<P> In 1475 James Sprenger formed one of the first rosary confraternities in Cologne . Rosary confraternities in Venice and Florence were formed in 1480 and 1481 . </P> <P> In the 16th century, Rosary confraternities for women spread in France and Italy, partly because women were excluded from most other societies and because this type did not involve common masses or processions, only private prayer . In 1571 Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the rosary for victory at the Battle of Lepanto, in which the Christian belligerents included the Papal States . The Christian victory at Lepanto was at first celebrated as the feast of "Our Lady of Victory" on October 7, but was later renamed the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary . </P> <P> In 1569, the papal bull Consueverunt Romani Pontifices by the Dominican Pope Pius V officially established the devotion to the rosary in the Catholic Church . Saint Peter Canisius, a Doctor of the Church, who is credited with adding to the Hail Mary the sentence "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners", was an ardent advocate of the rosary and promoted it (and its Marian devotion in general) as the best way to repair the damage done to the Church by the Reformation . </P> <P> From the 16th to the early 20th century, the structure of the rosary remained essentially unchanged . There were 15 mysteries, one for each of the 15 decades . In the 20th century the addition of the Fatima Prayer to the end of each decade became popular . After Vatican Council II, Msgr . Annibale Bugnini, architect of the liturgical reform, proposed further changes to the structure of the Rosary, but Pope Paul VI refused to implement the proposal on the grounds that changing such a well - established and popular devotion would unsettle the piety of the faithful and show a lack of reverence for an ancient practice . There were thus no other changes until 2002 when John Paul II instituted five new Luminous Mysteries . In the 17th century, the Rosary began to appear as an element in key pieces of Roman Catholic Marian art . Key examples include Murrillo's Madonna with the Rosary at the Museo del Prado in Spain, and the statue of Madonna with Rosary at the church of San Nazaro Maggiore in Milan . Several Roman Catholic Marian churches around the world have also been named after the rosary, e.g. Our Lady of the Rosary Basilica, in Rosario Argentina, the Rosary Basilica in Lourdes and Nossa Senhora do Rosário in Porto Alegre, Brazil . </P>

When did the rosary become a catholic devotion