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Pope Julius II was a towering figure in Italian and European politics. He was known as the ‘Warrior-Pope’ because of his proclivity towards war. He was also a shrewd diplomat and capable politician. Julius II changed the history of Italy with his policies and had a dramatic impact on the Renaissance. He was a great patron of the arts and personally commissioned many great masterpieces. During his time as pope, Julius II contained the Venice's, ended the role of the Borgias in Rome, but failed to drive the French from Italy. Julius II's policies and actions delayed foreign domination of Italy and prolonged the Renaissance.
===Background===The future Pope was born Giuliano della Rovere, in 1443, to a noble but impoverished family. His uncle became Pope Sixtus IV in 1471. As was the custom of the time, the new Pope awarded many Sixtus appointed Julius to offices and titles from his unclegranted him various awards. In 1471, while still a young man he was created elected to a position as Cardinal and this . This position allowed him Juliuis to gain even more not only acquire power and he became , but it also very allowed him to become quite wealthy.<ref> Shaw, Christine. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0631167382/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0631167382&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=1016a64a009cb710580ff0b6770df245|Julius II: The Warrior Pope]</i>. (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1993), p. 127</ref>. When his uncle died , he helped to arrange for an ally to become be elected Pope. Julius was aid to be one of the new Pope positioned him to most powerful Cardinals Cardinal in Rome, but he still failed to become Pope after the death of Innocent IV. [[File:Papacy 2.jpg |250px|thumb|left|St Peter's Basilica]]His hated enemy Rodrigo Borgia became Pope Alexander IV and Julius left Rome and spent time in Northern Italy.<ref> Shaw, p. 133</ref>. He only returned to Rome after the death of Alexander IV. He eventually became Pope in 1503. Italy at At the time , Italy was in turmoil and had just entered a new and bloody phase in its history. Venice was becoming increasingly powerful and was threatening the balance of power in powerin Italy. In 1494 the French invaded Italy and occupied the Kingdom of Naples. This invasion was to start started a period of war between France and the Holy Roman Empire for control of Italy. Julius was faced with an unprecedented situation - how to limit Venice's growing power and one that was fraught with threats for Julius II and expel the PapacyFrench empire from Italy. Like every other Pope, Julius II was determined to maintain his independence and his control of over the Papal States. In order to preserve the status of the Papacy in Italy, he was obliged to enter into alliances and wars.
It is not clear why Cesare allowed Julius to become Pope. Julius effectively rallied an anti-Borgia collation to his side and allied himself with the powerful Orsini and other noble families. Ultimately, with these families help he was able to take control of the Papal army, which was composed primarily of mercenaries. Cesare was effectively powerless without the support of his army and 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 Cambrai===[[File:Borgia Three.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Cesare Borgia- Julius' great enemy]]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 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 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 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 Emperor Charles V because they lacked a military that could challenge him directly.<ref> Norwich, p. 415</ref> ===Holy League===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’. <dh-ad/> In order to curb the growing power of the French he formed a new alliance, that became known as the Holy League. 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 which was composed of the Swiss Cantons, Spain, several Italian City-States and Venice.<ref> Shaw, p. 134</ref> 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. 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 he had hoped. 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 and the League dissolved. Without the League the French were once again able to regain their control of Northern Italy after the defeat of the Swiss at Marignano in 1515.<ref> Mallet and Shaw, p. 113</ref> The French were not driven from Northern Italy until the 1550s by the Spanish armies commanded by Phillip II. 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 (the emperors of Germany and kings of Spain). Some historians have blamed Julius for allowing the Hapsburg dynasty to become entrenched in Italy. This criticism is probably unfair because had Julius lived, he would have been more effective at limiting their power. 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>
==Pope Julius II==Related DailyHistory.org Articles====Julian was one of *[[Why did the most powerful secular rulers in Italy and also in Europe. Julius Italian Renaissance End?]]*[[How did not neglect the Papacy and Bubonic Plague make the Church. He proved to be an able administrator and helped to reform Italian Renaissance possible?]]*[[What was the government role of the Papal States. Julius unlike his predecessors and many of his successors he was committed to reforming Popes in the Church. He was well aware that Renaissance?]]*[[What were the Church was corrupt and he tried to reform it. Julius issued bulls (orders) that forbade simony, that is causes of 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 Northern Renaissance?]]*[[How did the curia, Renaissance influence the Papal bureaucracy. Perhaps his greatest achievement Reformation?]]*[[What was the Fifth Lateran Council. This Borgias contribution to Renaissance Italy?]]*[[What was convened to eradicate corruption in the Church relationship between faith and to end the many abuses reason 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.Middle Ages?]]</div>
==Julius II=References===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<references/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. ==Conclusion==Julius II was one of the greatest Renaissance Popes. He had many achievements. It was his drive that formed an alliance, that curtailed the ambition of the Venetians when they were threatening to dominate Italy. This Pope 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 death. Then there was the failure of the Holy League to expel the French 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 the Hapsburg. In this way, he could have helped to prolong the Renaissance, which was arguably ultimately extinguished by the Hapsburg domination of Italy.