LEO X, POPE. — Born in Florence on 11 Dec. 1475; died in Rome on 10 Dec. 1521.
I. BEFORE HIS PONTIFICATE
Giovanni de’ Medici, second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, had Poliziano as his tutor at the age of three, but after a few months he was entrusted to others for his education, and above all was formed spiritually by the joyful and multifaceted life of Florence under the Medici. He became a cleric and protonotary before the age of eight, and through his father’s care was provided with numerous benefices; at eleven he was abbot of Montecassino and of Miramondo, and at barely thirteen was secretly created cardinal by Innocent VIII, as a seal of the alliance with Lorenzo (9 Mar. 1489). Having graduated in canon law at Pisa, three years after his creation he received the red hat and was given the title, rather than the authority, of legate in the Patrimony and in the Florentine dominion. In the Conclave of 1492, after a shrewd attempt to reconcile the Sforza and Aragonese factions, he sided with the former and, not without simoniacal agreements, cast his vote for Rodrigo Borgia, Alexander VI. Not a friend of the new pope and on less than cordial terms with his brother Piero, he lived in the shadows until the collapse of the Medici lordship, which he had vainly tried to prevent (9 Nov. 1494), forced him to wander through Italy, Germany, the Low Countries, and France, where he gained maturity and experience.Returning to Rome before Sept. 1497, he gathered in the palace he had built near S. Eustachio (Palazzo Madama) books, men of letters, and artists, and distinguished himself by his munificence in restoring the diaconal church of S. Maria in Domnica and in giving Bolsena the splendid façade of S. Cristina. As legate of Bologna for Julius II (1 Oct. 1511), he was taken prisoner by the French at Ravenna (1 Apr. 1512) and, brought to Milan, skillfully restored the prestige of the papacy and his own.
Freed by relatives and retainers, he was legate in the Spanish-papal army that was to restore the Medici to Florence, and after the sack of Prato he re-entered the city (Sept. 1512) and governed it with mildness.
II. THE PRINCE
In the Conclave that followed the death of Julius II, he swore with the others a capitulation that greatly restricted the authority of the Pope; but, as was customary, he did not subsequently keep II. He was elected pope (11 Mar. 1513), without simony, as an act “to calm poor Italy and strengthen the Church.” After the storm of Julius’ pontificate, he announced a program of peace. Yet he also wished to defend “the freedom of Italy,” by preventing either the French or the Spaniards from predominating alone, or, if they agreed, from dominating together, and above all from allowing Milan and Naples to fall into the same hands. But lacking resources and receiving varied advice from his most trusted men—first Cardinal Bibbiena, then Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici—naturally inclined to diplomatic intrigue and overly concerned with the interests of his own house, he pursued a policy that was perhaps subtle but certainly ambiguous and tortuous. He did, however, succeed in securing Florence for the Medici house, where he first entrusted government to his brother Giuliano, then to his nephew Lorenzo with an Instruction that set the limits of a moderate lordship. Though he could not procure for Giuliano, who died prematurely (1516), the great dominions he had dreamed of, he gave Lorenzo the duchy of Urbino, taken from the hated Francesco Maria della Rovere (1516); and when the latter reacquired it, he restored it to his nephew at the cost of a very expensive war (1517). He also strengthened the Papal State by uniting Urbino to it after Lorenzo’s death (1519), by subduing petty tyrants in the Marca and Umbria, and by bringing Perugia to obedience (1520).(From G. B. Ladner, I ritratti dei papi nell’antichità e nel medioevo, Vatican City 1911, pl. 18 a)
LEO IX, POPE, SAINT — Leo IX and Warin, abbot of S. Arnolfo at Metz. Miniature of the 11th century — Berne, Civic Library, cod. 292, f. 73v.
He began his journey to Rome (according to Wibert, Vita of Leo IX). Bruno of Segni recounts the meeting of Bruno of Toul with the monk Hildebrand, later Gregory VII, near Besançon. In Rome he was unanimously elected by the clergy and people and crowned in the Lateran on 12 Feb. 1049. Soon after he energetically began the reform of the clergy and the Church in a Lateran synod.
Leo summoned excellent collaborators from abroad, such as Hildebrand, Humbert of Silva Candida, Hugh of Remiremont, Frederick of Lorraine (later Stephen IX), and others to the Roman Curia. The Pope himself made numerous journeys through Italy, France, and Germany, where in the synods of Pavia, Reims, and Mainz he issued decrees against simony, lay investiture, and clerical marriage. In the Synod of Vercelli (1050) he condemned Berengar of Tours for his erroneous theories on the Eucharist. He also went to Toul and Germany, where he met Emperor Henry III. Returning to Italy, he found the Normans threatening southern Italy. Leo himself marched against them, but the papal army was defeated on 18 June 1053 near Civitate and the Pope was taken prisoner. He returned to Rome on 12 Mar. 1054, broken in health, and died soon after. Under Leo the long-prepared schism between the Eastern and Western Churches was definitively realized; the Pope never again saw from Constantinople the legates who had excommunicated Patriarch Michael Cerularius.
Leo was the best of the German popes of the Middle Ages. His pontificate, which manifested a harmonious cooperation between the papacy and the Empire, represents the beginning of the medieval ecclesiastical reform. Soon after his death he was venerated as a saint. Feast: 19 Apr.
But this perpetual vacillation fanned the flames in Italy and Europe and sapped the Church’s prestige. In the early months he followed Julius II’s anti-French policy, though without committing himself and acting as “father of Christendom” to make peace attempts. Then, fearing the Spaniards, he appeared pro-French; when Francis I’s designs became clear, he aligned himself against the king by joining forces with Spain, the Swiss and the Emperor. As the king’s victories mounted, his resolve faltered. After concluding the Treaty of Viterbo with the king on 13 October 1515 and meeting him in Bologna from 11–14 December, he renounced Parma and Piacenza, promised the king the investiture of Naples upon the death of the Catholic King, obtained protection for the Medici dominion in Florence and laid the groundwork for the Concordat with France. He could not prevent the agreement of Noyon between the kings of France and Spain (13 August 1516) nor the Treaty of Cambrai (11 March 1517), by which the two powers and Emperor Maximilian divided Italy among themselves.
In the new conflict between Francis I and Charles of Habsburg over the imperial succession, unwilling to see either elected—and especially unwilling to see the second, who united the crowns of Spain and Naples—he first tried (6 March 1518) to secure a five-year truce for all Christendom and papal arbitration for every dispute. He then held out hope of support to both kings while negotiating compensations, concluding separate alliances with each and even promoting the election of a third, less powerful candidate. When Charles’s election seemed likely, he appeared ready to back Francis; once it became certain, he gave his consent, though he secured himself with a secret agreement with France in October 1519. Finally, needing Charles V’s help against the Lutheran movement, he allied with him through the secret treaty of 8 May 1521 (published 29 June), which bound together the two “Heads of Christendom.” After the imperial victory in Lombardy, he received a triumphal welcome in Rome on 25 November 1521; a few days later, already near death, he learned that Parma—as Piacenza before it—had been restored to the Church. Death prevented him from seeing the Church and Italy delivered into the hands of the ally.
As ruler of the Papal States, he maintained security and peace, promoted agriculture and planned the drainage of the Pontine marshes. Generally mild and even benevolent toward the Jews—whom he allowed to establish a printing press in Rome—he drew Gian Paolo Baglioni, lord of Perugia, to his court with “fair words” only to send him to his well-deserved death. A conspiracy, probably exaggerated for political ends, against the Pope’s person was harshly punished with the execution of Cardinal Alfonso Petrucci and the imprisonment of four other cardinals, who secured pardon only by paying enormous sums (1517); the need for money may well have been one of the principal causes of the intrigue. For his reckless generosity and the enormous expenses of the War of Urbino not only dissipated the treasure amassed by Julius II but drove him to raise funds through heavier taxes, loans, pledges, the sale of even the highest offices, tithes, jubilees and indulgences, whose proceeds were not always devoted to the lofty ends proclaimed. The Romans resented the influx of Florentine swarms who took up many posts, especially the most lucrative ones.
III. THE PATRON
Poets and artists extolled LEO with enthusiastic praise, and his patronage is indeed his title to glory. He had Cardinal Bibbiena as adviser, Pietro Bembo, Jacopo Sadoleto and Paolo Colocci as secretaries; he held close to him Baldassare Castiglione, Alberto Pio of Carpi, Gianfrancesco Pico, Francesco Molza and Bernardo Accolti; he urged Marco Antonio Vida to compose the *Christias*, Jacopo Sannazzaro to publish the *De partu Virginis* and Zaccaria Ferreri to revise the language of the Breviary. He gave nothing to Machiavelli beyond his favour after the Boscoli conspiracy, but he appointed Francesco Guicciardini advocate of the consistory and governor of Modena and Reggio, sent Giangiorgio Trissino on diplomatic missions and gave Paolo Giovio a chair at the University of Rome. Though he was cool toward Ariosto, he granted him privileges for the publication of *Orlando Furioso*; to Erasmus he granted favours and welcomed his defence against the charge of heresy. He patronized Aldo Manuzio’s press, encouraged scholars of Oriental languages, heraldry and numismatics, and was liberal—though not always with discernment or measure—to countless poets, humanists, improvisers, musicians, Istrians, jesters and others.He wished Rome, whose population had grown considerably, to become the intellectual centre of the world. He gathered scholars and artists there, reformed the university on 5 November 1521 (a brief flourishing followed), and among the eighty-eight distinguished teachers were Agostino Nifo, Luca Pacioli, Paolo Giovio and Fedra Inghirami. He expanded both his private library and the Vatican Library, striving to collect books from across Europe, though the results did not match his efforts. He founded a Greek college in Rome—as he had in Florence—directed by Janus Lascaris and equipped with a printing press; he granted privilege to Marco Antonio Mazzocchi for a collection of Roman topographical inscriptions and encouraged Raphael to prepare an archaeological map of Rome. Most of these enterprises lacked continuity, and some never even began.
In architecture he rebuilt the Via Alessandrina, began the Via Leonina (Ripetta) and the redevelopment of Piazza del Popolo, and completed the Logge of the Cortile di San Damaso. In art conservation, a brief of 27 August 1515 saved ancient treasures from destruction and gathered many in the Belvedere. Raphael, with his pupils, portrayed Leo X in the person of Leo the Great in the Room of Heliodorus, symbolized the deeds and intentions of his distant successor in the Room of the Fire in the Borgo through the figures of Leo III and Leo IV, and designed the triumph of the Church in the Room of Constantine; in the cartoons for the tapestries—the modern Parthenon sculptures—he glorified the earliest history, while in the Logge (1513–19) he harmonized his Bible with the paganizing genius of Giovanni da Udine. Giovanni himself and Perino del Vaga decorated the ceiling of the papal hall in the Borgia apartments. Yet the grand projects begun under Julius II either stalled or advanced only with difficulty; foremost among them was the Fabbrica of St Peter’s, for which Fra Giocondo, Raphael and Antonio da Sangallo—who took charge in turn after Bramante’s death in 1514—could accomplish little. Michelangelo was first commissioned to design the façade of San Lorenzo in Florence, then the New Sacristy, but he did not even begin the work. The obscurity of the period following Leo’s death made his age appear brighter by contrast, so that the century took its name from him; yet even in patronage he remained inferior to the truly great Julius.
IV. THE PONTIFF
Leo’s strictly religious activity was considerable but inadequate to the needs and dangers of that grave hour for the Church. From the outset of his pontificate he set out to defend Christendom against the threats of the infidels, aiding Hungary and urging the Christian powers to undertake a Crusade. In November 1517 he had a commission of cardinals, ambassadors and experts draw up a memorandum that thoroughly examined the problem of holy war. Distrust—especially in Germany, where many suspected the project was merely a pretext for extracting money—the War of Urbino and political intrigues frustrated the plan.Leo did, however, continue and bring to conclusion the Fifth Lateran Council (from its sixth session on 27 April 1513 to its twelfth on 16 March 1517), opened by Julius II, with the stated aims of restoring peace, condemning errors and reforming the Church.
The schism was brought to an end by the submission of Carvajal and Sanseverino, who obtained forgiveness through their humiliation (27 June 1513), by the declaration of the French orators abandoning the Pisan Council and adhering to the Lateran Council (19 Dec. 1513), and by the approval of the French Concordat (19 Dec. 1516). On 19 Dec. 1513, the doctrines on the mortality of the individual soul and the collective soul, as well as the theory of double truth—rational and revealed—were condemned; and priests who wished to pursue humanistic studies were required to study theology and canon law for five years beforehand. Decrees were promulgated on 5 May 1514 to eliminate certain abuses in the Curia, to improve the selection of bishops and abbots, to curb commendations and the accumulation of benefices, and to elevate the religious and moral conduct of the clergy and laity. The conflict between bishops and regulars was mitigated, if not entirely resolved, by reducing the exemptions of the latter and increasing the authority of the former (4 May 1515), and limits were set between the rights of secular and regular clergy (19 Dec. 1516). Laws were enacted to regulate preaching; an age-old dispute was settled by approving the Monti di Pietà and allowing lenders to charge interest; and the printing of books without the license of the bishop and inquisitor—or, in Rome, of the vicar and the Master of the Sacred Palace—was prohibited (4 May 1515). These measures of pacification, defense of the faith, and reform were largely beneficial and sowed the seeds of greater things, but they did not go deep enough nor were they effectively enforced.
Even outside the activities of the Council, Leo X did not remain indifferent to the various needs of Church governance. He favored religious orders, particularly the Minims, whose founder, Francis of Paola, he canonized (10 May 1519); after attempting to reunite the entire Franciscan Order, he sanctioned the division between Conventuals and Observants (1517); he issued bulls against magic, divination, and dueling; and he approved the *Compagnia del Divino Amore*, one of the most notable manifestations of Catholic piety in the periphery. He established relations with monks and Greek Uniates, defending them against the hostility of the Latin clergy; he also sought to draw the Ethiopians and Russians closer to the Roman See. He raised his voice against the enslavement of the Indians and sought to protect them from the violence of the conquerors.
Yet he tolerated too many scandals involving prelates and courtiers around him; he was too fond of hunting, secular festivals, and spectacles, even attending performances of *Calandria* and *I Suppositi* and allowing or even requesting that *Mandragola* be staged in Rome.
In the very creation of cardinals, and particularly in the elevation (19 July 1517) of no fewer than thirty-one at once—consented to by the Sacred College, fearful of harsh retaliation against Petrucci and his supposed accomplices—while some worthy men were included, too many others owed their red hats to kinship or friendship with the Pope, political motives, or the payment of large sums. This conduct undermined the very reforms he attempted.
Leo X appeared too weak in the face of dangerous tendencies threatening papal authority and Church unity, though his indulgence may be partly excused by the gravity of the circumstances. The Concordat with Francis I (18 Aug. 1516) abolished the Pragmatic Sanction, rejected the conciliar theory of superiority, and secured the support of the French Crown for the Church; yet it placed that Church entirely in the hands of the King, who was granted almost unlimited powers to appoint bishops and abbots and, indirectly, to resolve the vast majority of cases, even ecclesiastical or mixed ones, including appeals. To the King of Spain, Leo confirmed the grant of the Crusade tax and vainly attempted to strip him of the right of *retención de bulas* and to subject the Spanish Inquisition to common law. To the King of Portugal, he granted jurisdiction over all benefices in overseas territories; to the King of Poland, privileges; and to the Polish archbishop of Gniezno, the office of *legatus natus*. To Henry VIII of England, he granted (26 Oct. 1521) the title of *Defensor Fidei*, earned by his *Assertio septem Sacramentorum*; yet to the powerful chancellor Wolsey, he not only granted the red hat (10 Sept. 1513) but also the office of legate, allowing him to combine political and religious authority.
Faced with the new doctrines spreading in Germany (v. LUTHER, MARTIN), Leo showed excessive tolerance. He hesitated for a long time before taking a stand in the debate between theologians and humanists over the works of Reuchlin, and only on 23 June 1520 did he condemn the *Augenspiegel*.
V. THE FIGURE
Leo X’s person embodied a singular contrast. To the enormous, obese figure with the flaccid face and protruding, myopic eyes—idealized by Raphael but portrayed with brutal realism by Sebastiano del Piombo and Varignana—were opposed a harmonious voice, eloquent speech, and a friendly, at times captivating manner. The same contrast, moreover, characteristic of that age, was evident in his spiritual character. Sincerely believing and upright in conduct, generous in charity, he was also eager to live and enjoy life, having “a horror of every kind of toil” and unwilling to “suffer annoyances”; he was prudent, yet hesitant, timid, secretive in his designs, not averse to duplicity and falsehood, and too devoted to his own interests. His learning, rich and varied, had something of superficiality and dilettantism. He died after a very brief illness, with signs of sincere piety. Yet he was not mourned; on the contrary, he was subjected to atrocious and unjust accusations. Buried first in St. Peter’s, his remains were later interred in the grandiose monument—he even recognized the necessity of an agreement with the Huguenots, which resulted in the Edict of Nantes. Though he did not obtain Henry IV’s fulfillment of all his promises, with frankness, prudence, and modesty he won the King’s sympathy, secured notable conversions, and restored ecclesiastical discipline shaken by the religious wars. He presided over the negotiations for the Peace of Vervins (2 May 1598) and played an effective mediating role. Already bishop of Albano (30 Aug. 1600) and Palestrina (17 June 1602), he was elected pope on 10 Apr. 1605 with the support of France and despite Spanish opposition. He was free from nepotism, grateful to the people for abolishing oppressive taxes, and independent even in the face of the King of France; he sent substantial aid to the Emperor against the Turks, convened a commission of cardinals to reform the voting system in the conclave, and resolved (23 Apr. 1605) a dispute between the clergy of Castile and León and the Jesuits, obliging them to contribute a share of their revenues.
He died after a very brief pontificate, much mourned, and was honored with a monument in St. Peter’s, executed by Algardi.
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PICOTTI