Pope Gregory XIV

About Pope Gregory XIV

Pope Gregory XIV, born Niccolò Sfondrati, served as the head of the Catholic Church for only ten months in 1590 and 1591. Despite his brief tenure, his importance is significant enough to earn him the #974 rank in MIT's Historical Popularity Index, placing him among history's most globally influential figures. His brief pontificate notably saw the confirmation of several religious orders and the condemnation of Henry of Navarre, reflecting his role in late-16th-century religious politics.

The current digital landscape, however, shows a profound disconnect from this historical standing. Pope Gregory XIV registers only 29K annualized Wikipedia views in 2025. This figure is dwarfed by near-contemporaries in the same field, such as Francis Xavier at 435K views or Catherine of Alexandria at 368K views, despite Gregory XIV being ranked *more* historically important by the HPI. This underattention results in an Attention Gap of -11x, suggesting that in the modern internet sphere, his historical gravity is vastly undervalued relative to his actual global cultural impact.

Interestingly, while his overall attention is low, his trajectory shows a +84.3% year-over-year change, indicating a recent spike in curiosity, though this momentum appears to be waning, with a -18% drop between Q1 and Q3 of 2025.