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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>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0582057582/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0582057582&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=589df5407c544ee8dc846923248df7de 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 French Empire. Julius II was a powerful advocate of Papal independence but he also hated the French as outsiders and referred to them as ‘barbarians’.

Julius II was one of the greatest Renaissance Popes. He stabilized the Papal States and held the French Empire at bay. 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 , his untimely death stalled his reform efforts. While the Holy League under Julius served as a counterweight to 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 towards the Hapsburgs. It is possible that if he had lived longer he could have prolonged the Renaissance, which was eneded by the Hapsburg domination of Italy.

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