Leo X | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Rome | |
 Detail from Raphael's Portrait of Leo X | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Papacy began | 9 March 1513 |
| Papacy ended | 1 December 1521 |
| Predecessor | Julius II |
| Successor | Adrian VI |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 15 March 1513 by Raffaele Sansone Riario |
| Consecration | 17 March 1513 by Raffaele Sansone Riario |
| Created cardinal |
by Innocent VIII |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici |
| Born | 11 December 1475 Florence, Republic of Florence |
| Died | 1 December 1521 (aged 45) Rome, Papal States |
| Buried | Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome |
| Previous post(s) |
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| Coat of arms |  |
| Other popes named Leo | |
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Pope Leo X, born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici (11 December 1475 – 1 December 1521) was Pope from 1513 to his death. He is known primarily for his failure to stem the Protestant Reformation, which began during his reign when Martin Luther (1483–1546) first accused the Roman Catholic Church of corruption.
Leo X is considered the only Pope who has bestowed his own name upon his age, and one of the few whose original extraction has corresponded in some measure with the splendour of the pontifical dignity. He was the second son of Lorenzo de' Medici. His cousin Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, would become Pope Clement VII (1523–34).
The quote "How well we know what a profitable superstition this fable of Christ has been for us" is commonly but nonetheless falsely attributed to him. In actuality, the quote is derived from The Pageant of the Popes, a parodical play of the Protestant satirist John Bale.
Biography[]
Early career[]
Giovanni de' Medici was born in Florence.
On March 26 1492, the 16-year-old Giovanni became a cardinal and moved to Rome, receiving a letter of advice[1] from his parents which rank among the wisest and weightiest compositions of its class. Within a few months his prospects were clouded by the nearly simultaneous deaths of his father and the Pope, a double bereavement closing the era of peace which Lorenzo's prudent policy had given to Italy, and inaugurating a period of foreign invasion and domestic strife.
One of the first consequences of the French irruption into Italy which shortly ensued was the expulsion of the Medici family from Florence (November 1494). Having resisted to the best of his ability, the Cardinal de' Medici found a refuge at Bologna and, being obnoxious to Innocent VIII's successor, Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) as well as seeing himself deprived of political importance for the time being, he journeyed to several foreign countries with a party of friends. Upon his return he settled in Rome, withdrawing himself from public life as much as possible, and disarming the jealousy of Alexander VI by displaying an unaffected devotion to literary pursuits.
Election to Papacy[]
When he became Pope on March 9, 1513, Leo X rejoiced; he is reported to have said to his brother Giuliano, "Since God has given us the papacy, let us enjoy it." The Venetian ambassador who related this of him was not unbiased, nor was he in Rome at the time, nevertheless the phrase illustrates fairly the Pope's pleasure-loving nature and the lack of seriousness that characterized him. And enjoy he did, traveling around Rome at the head of a lavish parade featuring panthers, jesters, and Hanno, a white elephant. "Under his pontificate, Christianity assumed a pagan character, which, passing from art into manners, gives to this epoch a strange complexion. Crimes for the moment disappeared, to give place to vices; but to charming vices, vices in good taste, such as those indulged in by Alcibiades and sung by Catullus." (Alexandre Dumas pére).[2]
Leo X was also lavish in works of charity: hospitals, convents, discharged soldiers, pilgrims, poor students, exiles, cripples, the sick, the unfortunate of every description were generously remembered, and more than 6,000 ducats were annually distributed in alms.
His extravagance offended even some Cardinals, who, led by Alfonso Petrucci of Siena, allegedly plotted an assassination attempt (which was foiled); the plan was to inject poison into the Pope's formidable hemorrhoids. Some people argue that Leo X and his followers simply concocted the assassination charges in a moneymaking scheme to collect fines from the various wealthy Cardinals Leo X detested.
The Reformation[]
Leo X was noted for his projects, including St. Peter's Basilica, and personal extravagances.
On June 15, 1520 Pope Leo X issued the papal bull "Exsurge Domine" and on January 3, 1521 excommunicated Martin Luther. This bull was widely ignored (and was publicly burned by Luther). The bull said the statement "That heretics be burned is against the will of the Spirit" was an error, thereby endorsing the burning of heretics [3]. Soon after this, the Pope fell ill with Malaria.
He died in Rome in 1521, and was buried in Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
Bibliography[]
- Ludwig von Pastor, History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages; Drawn from the Secret Archives of the Vatican and other original sources, 40 vols. St. Louis, B.Herder 1898
- Luther Martin. Luther's Correspondence and Other Contemporary Letters, 2 vols., tr.and ed. by Preserved Smith, Charles Michael Jacobs, The Lutheran Publication Society, Philadelphia, Pa. 1913, 1918. vol.I (1507-1521) and vol.2 (1521-1530) from Google Books. Reprint of Vol.1, Wipf & Stock Publishers (March 2006). ISBN 1-59752-601-0
External links[]
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope Leo X
- Vita de Leonis X life in Latin by Paulus Jovius
- Henry VIII to Pope Leo X. May 21,1521
- Leo X to Frederic, Elector of Saxony. Rome, July 8, 1520 "...if ( Luther ) persists in his insanity...then you should take care and zealously try to capture him and send him bound into our custody...."
- Pope Leo X at Wikimedia Commons
Popes of the Catholic Church | ||
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| 1st–4th centuries | Peter * Linus * Anacletus * Clement I * Evaristus * Alexander I * Sixtus I * Telesphorus * Hyginus * Pius I * Anicetus * Soter * Eleuterus * Victor I * Zephyrinus * Callixtus I * Urban I * Pontian * Anterus * Fabian * Cornelius * Lucius I * Stephen I * Sixtus II * Dionysius * Felix I * Eutychian * Caius * Marcellinus * Marcellus I * Eusebius * Miltiades * Sylvester I * Mark * Julius I * Liberius * Damasus I * Siricius * Anastasius I |  |
| 5th–8th centuries | Innocent I * Zosimus * Boniface I * Celestine I * Sixtus III * Leo I * Hilarius * Simplicius * Felix III * Gelasius I * Anastasius II * Symmachus * Hormisdas * John I * Felix IV * Boniface II * John II * Agapetus I * Silverius * Vigilius * Pelagius I * John III * Benedict I * Pelagius II * Gregory I * Sabinian * Boniface III * Boniface IV * Adeodatus I * Boniface V * Honorius I * Severinus * John IV * Theodore I * Martin I * Eugene I * Vitalian * Adeodatus II * Donus * Agatho * Leo II * Benedict II * John V * Conon * Sergius I * John VI * John VII * Sisinnius * Constantine * Gregory II * Gregory III * Zachary * Stephen II * Paul I * Stephen III * Adrian I * Leo III | |
| 9th–12th centuries | Stephen IV * Paschal I * Eugene II * Valentine * Gregory IV * Sergius II * Leo IV * Benedict III * Nicholas I * Adrian II * John VIII * Marinus I * Adrian III * Stephen V * Formosus * Boniface VI * Stephen VI * Romanus * Theodore II * John IX * Benedict IV * Leo V * Sergius III * Anastasius III * Lando * John X * Leo VI * Stephen VII * John XI * Leo VII * Stephen VIII * Marinus II * Agapetus II * John XII * Benedict V * Leo VIII * John XIII * Benedict VI * Benedict VII * John XIV * John XV * Gregory V * Sylvester II * John XVII * John XVIII * Sergius IV * Benedict VIII * John XIX * Benedict IX * Sylvester III * Benedict IX * Gregory VI * Clement II * Benedict IX * Damasus II * Leo IX * Victor II * Stephen IX * Nicholas II * Alexander II * Gregory VII * Victor III * Urban II * Paschal II * Gelasius II * Callixtus II * Honorius II * Innocent II * Celestine II * Lucius II * Eugene III * Anastasius IV * Adrian IV * Alexander III * Lucius III * Urban III * Gregory VIII * Clement III * Celestine III * Innocent III | |
| 13th–16th centuries | Honorius III * Gregory IX * Celestine IV * Innocent IV * Alexander IV * Urban IV * Clement IV * Gregory X * Innocent V * Adrian V * John XXI * Nicholas III * Martin IV * Honorius IV * Nicholas IV * Celestine V * Boniface VIII * Benedict XI * Clement V * John XXII * Benedict XII * Clement VI * Innocent VI * Urban V * Gregory XI * Urban VI * Boniface IX * Innocent VII * Gregory XII * Martin V * Eugene IV * Nicholas V * Callixtus III * Pius II * Paul II * Sixtus IV * Innocent VIII * Alexander VI * Pius III * Julius II * Leo X * Adrian VI * Clement VII * Paul III * Julius III * Marcellus II * Paul IV * Pius IV * Pius V * Gregory XIII * Sixtus V * Urban VII * Gregory XIV * Innocent IX * Clement VIII | |
| 17th–20th centuries | Leo XI * Paul V * Gregory XV * Urban VIII * Innocent X * Alexander VII * Clement IX * Clement X * Innocent XI * Alexander VIII * Innocent XII * Clement XI * Innocent XIII * Benedict XIII * Clement XII * Benedict XIV * Clement XIII * Clement XIV * Pius VI * Pius VII * Leo XII * Pius VIII * Gregory XVI * Pius IX * Leo XIII * Pius X * Benedict XV * Pius XI * Pius XII * John XXIII * Paul VI * John Paul I * John Paul II | |
| 21st century | ||
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