Changes

==Introduction==__NOTOC__This article will discuss and evaluate the impact [[File: Julius II One.jpg |250px|thumb|left|Portrait of Julius II by Raphael]]Pope Julius II on the Italian Renaissance. Julius was a towering figure in Italian and European politics. He was known as the ‘Warrior-Pope’ because of his willingness to engage in proclivity towards war. He was also a shrewd diplomat and capable politician. Julius II was to change changed the history of Italy with his policies and have had a very dramatic impact on the Renaissance. He was also a great patron of the arts and personally commissioned many great masterpieces. This article will argue that During his time as pope, Julius II was able to contain contained the expansion of Venice's, ended the role of the Borgias in Rome, but he failed to drive the French from Italy. Julius II was also a great patron of the art 's policies and he commissioned many of the greatest works in the western tradition. Julius II helped to delay the actions delayed foreign domination of Italy and in this way he helped to prolong prolonged the Renaissance.[[File: Julius II One.jpg |200px|thumb|left|Portrait of Julius II by Raphael]]==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 offices and titles from his uncle. In 1471, while still a young man he was created a Cardinal and this allowed him to gain even more power and he became also very wealthy<ref> Shaw, Christine. Julius II: The Warrior Pope. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1993), p. 127</ref>. When his uncle died he helped to arrange for an ally to become Pope. Julius was to be one of the most powerful Cardinals in Rome, but he failed to become Pope after the death of Innocent IV. 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 the time 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 Italy. In 1494 the French invaded Italy and occupied the Kingdom of Naples. This invasion was to start a period of war between France and the Holy Roman Empire for control of Italy. Julius was faced with an unprecedented situation and one that was fraught with threats for Julius II and the Papacy. Like every other Pope, Julius II was determined to maintain his independence and his control of the Papal States. In order to preserve the status of the Papacy in Italy, he was obliged to enter into alliances and wars.

[[File:Papacy 2.jpg |200px|thumb|left|St Peter's Basilica]]==The Fall of the Borgia’s=Background===Julius faced The future Pope was born Giuliano della Rovere, in 1443, to a great challenge to his position even before he noble but impoverished family. His uncle became PopeSixtus IV in 1471. He As was a mortal enemy of the Borgias and he feared that they would try and assassinate him. Julius was also worried that Cesare Borgia would seize the Papacy or create a dukedom out custom of the Papal States. Cesare was head of time, the Papal Armies Pope Sixtus appointed Julius to offices and control much of the Papal Statesgranted him various awards. Julius was In 1471, while still a very shrewd young man and he managed was elected to deceive or bribe Cesare Borgia into allowing a position as Cardinal. This position allowed Juliuis to not only acquire power, but it also allowed him to become Popequite wealthy.<ref> SabatiniShaw, RaphaelChristine. <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 Life of Cesare BorgiaWarrior Pope]</i>. London(Oxford: Stanley Paul & CompanyBlackwell Publishers, 19121993), p. 167127</ref>When his uncle died, he helped to arrange for an ally to be elected Pope. This according Julius aid to Machiavelli was a fateful mistake "therefore, the duke erred new Pope positioned him to most powerful Cardinal in his choiceRome, and it was but he still failed to become Pope after the cause death of his ultimate ruinInnocent 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> Machiavelli, Niccola. The Prince (Hamondsworth, Penguin, 1992)Shaw, p. 45133</ref>He only returned to Rome after the death of Alexander IV. There is still much debate as to why Cesare did thisHe eventually became Pope in 1503. Julius At the time, Italy was able to rally an anti-Borgia collation in turmoil and had just entered a new and he allied himself with the bloody phase in its history. Venice was becoming increasingly powerful Orsini and other noble families and with their help he was able to take control of threatening the Papal army, which was mostly composed balance of mercenariespowerin Italy. Cesare was effectively powerless without In 1494 the French invaded Italy and occupied the support Kingdom 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 This invasion started a period of war between France and the power Holy Roman Empire for control of the Borgia’s in Italy was broken forever. Julius according was faced with an unprecedented situation - how to many commentators at the time saved limit Venice's growing power and expel the Papacy French empire from becoming a puppet of Cesare BorgiaItaly. Like every other Pope, Julius II also secured was determined to maintain his independence and control over the Papal States as a single entity and denied Cesare Borgia . In order to preserve the status of the opportunity Papacy in Italy, he was obliged to carve a principality for himself from Papal Lands<ref> Sabatini, p 115</ref>enter into alliances and wars.

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>.

==While the Holy League==under Julius II became concerned even before the Cambrai League’s victory at Agnadello of the growing power of served as a counterweight to 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 they failed to expel them from Italy<ref> Mallett, Michael and Christine Shaw. The Italian Wars, 1494–1559: War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe (Harlow, England: Pearson Education Limited, 2012), p. 89</ref>. Julius This was concerned that France could become the dominant power in Italy and the Papacy could ultimately be reduced to a dependency of the French. because Julius II was a powerful advocate of Papal independence but he also hated the French as outsiders architect 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 driving force behind the Holy League. The League comprised the Swiss Cantons, Spain, Venice and several Italian City-States and was formed in 1510<ref> Shaw, p. 134</ref>. In that year, Julius personally led an attack on the French held town of Mirandola, which when he captured. The French were left very exposed in Italy and they were 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 had first seen. Pope Julius died soon after 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 able to regain retrieve their old superiority position in Northern Italy after they won a great victory over the Swiss at Marignano in 1515<ref> Mallet and Shaw, p. 113</ref>. They were only driven from Northern Italy by the Spanish armies of Phillip II in the 1550s. The Holy League had initially been very successful and had greatly limited French power in Italy, if Had Julius had not died, lived it is quite possible highly likely that the League could he would have expelled Francis I entirely from Italian territory <ref> Guicciardini, Francesco. The History of Italy. Translated by Sydney Alexander. (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1984), p. 117</ref>. After driven out the dissolution of the League, the future of Italy was to be decided by two foreign powers, the Valois dynasty in France French and then turned his attention towards the Habsburg, who were Emperors in Germany and kings of SpainHapsburgs. Some historians have blamed Julius for allowing the Hapsburg’s to become entrenched in Italy but It is possible that if he had Julius lived, longer he would could have certainly sought to limit their powers. He prolonged the Renaissance, which was always guided ended by the principle Hapsburg domination 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=References===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 to 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<references/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.

<div class="portal" style="width:85%;">====Related DailyHistory.org Articles==Julius II==Many of Julius IIs plans were thwarted or never came to fruition. Perhaps his most concrete achievements and successes were in *[[Why did the arts. He was one of Italian Renaissance End?]]*[[How did the greatest patrons of Bubonic Plague make the arts in Italian Renaissance Italy. Julius possible?]]*[[What was able to secure the services role of Michelangelo, by paying him (or threatening him) into working the Popes in Rome. He commissioned the great Florentine, who preferred sculpting to painting to paint Renaissance?]]*[[What were the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This is commonly regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces causes of the Northern 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. ?]]==Conclusion==Julius II was one of *[[How did the greatest Renaissance Popes. He had many achievements. It was his drive that formed an alliance, that curtailed influence 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 Reformation?]]*[[What was the failure of the Holy League Borgias contribution to expel the French from Renaissance Italy. This ?]]*[[What was because, Julius the architect relationship between faith and the driving force behind the League and when he died the French were able to retrieve their position reason 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.Middle Ages?]]</div>