Julius II's papacy

Julius II’s Papacy lasted from 1503 to 1513. Giuliano della Rovere, nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, was born in Liguria in 1443 and was educated by Franciscan friars.  In 1471 he was made cardinal, with the title of ‘Cardinal of San Pietro in Vincoli’. When his uncle became Pope in 1471, he became Archbishop of Avignon, and another seven bishoprics. He was sent to France as Pontifical ambassador in 1480, where he remained for four years, and where he demonstrated his keen political sense. When Alessandro VI Borgia died in 1503, Giuliano supported the candidature of Todeschini-Piccolomini, who was elected Pope with the name Pius III. Old and sickly, the new Pope died a month after. In the conclave that followed Giuliano della Rovere managed to have his way and was rapidly elected Pope, with the name of Julius II, thanks to Cesare Borgia’s decisive support. Julius II’s Papacy was marked by the Pope’s short temper and particularly ambitious and aggressive military policy. As soon as he was elected he blocked Cesare Borgia’s territorial ambitions, he reconciled the powerful Orsini and Colonna families, and brought most of the Roman nobility under his influence. Later on, he pitted himself against the hegemony of Venice, conquering Perugia and Bologna in 1506, setting up ties with France and the Emperor. In 1508 he set up the League of Cambrai against Venice, bringing together in the same alliance Louis XII, Emperor Maximilian I and Ferdinand II of Aragon. After the Battle of Agnadello in 1509, devastating for Venice, Julius II pulled out of the international alliance he had contributed to establishing. In 1512 he joined into the Holy League with Ferdinand II and the Republic of Venice, against France. Still in 1512, he called the fifth Lateran council. He died in February 1513 and was buried in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. Julius II gave great impulse to the renaissance arts, and was a friend of Bramante, Raffaello and Michelangelo. It was he who commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and it was again Michelangelo who sculpted the statue of Moses that is part of Julius II’s tomb.