March 9 - Renaissance Popes

March 9 – Renaissance Popes

The Italian Renaissance offered great prosperity and incredible political upheaval. It was during this period that the popes in Rome did their best to attract the finest artists. Palaces, churches and monuments filled the city. The papal library filled with great literature.

Eugene IV did his best to make the city of Rome a glorious gem in Christendom. Following him, Nicholas V (1447-1455) attempted to make Rome the central political power in Italy. He also developed an amazing personal library, bringing in authors and artists from all over Europe. When Constantinople fell in 1453, he tried to get a crusade going but failed miserably.

Calixtus III (1455-1458) was the first pope from the Spanish Borgia family. He tried to unify Italy to stave off a Turkish attack and built the military while avoiding the church. He promoted his family and made his grandson Rodrigo a cardinal. We’ll meet him later as Alexander VI.

Pius II (1458-1464) didn’t achieve much, but he still believed that the papacy was important to God. Following him, Paul II (1464-1471) became a pope because his uncle had been one (Eugene IV). He was interested in building the collections of art. He had concubines which were acknowledged in the papal court and restored the monuments of pagan Rome.

Sixtus IV (1471-1484) actually bought the papacy and then promoted his family in the church. Wars were fought throughout Italy to promote his family members and he created immense taxes so that his papacy could exist in luxury.

Innocent VIII (1484-1492) was the first pope to acknowledge his illegitimate children and gave them incredible wealth. Under his reign, the sale of indulgences was managed by a son and grew out of control. In 1484 he ordered the deaths of hundreds of innocent women because they were accused of being witches.

Alexander VI (1492-1503) was another Borgia and brought corruption in the papacy to its highest level. It was said that he committed every capital sin except gluttony and that was only because he had a bad stomach. He had secret meetings with the Turkish sultan and had concubines who were the legal wives of others in his court. Italy fought many wars because of the intrigue in his courts. Two of his children were Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia. He died and Cesare was set to become the next pope, but he suffered from the same disease as his father.

Pius III came in to reform the papacy and bring peace, but he died after twenty-six days.

Julius II (1503-1513) was made cardinal by his uncle Sixtus IV. He took the name Julius to set aside any thoughts that he was modeling his rule after a Christian saint, but instead Julius Caesar. He is the one that brought Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel and Raphael to create frescoes in the Vatican. He loved war and attempted again to unify Italy. He died in 1513, known as Julius the Terrible.

Leo X (1513-1521) was a son of Lorenzo de Medici of Florence. He continued as a patron of the arts, tried to unify Italy again. His great dream was to complete St. Peter’s basilica and proposed one of the greatest sales of indulgences yet seen. This was the point at which Luther protested. The Reformation was at hand.

Information taken from “The Story of Christianity” Volume I, The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation by Justo L. Gonzalez, Published by HarperCollins