Ludwig von Pastor

Ludwig Pastor, ennobled as Ludwig von Pastor, Freiherr von Campersfelden (31 January 1854 – 30 September 1928), was a German historian and diplomat for Austria. He became one of the most important Catholic historians of his time and is most notable for his History of the Popes. He was raised to the nobility by the Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1908 and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature six times.

Early life Born in Aachen to a Lutheran father and a Catholic mother, Pastor was converted to Catholicism at ten, after his father's death. He attended a Frankfurt gymnasium, where his teacher was Johannes Janssen who introduced him to historical studies.

Pastor studied in 1875 at Leuven, in 1875/76 at Bonn, where he became a member of the student corporation Arminia, and in 1877/78 at Vienna. Pastor taught at the University of Innsbruck, first as a lecturer (1881–87), then as professor of modern history (1887). His dissertation was titled "Die kirchlichen Reunionsbestrebungen während der Regierung Karls V" (The Church's Attempts at Reunion During the Reign of Charles V). Pastor edited his mentor Janssen's eight-volume Geschichte des deutschen Volkes (History of the German People) and published it from 1893 to 1926.

Works All forty volumes of The History of the Popes are available from the Internet Archive. Volumes I to VI are translated and edited by Frederick Ignatius Antrobus, volumes VII to XXIV by Ralph Francis Kerr, volumes XXV to XXXIV by Ernest Graf and volumes XXXV to LX by E. F. Peeler. The publishers vary and include K. Paul, Trench Trübner, & Co., Routledge, and K. Paul.

Vol. I, 1305–1447, Popes at Avignon, The Schism, Councils of Pisa and Constance, Martin V and Eugenius IV Vol. II, 1447–1458, Nicholas V and Calixtus III Vol. III, 1447–1464, Pius II Vol. IV, 1464–1483, Paul II and Sixtus IV Vol. V, 1484–1497, Innocent VIII and Alexander VI Vol. VI, 1492–1511, Alexander VI, Pius III and Julius II Vol. VII, 1513–1521, Leo X (Book I) Vol. VIII, 1513–1521, Leo X (Book II) Vol. IX, 1522–1527, Adrian VI and Clement VII Vol. X, 1523–1534, Clement VII Vol. XI, 1534–1540, Paul III Vol. XII, 1534–1549, Paul III Vol. XIII, 1550–1555, Julius III Vol. XIV, 1555–1559, Marcellus II and Paul IV Vol. XV, 1559–1565, Pius IV Vol. XVI, 1559–1565, Pius IV Vol. XVII, 1566–1572, Pius V Vol. XVIII, 1566–1572, Pius V Vol. XIX, 1572–1585, Gregory XIII Vol. XX, 1572–1585, Gregory XIII Vol. XXI, 1585–1590, Sixtus V Vol. XXII, 1585–1591, Sixtus V, Urban VII, Gregory XIV and Innocent IX Vol. XXIII, 1592–1605, Clement VIII Vol. XXIV, 1592–1605, Clement VIII Vol. XXV, 1605–1621, Leo XI and Paul V Vol. XXVI, 1605–1621, Leo XI and Paul V Vol. XXVII, 1621–1644, Gregory XV and Urban VIII Vol. XXVIII, 1621–1644, Gregory XV and Urban VIII Vol. XXIX, 1621–1644, Gregory XV and Urban VIII Vol. XXX, 1644–1655, Innocent X Vol. XXXI, 1655–1676, Alexander VII, Clement IX and Clement X Vol. XXXII, 1676–1700, Innocent XI, Alexander VIII and Innocent XII Vol. XXXIII, 1700–1721, Clement XI Vol. XXXIV, 1721–1740, Innocent XIII, Benedict XIII and Clement XII Vol. XXXV, 1740–1758, Benedict XIV Vol. XXXVI, 1740–1769, Benedict XIV and Clement XIII Vol. XXXVII, 1758–1769, Clement XIII Vol. XXXVIII, 1769–1774, Clement XIV Vol. XXXIX, 1775–1799, Pius VI Vol. XL, 1775–1799, Pius VI