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Julius was a restless and ambitious man. He was eager to extend the power of the Papacy after a period of relative decline. In recent years Venice had extended its power greatly in Northern Italy, especially after the fall of the Sforza dynasty in Milan. Venice was slowly becoming the greatest power in the North and this together with its massive navy, empire, and its trading networks made it arguably the greatest Italian power. Julius wanted to maintain the balance of power in Italy and saw Venice as a threat to his own Papal States. Furthermore, the Venetians had encouraged vassals of the Pope to revolt in the Papal States and occupied several cities in the Papal States<ref> John Julius Norwich. A History of Venice (New York: Vintage Books, 1989, p. 345)</ref>. Julius established a large Papal army and formed a military and diplomatic alliance called the League of Cambrai. It included many major Italian states and crucially France. The French king’s army allowed Julius to recapture some key cities such as Bologna and Rimini from Venice. The League of Cambrai army met the Venetian army at Agnadello (1509)<ref> Norwich, p. 356</ref>. At this battle,the Venetians were decisively defeated and they lost much of their territories in Northern Italy. It seemed at one stage that even Venice would be captured and only a desperate defense and the Republic’s naval forces that saved it from total defeat. Julius, it seems did not want the complete defeat of Venice and he seems to have persuaded the other members of the League to end the war. Soon after in 1510 the Papacy had become reconciled to the Venetian Republic <ref> Norwich, p. 377</ref>. The balance of power had been restored by Julius II and his League of Cambrai on the Italian peninsula. Furthermore, for the first time in many years, a Pope had full control of the Papal States. However, the most powerful Italian City-State had been greatly weakened and this was to mean that there was no single power that could rival the power of the French monarch and the Emperor Charles V<ref> Norwich, p. 415</ref>.

==Holy League==