Page "Pope Gregory XV" Paragraph 5

At the moment of his election, chiefly through the influence of Cardinal Borghese, at his advanced age ( he was 67 ) and with his weak state of health he saw at once that he would need an energetic man, in whom he could place implicit confidence, to assist him in the government of the Church.

His nephew Ludovico Ludovisi, a young man of 25 years, seemed to him to be the right person and, at the risk of being charged with nepotism, he created him cardinal on the third day of his pontificate.

On the same day, his youngest brother Orazio was appointed Captain General of the Church at the head of the papal army.