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Julius was a restless and ambitious man. He was eager to extend the power of the Papacy after years of decline. In recent years, Venice had extended its power power in Northern Italy at the expense of the Papal States. This decline was exacerbated by the fall of the Sforza dynasty in Milan. Venice was slowly becoming the one of the greatest powers in the Mediterranean. Venice accomplished by leveraging its massive navy and trading networks into a formidable empire. Julius sought to maintain the balance of power in Italy and saw Venice as the chief threat to the 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. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679721975/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0679721975&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=c355b583109e2af36c61232ad83d9fc7 A History of Venice]</i> (New York: Vintage Books, 1989, p. 345)</ref>.

Julius built a large Papal army and formed a military and diplomatic alliance called the League of Cambrai. It included many major Italian states and 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 to retreat in Northern Italy. At one point, it appeared that Venice would even be captured. Venice was only saved after a desperate defense of Venice that was aided Venice’s navy. Julius, actually was not interested in Venice's complete defeat. Instead, he wanted a weakened Venice and once that was achieved persuaded the other members of the League to end the war. A few years later in 1510, Julius was able to reconcile with the Venice.<ref> Norwich, p. 377</ref> Julius successfully restored the balance of power with the help of the League of Cambrai. Furthermore, for the first time in many years, a Pope had full control of the Papal States. However, while this made it easier to govern the Papal States, Julius lacked the a powerful enough city -state to challenge the French after the defeat of Venice. Essentially, defeating Venice Julius was forced to work with the French monarch and the Emperor Charles V because they lacked a military that could challenge him directly.<ref> Norwich, p. 415</ref>