Name at birth: Joseph RatzingerPope Benedict XVI succeeded John Paul II as leader of the Catholic Church on April 19, 2005, and remained pope until his stunning resignation in 2013. Born Joseph…
(Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger)popeBorn: April 16, 1927Birthplace: Marktl, Bavaria, Germany Benedict XVI was named pope in April 2005, succeeding the immensely popular Pope John Paul II. The conclave…
King Louis XVI of France was the unfortunate monarch executed during the 1789 French Revolution. He succeeded his grandfather, Louis XV, in 1774 and inherited a looming financial crisis just as…
(Encyclopedia) Gregory XVI, 1765–1846, pope (1831–46), an Italian named Bartolomeo Alberto Capellari, b. Belluno; successor of Pius VIII. In 1783 he became a Camaldolite and was (1825) created…
(Encyclopedia) Charles XVI Gustavus (Carl Gustaf), 1946–, king of Sweden (1973–), grandson and successor of Gustavus VI; son of Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha…
(Encyclopedia) Louis XVI, 1754–93, king of France (1774–92), third son of the dauphin (Louis) and Marie Josèphe of Saxony, grandson and successor of King Louis XV. In 1770 he married the Austrian…
Name at birth: Jorge Mario BergoglioCardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina became Pope Francis I on March 13, 2013. He succeeded Pope Benedict XVI, who had stepped down a month earlier. Jorge…
Name at birth: Peter Kodwo Appiah TurksonGhana's Cardinal Peter Turkson made the news in 2013 as one of the possible replacements for Pope Benedict XVI. From humble origins -- a mining town in…
