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Even before became Julius faced a great challenge to his position even before became pope he became Pope. He was a mortal enemy of fear that the Borgias and he feared that they would try and to assassinate him. Julius was also worried that Cesare Borgia would try to seize the Papacy or create a dukedom out of the Papal States. Cesare was head of the Papal Armies and control controlled much of the Papal States. Julius was a very shrewd man and he managed to deceive or outmaneuver and bribe Cesare Borgia into allowing him to become Pope.<ref> Sabatini, Raphael. <i>The Life of Cesare Borgia. </i> London: Stanley Paul & Company, 1912), p. 167</ref>. This according According to Machiavelli , Cesare was a fateful mistake destroyed by his failure to stop Julius rise. Machiavelli stated "therefore, the duke erred in his choice, and it was the cause of his ultimate ruin." <ref> Machiavelli, Niccola. <i>The Prince </i> (Hamondsworth, Penguin, 1992), p. 45</ref>. There is still much debate as to why Cesare did this. Julius was able to rally an anti-Borgia collation and he allied himself with the powerful Orsini and other noble families and with their help he was able to take control of the Papal army, which was mostly composed of mercenaries. Cesare was effectively powerless without the support of his army and he fled to Naples, where Julius managed to persuade the local ruler to imprison him. Later Cesare was sent to Spain and the power of the Borgia’s in Italy was broken forever. Julius according to many commentators at the time saved the Papacy from becoming a puppet of Cesare Borgia. Julius II also secured the Papal States as a single entity and denied Cesare Borgia the opportunity to carve a principality for himself from Papal Lands<ref> Sabatini, p 115</ref>. 

League of CambraiIt is not clear why Cesare allowed Julius to become Pope. Julius was a restless effectively rallied an anti-Borgia collation to his side and allied himself with the powerful Orsini and ambitious manother noble families. He Ultimately, with these families help he was eager able to extend the power take control of the Papacy after a period of relative decline. In recent years Venice had extended its power greatly in Northern ItalyPapal army, especially after the fall which was composed primarily of the Sforza dynasty in Milanmercenaries. Venice Cesare was slowly becoming effectively powerless without the greatest power in the North support of his army and this together with its massive navy, empirefled to Naples, and its trading networks made it arguably the greatest Italian power. where Julius wanted managed to maintain persuade the balance of power in Italy and saw Venice as a threat local ruler to his own Papal Statesimprison him. Furthermore, the Venetians had encouraged vassals of the Pope Later Cesare was sent to revolt in the Papal States Spain and occupied several cities in the Papal States<ref> John Julius Norwich. A History power 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 CambraiBorgia’s in Italy was broken forever. It included many major Italian states and crucially France. The French king’s army allowed Julius according to recapture some key cities such as Bologna and Rimini from Venice. The League of Cambrai army met the Venetian army many commentators 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 time saved the Republic’s naval forces that saved it Papacy from total defeat. Julius, it seems did not want the complete defeat of Venice and he seems to have persuaded the other members becoming a puppet of the League to end the warCesare Borgia. 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 also secured the Papal States. However, the most powerful Italian City-State had been greatly weakened and this was to mean that there was no as a single power that could rival the power of the French monarch entity and denied Cesare Borgia the Emperor Charles Vopportunity to carve a principality for himself from Papal Lands.<ref> NorwichSabatini, p. 415115</ref>.

Julius II became concerned even before the Cambrai League’s victory at Agnadello of the growing power of the French. The French king, Francis I was a hugely ambitious monarch and had direct or indirect control of large areas of the north of Italy.<ref> Mallett, Michael and Christine Shaw. <i>The Italian Wars, 1494–1559: War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe </i> (Harlow, England: Pearson Education Limited, 2012), p. 89</ref>. Julius was concerned that France could become the dominant power in Italy and the Papacy could ultimately be reduced to a dependency of the FrenchEmpire. Julius II was a powerful advocate of Papal independence but he also hated the French as outsiders and referred to them as ‘barbarians’.  In order to curb the growing power of the French he formed a new alliance, that became known as the Holy League. The Julius negotiated a settlement with Venice in 1510 because he wanted to use them to control France. That same year he created the Holy League comprised which was composed of the Swiss Cantons, Spain, Venice and several Italian City-States and was formed in 1510Venice.<ref> Shaw, p. 134</ref>. In Later that year, Julius personally led an attack on the French held town of Mirandola, which he captured. The French were left very exposed in Italy and they . They were also defeated by the Swiss at the Battle of Novarra in 1513. Julius was too ill to savor his victory and in the end, the victory of the Holy Alliance was not as decisive as it he had first seenhoped.  Pope Julius died soon after the Battle of Novarra and without him the Holy League fell apart. He alone was capable of holding such a disparate collation together and soon the League was dissolved. Without the League the French were once more again able to regain their old superiority in control of Northern Italy after they won a great victory over the defeat of the Swiss at Marignano in 1515.<ref> Mallet and Shaw, p. 113</ref>. They The French were only not driven from Northern Italy until the 1550s by the Spanish armies of commanded by Phillip II in the 1550s. The Holy League had initially been very successful and had greatly limited French power in Italy, if Julius had not died, it is quite possible that the League could have expelled Francis I entirely from Italian territory . <ref> Guicciardini, Francesco. <i>The History of Italy</i>. Translated by Sydney Alexander. (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1984), p. 117</ref>. After the dissolution of the League, the future of Italy was to be decided by two foreign powers, the Valois dynasty in France and the Habsburg, who were Emperors in (the emperors of Germany and kings of Spain). Some historians have blamed Julius for allowing the Hapsburg’s Hapsburg dynasty to become entrenched in Italy but . This criticism is probably unfair because had Julius lived, he would have certainly sought to limit been more effective at limiting their powerspower. He was always guided by the principle of the balance-of-power in Italy and would have surely formed an anti-Hapsburg League.<ref> Mallet and Shaw, p. 113</ref>.

Julian was one of the most powerful secular rulers in Italy and also in Europe. Julius did not neglect the Papacy and the Church. He proved to be an able administrator and helped to reform the government of the Papal States. Julius , unlike his predecessors and many of his successors he , was committed to reforming the Church. He was well aware that the Church was corrupt and he tried sought to dramatically reform it. Julius issued bulls (orders) that forbade simony, that is (the selling of Church offices ) and reformed many monastic orders.<ref> Shaw, p. 118</ref>. Pope Julius II was also a capable administrator and he reformed the curia, the Papal bureaucracy. Perhaps his greatest achievement was the Fifth Lateran Council. This was convened to eradicate corruption in the Church and to end the many abuses in the Papal government. This Council despite its good intentions did not manage to achieve much because behind it Julius II died before many of the intended reforms could be implemented. If Julius II had managed to reform the Church this could have changed history as only four years after his death, Martin Luther nailed his theses to a Church Door. If Julius II had been able to carry out his reforms he could have prevented a schism in the Church.

==Julius II==Many Still many of Julius IIs plans were thwarted or never came to fruition. Perhaps his most concrete achievements and successes were in the arts. He was one of the greatest patrons of the arts in Renaissance Italy. Julius was able to secure the services of Michelangelo, by paying him (or threatening him) into working in Rome. He commissioned the great Florentine, who preferred sculpting to painting - to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This is commonly regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces of the Renaissance.<ref> Shaw, p. 118</ref>. Julius also paid Raphael to paint four rooms in the Vatican, that are widely considered to be his masterpieces. Perhaps his most ambitious project was the rebuilding of the Basilica of St Peter’s, which had become dilapidated over the course of the centuries. He hired Bramante, the great architect to design a new Basilica. Julius’ project was completed by Pope Leo X.

Julius II was one of the greatest Renaissance Popes. He had many achievements. It was his drive that formed an alliance, that curtailed stabilized the ambition of Papal States and held the Venetians when they were threatening to dominate ItalyFrench Empire at bay. This Pope Julius also engineered the downfall of the Borgia clan and possibly saved the Papal States from being partitioned. He was also a great patron of the arts and he has left the world an unprecedented number of artistic and architectural masterpieces. Julius also had some notable failures. Despite all his efforts at reforming the Church he achieved nothing, mainly because of his sudden untimely deathstalled his reform efforts. Then there was the failure of While the Holy League under Julius served as a counterweight to expel the French , they failed expel them from Italy. This was because, Julius the architect and the driving force behind the League and when he died the French were able to retrieve their position in Italy. Had Julius lived it is highly likely that he would have driven out the French and then turned his attention to towards the HapsburgHapsburgs. In this way, It is possible that if he had lived longer he could have helped to prolong prolonged the Renaissance, which was arguably ultimately extinguished eneded by the Hapsburg domination of Italy.