicated the local governor
    His attempts to suppress the Protestant Reformation ended in failure.
    He had an enormous hook nose.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He founded a college, Almo Collegio Borromeo that still stands today,
    He established the seminary system for educating future priests that the Catholic Church still uses today.
    Several popes and other luminaries of his today including, King Henri III of France, King Phillip II of Spain, and Mary, Queen of Scots, sought his counsel.
    He was born in a castle!
    He created the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine to educate young people in their faith which led to the creation of Sunday school.
    He was once shot at while saying mass by a monk who belonged to a religious order he was trying to reform. He was also shot at while excommunicating several priests who had seized a church and declared themselves free of his authority. He escaped the first incident with only minor injuries and was completely unharmed during the second incident.
    During an outbreak of the plague in Milan, he fearlessly tended to plague victims while civil authorities and some of his own clergy fled.
    When famine struck Milan in 1576, he spent his own enormous fortune feeding up to 3,000 people a day.
    He was in poor health the last few years of his life suffering from fevers and erysipelas.
    He died at the early age of forty-six.
    His last words were, 'Ecce Homo' Behold, I come.

Credit: tom_jeffords


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 8 Votes: 87.50% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 110 Votes: 47.27% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 23 Votes: 43.48% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 25 Votes: 44.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 96 Votes: 51.04% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 126 Votes: 48.41% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 25 Votes: 52.00% Annoying