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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Julius II Biography Julius II (Pope, 1503–13), Giuliano della Rovere, a nephew of Sixtus IV, who made him Cardinal in 1471. In 1480 he was sent as legate to France, and on his return two years later filled an increasingly important place at Rome, under both his uncle and Innocent VIII. Under Alexander VI, however, he was in opposition; and one of his first steps on his elevation to the papal throne was to resume possession of the Romagna, which had been bestowed on Cesare Borgia. Julius himself was beyond suspicion of nepotism or selfish designs for aggrandizement; but his pontificate was chiefly devoted to political and military enterprises for the complete reëstablishment of the papal sovereignty in its ancient territory and for the extinction of foreign domination in Italy. In pursuance of his designs he entered into the League of Cambrai (1508) with the Emperor Maximilian, Louis XII of France, and Ferdinand of Aragon; later, when the immediate purpose of the league had been attained, fearing the ambitious designs of Louis, he withdrew and entered an opposite alliance, the Holy League. Louis attempted to force the Pope to call a general council for the reform of the Church, and actually had a synod convoked at Pisa in 1511, with the coöperation of some disaffected cardinals. Julius replied by calling the fifth Lateran Council. (See Lateran Council.) The Holy League finally triumphed over France in Upper Italy, and Bologna, Reggio, Parma, and Piacenza were assured to the papal government; but death interrupted the further plans of Julius to break the Spanish power in Italy as well. On the whole, if less concerned with spiritual affairs than his office demanded, he had the qualities of a great statesman and general and was also a liberal and judicious patron of the fine arts. He laid the corner stone of St. Peter's Church and was the patron of Raphael and Michelangelo. The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XIII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 27.
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