Home > Pope Leo X

Like his contemporary Henry VIII, he was from the first destined for the ecclesiastical condition; he received the tonsure at seven, held benefices at eight, and before he was thirteen negotiations were in active progress for his elevation to the cardinalate. Innocent VIII, the reigning pope, was bound to Lorenzo by domestic ties and a common policy and interest; in October 1488 Giovanni was created a cardinal under the condition that he should not be publicly recognised as such for three years. The interval was devoted to the study of theology and canon law, pursuits less congenial to the young prince of the church than the elegant literature for which he inherited his father's taste, and in which he had already made great progress under the tuition of Politian and Bibbiena.

In March 1492 he became a Cardinal and took up his residence in RomeRome ( Italian and Latin Roma is the capital city of Italy, and of its Lazio region. It is located on the lower Tiber river, near the Mediterranean Sea, at 41°50'N, 12°15'E. The Vatican City State, a sovereign enclave within Rome, is the seat of the Roman, receiving a letter of advice[1] from his parent which ranks among the wisest and weightiest compositions of its class. Within a few months his prospects were clouded by the nearly simultaneous decease of his father and the pope, a double bereavement closing the era of peace which Lorenzo's prudent policy had given to Italy, and inaugurating a period of foreign invasion and domestic strife.

One of the first consequences of the French irruption into Italy, which shortly ensued, was the expulsion of the MediciThe Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family during the Renaissance, whose wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade guided by the guild of the Arte della Lana. Becoming first bankers, and later politicians, clerg family from Florence (November 1494Events January 25 Alfonso II becomes King of Naples. June 7 Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas which divides the New World between the two countries. October 22 Ludovico Sforza becomes Duke of Milan. Start of the Italian Wars. Births Saito). After having resisted to the best of his ability, the Cardinal de' Medici found a refuge at BolognaBologna (from Latin Bononia Bulaggna in the local dialect) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, between the Po River and the Apennines. History Bologna was founded by the Etruscans with the name Felsina''. Next the city was the Roman c, and. seeing himself deprived for the time of political importance, and obnoxious to Innocent's successor, Alexander VIAlexander VI ne Rodrigo Borgia ( January 1, 1431 August 18, 1503) pope ( 1492- 1503), is the most memorable of the secular popes of the Renaissance. He was born at Xativa, Valencia, Spain, and his father's surname was Lanzol or Llancol; that of his mother, undertook a journey in foreign countries with a party of friends. Upon his return he settled at Rome, withdrawing himself from notice as much as possible, and disarming the jealousy of Alexander by his unaffected devotion to literary pursuits.

When he became pope on March 11March 11 is the 70th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (71st in Leap year). There are 295 days remaining. Events 1513 Leo X is elected pope. 1649 The Frondeurs (rebels) and the French government sign the Peace of Rueil. 1702 The first regular Engl, 1513Events January 20 Christian II becomes King of Denmark and Norway. March 11 Leo X elected pope. March 27 Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sights North America (specifically Florida) for the first time mistaking it for another island. Later, on April 2, he land, Leo rejoiced; he is reported to have said to his brother GiulianoGiuliano de' Medici (1478/1479 March, 1516), created Duke of Nemours in 1515, was one of three sons of Lorenzo the Magnificent: Piero, Giovanni and Giuliano. His older brother Piero was briefly the ruler of Florence after Lorenzo's death, until the republ "Since God has given us the papacy, let us enjoy it." And he did, traveling around Rome at the head of a lavish parade featuring panthers, jesters, and Hanno, a white elephant. He served dinners with sixty-five courses at which little boys jumped out of puddings.

His extravagance offended even some cardinals, who plotted an assassination attempt (which was foiled); the plan was to inject poison into his formidable hemorrhoids. Short on funds, Leo colluded with a German archbishop to sell indulgences, using the showy services of the monk Johann Tetzel, who entered German towns bearing the Bull of Indulgence aloft on a velvet cushion. Soon afterward, Martin Luther nailed his " Ninety-five Theses upon Indulgences" on the church door at Wittenberg.

On January 3, 1521 Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther.