During the Renaissance, there were about ten popes that reigned, most of whom lived double lives. The double lives that they publicly lived were the beginning of the end for the picture-perfect ways of the Catholic Church. Four of the most notorious of the Renaissance Popes, all of whom ruled i

Leo’s greedy determination to be the leading political ruler in Italy brought many conflicts with France and Spain, whose respective leaders were Francis I and Charles I. On both accounts, Leo lost. He was defeated by Francis I in 1515, and was forced to sign a concordat that gave French kings virtual control of the church in their realm (Ritchie 1998). Also, Leo refused to support the nomination for Charles I of Spain to be Holy Emperor. Instead, he supported Frederick the Wise of Saxony, who eventually lost to Charles I (Ritchie 1998). After Charles I won the nomination, Leo was forced to support him in his war with France.

After Julius’ death in 1513, the successor of this “warrior-pope” (McCabe 1998) was Leo X, who ruled from the year of 1513 to 1521. This Renaissance pope is said to be one of the most “colorful” of all of the popes (Ritchie 1998). He was born as Giovanni de’ Medici, in Florence, Italy. Just as Alexander VI, Leo X was born into a wealthy and powerful family, which helped him to bribe his way into the Papacy. However, Leo was properly educated for the church. At the age of thirteen, Leo was named a cardinal-deacon, and from 1489-1491, he studied at the University of Pisa. Because of the will of Pope Alexander VI, Leo was kept away from Rome from 1492-1503, and for most of the following ten years, during Julius’ Papacy, he merely governed his native city (McCabe 1998).

Science, literature, and especially art were being greatly explored. On the positive side, the Renaissance Popes were highly supportive of many works of art. In fact, some of the greatest creations of Christian art were done under papal sponsorship. For example, Julius II was the one to commission Michelangelo to paint the beautiful Sistine Chapel (Batterberry, 1971).

To gain a better understanding of the behavior of these four Popes, one must take a closer look into the background of this time period. During the Renaissance, many changes politically, intellectually, and culturally, began to take place. After recovering from the Great Schism, when three popes held power at the same time, there was a struggle going on within the Catholic Church between papal authority and church council authority (McCabe 1998). This fact shows that turbulence and uncertainty was already underlying conflicts within the Church.

One of the only positive acts of Leo X was the lavish, building projects that he supported. However, the problem with this was that in order to raise the money for these projects, he sold indulgences, which are the forgiving of sins for an amount of money. This practice was the beginning of Martin Luther’s revolt against the Catholic Church (Ritchie 1998). Unfortunately for the state of the church, Leo was convinced that Luther, like other advocates of the reform, would soon lose popular support and become irrelevant. Eventually, Leo condemned the reformer for heresy, and he then excommunicated him in January of 1521. Later that year, on December 1, 1521, Leo X died, leaving all of Europe in a state of religious turmoil, from which it would not recover until the 17th century (Ritchie 1998).

Because he was faced with paying a few fines, Leo X promoted a conspiracy to have himself assassinated; however, the plot failed. Another very unfathomable act was the treachery to dispose of Gianpaolo Baglioni, a dynastic ruler and rival of Leo X. In this event, Leo invited Baglioni to Rome on a safe-

Some topics in this essay:
Julius II, Catholic Church, Alexander VI, Renaissance Popes, II Leo, Sixtus IV, Protestant Reformation, Rodrigo Borgia, Lateran Council, Eventually Leo, julius ii, catholic church, alexander vi, mccabe 1998, renaissance popes, ritchie 1998, protestant reformation, notorious renaissance, renaissance period, notorious renaissance popes, alexander vi julius, baker 1994, vi julius ii, pope alexander vi, actions church leaders,