Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Urban VII (Giovanni Battista Castagna) (August 4, 1521 - September 27, 1590) was pope for twelve days in September 1590, was of Genoese origin, and was born in Rome. He was chosen successor of Sixtus V on September 15, 1590, but died (September 27) before consecration, 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. from various public domain encyclopedias Preceded by: Pope Sixtus V List of popes Succeeded by: Pope Gregory XIV This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.