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Pope '''Julius II''' (1443-1513), Pope of The Catholic Church, 1503-1513.  A warrior pope, he enlarged the Papal States. He legislated against simony and duelling, and sent missionaries to Ethiopia, America, the Congo, and India. A leading patron of the arts in [[The Renaissance]], he laid the cornerstone of [[St. Peter's Basilica]], and was the patron of [[Bramante]], [[Raphael]], and [[Michelangelo]].  Julius II was seen as a dissolute, hyper-aggressive egomaniac by [[Erasmus]], [[Machiavelli]] and other contemporaries

Pope '''Julius II''' (1443-1513), Pope of The Catholic Church, 1503-1513.  A warrior pope, he enlarged the Papal States. He legislated against simony and duelling, and sent missionaries to Ethiopia, America, the Congo, and India. A leading patron of the arts in [[The Renaissance]], he laid the cornerstone of [[St. Peter's Basilica]], and was the patron of [[Bramante]], [[Raphael]], and [[Michelangelo]].  Julius II was seen as a dissolute, hyper-aggressive egomaniac by [[Erasmus]], [[Machiavelli]] and other contemporaries

[[Image:Julius2.jpg|thumb|portrait by [[Raphael]]]]

[[Image:Julius2.jpg|thumb|Portrait by [[Raphael]]]]

==Career==

==Career==

He was born Giuliana della Rovere at Albissola near Savona, Italy, on Dec. 5, 1443. His family was poor but had noble status. He followed his uncle Francesco della Rovere into the Franciscan Order. When his uncle was elected pope Sixtus IV, he was made cardinal in 1471. Nepotism from the pope allowed him to acquire a dozen more episcopal sees (some of them simultaneously) and other benefices, the revenues of which he devoted to sponsoring artists, and building palaces and fortresses. A successful diplomat, he was twice papal legate to France. He used bribes to fix the election of Cardinal Cibo as Pope Innocent VIII. He opposed the election of Rodrigo Borgia as Alexander VI, during most of whose reign he stayed in France, and after the very short pontificate of Pius III, he attained his ambition and was elected pope on October 31, 1503.

He was born Giuliana della Rovere at Albissola near Savona, Italy, on Dec. 5, 1443. His family was poor but had noble status. He followed his uncle Francesco della Rovere into the Franciscan Order. When his uncle was elected pope Sixtus IV, he was made cardinal in 1471. Nepotism from the pope allowed him to acquire a dozen more episcopal sees (some of them simultaneously) and other benefices, the revenues of which he devoted to sponsoring artists, and building palaces and fortresses. A successful diplomat, he was twice papal legate to France. He used bribes to fix the election of Cardinal Cibo as Pope Innocent VIII. He opposed the election of Rodrigo Borgia as Alexander VI, during most of whose reign he stayed in France, and after the very short pontificate of Pius III, he attained his ambition and was elected pope on October 31, 1503.