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Renaissance and Reformation Leo X
by
Nelson H. Minnich

Introduction

The reign of Pope Leo X (Giovanni Damaso Romolo de’ Medici, b. 1475–d. 1521, pope 1512–1521) was conspicuously important for two main reasons. First, under his patronage, Rome became the center of the High Renaissance, attracting some of the most famous artists and writers of the period. Second, it was during his reign that the Protestant Reformation began, which was to split Western Christendom for the next five centuries.

General Overviews

Of the two modern lives (Fabroni 1797 and Roscoe 1805), Roscoe 1805 is the most important, being translated into German, French, and Italian and augmented by comments and additional documents. In their histories of the papacy, Mandell Creighton (Creighton 1882–1894) and Ludwig von Pastor (Pastor 1923–1953) included significant sections on the pontificate of Leo X, with both authors treating him as a political, cultural, and religious figure, and giving particular attention to his role in the condemnation of Martin Luther. The latest serious biography is Falconi 1987, which agrees with the contemporary assessment of Giovio.

  • Creighton, Mandell. A History of the Papacy from the Great Schism to the Sack of Rome. Vols. 5 and 6. London: Longman, Green, 1882–1894.

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    Treats Leo X as a political, cultural, and religious figure, with special attention to the causes of the Protestant Reformation during his pontificate.

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  • Fabroni, Angelo. Leonis X: Pontificis maximi vita. Pisa, Italy: Alexander Landi, 1797.

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    While praising the elegance and fullness of Giovio’s life, Fabroni goes beyond it by providing eighty-five pages of notes that transcribe letters and other documents. He is a great admirer of Leo and tries to justify the pope’s seeming faults, such as his excessive generosity in the service of arts and letters, his banquets at which there was serious and erudite conversation on sacred topics, the chase he used to invigorate his mind and body, and the dissimulation that was forced on him by the similar behavior of other princes.

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  • Falconi, Carlo. Leone X, Giovanni de’ Medici. Milan: Rusconi Libri, 1987.

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    Sees Leo X as primarily a cultural and political figure who hid a private life of moral irregularity behind a mask of urbanity.

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  • Pastor, Ludwig von. The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages. 5th ed. 40 vols. Translated by Frederick Ignatius Antrobus, et al. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder, 1923–1953.

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    The relevant volumes on Leo X were translated into English by Amabel and Ralph Francis Kerr and appeared in 1908 as volumes 7 and 8. Dedicated to the pontificate of Leo X, Pastor treated him as leader of both the Papal States and Catholic Church. The volumes on Leo X originally appeared as Geschichte der Päpste seit dem Ausgang des Mittelalters, Vol. 4, part 1 (Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany: Herder, 1906).

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  • Roscoe, William. The Life and Pontificate of Leo the Tenth. 4 vols. Liverpool, UK: J. McCreevy, 1805.

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    The third edition, published in 1827, included revisions in response to comments made by Heinrich Philipp Konrad Henke, who annotated the German translation of Andreas Friedrich Gottlob Glaser (Leipzig, 1806–1808), found in the French translation (Paris, 1808, 1813) by Pierre F. Henry, and inserted into the Italian translation (Milan, 1816–1817) by Luigi Bossi. Roscoe was highly favorable to Leo X, seeing him as the restorer of letters.

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Primary Sources

This section is divided into three subsections: Private Writings, Official Papal Documents, and Contemporary Biographies and Reports about Leo X.

Private Writings

Although Leo X was a noted extemporaneous speaker and composer of verse, he has left almost no printed works. The letters from his youth were collected and published by Giovanni Picotti (Medici 1928), and Domenico Gnoli printed one of his epigrams (Leo X 1938).

  • Leo X. “I versi di Leone X.” In La Roma di Leone: Quadri e studi originali annotati e pubbblicati. By Domenico Gnoli, 386–388. Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1938.

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    Mellini, a young patrician who died tragically in November 1519, was the defender of Rome’s greatness in the public trial of 16 June 1519 against the earlier criticisms of Christophe de Longueil. The “Epigram on the Death of Celso Mellini” was to be inscribed on a small bridge that crossed a ditch between Magliana and Rome. Originally printed in In Celsi Archelai Melini funere amicorum lacrimae (Rome: Ja. Mazochius, n.d.).

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  • Medici, Giovanni de’. “Lettere giovanili del futuro Leone X (1475–1494).” In La giovinezza di Leone X. By Giovanni Battista Picotti, 617–645. Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1928.

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    Picotti identified, transcribed or summarized, and published sixty-one autograph or dictated letters from the years 1489 to 1494, when he was a student in Pisa and then functioned as a new cardinal in Rome. Reprinted in 1981 (Rome: Multigrafica Editrice).

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Official Papal Documents

The official documents of Leo’s pontificate were often written for him by such distinguished humanist secretaries as Pietro Bembo and Jacopo Sadoleto. The most important bulls were published in the Turin edition of papal bulls (Bembo 1536 and Sadoleto 1550), published on their own, or printed posthumously by a relative. Calendars of papal documents have also been produced: Hergenröther 1884–1891 covers the years 1513–1515, while Nanni 1992 includes the letters to “princes.” The major bulls issued in Leo X’s name with the approval of the Fifth Lateran Council are available in the collection edited by Giuseppe Alberigo and translated by Peter McIlhenny (Leo X 1990).

  • Bembo, Pietro. Epistolarum Leonis Decimi Pontificis Max. nomine scriptarum libri sexdecim ad Paulum tertium Pont. Max. Romam missi. Venice: Patavinus, 1536.

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    This collection of documents which Bembo as the papal private secretary composed for Leo X was published in hope of securing a similar position at the court of Paul III.

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  • Grassi, Paride de’. Il diario di Leone X. Edited by Pio Delicati and Mariano Armellini. Rome: F. Cuggiani, 1884.

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    An unreliable edition, but the only one available for this pontificate until the transcription of the autograph copy of the diary with annotations by Marc Dykmans is eventually published in full. Part of this appeared as “Le cinquième Concile du Latran d’après le Diaire de Paris de Grassi,” Annuarium Historiae Conciliorum 14 (1982): 271–369.

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  • Hergenröther, Joseph, ed. Leonis X: Pontificis Maximi Regesta. 8 vols. Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany: Herder, 1884–1891.

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    A calendar with brief synopses of Leo’s official papal documents, from 9 March 1513 to 16 October 1515.

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  • Leo X “Bullae.” In Bullarum, diplomatum et privilegiorum sanctorum romanorum pontificum taurinensis. Vol. 5, Eugenius IV–Leo X. Edited by Luigi Bilio, Charles Cocquelines, Francesco Gaude, and Luigi Tomassetti. Turin, Italy: Seb. Franco et Henrico Dalmazzo, 1860.

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    The major bulls of Leo X’s reign are transcribed and published here.

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  • Leo X. “Concilium Lateranense V.” In The Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils. Vol. 1. Translated by Peter McIlhenny. Edited by Norman Tanner, 593–655. Original text established by Giuseppe Alberigo, et al. London: Sheed and Ward, 1990.

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    This critical edition of the decrees is based on a comparison of the official printed version edited by Antonio del Monte in 1521 with that published by Gian Domenico Mansi and his successors.

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  • Nanni, Luigi. Epistolae ad Principes. Vol. 1, Leo X–Pius IV (1513–1565). Collectanea Archivi Vaticana 28. Vatican City: Archivio Segreto Vaticano, 1992.

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    A calendar with brief summaries of the letters, together with their current shelf and folio numbers, sent from 1513 to 1521 by Leo X to important persons (kings, lords, communes, high officials, generals, cardinals, bishops, etc.).

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  • Sadoleto, Jacopo. Epistolarum libri sexdecim. Eiusdem ad Paulum Sadoletum epistolarum liber unus. Vita eiusdem autoris per Antonium Florebellum. Lyon, France: Seb. Gryphius, 1550.

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    A collection of letters Sadoleto wrote for Leo X, the vast bulk of which are of an official nature.

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Contemporary Biographies and Reports about Leo X

Three contemporary biographies of Leo X were written: one by an anonymous outsider (Anonymous 1806); one by Raffaele Maffei, written in Volterra c. 1520 (D’Amico 1980); and one by Paolo Giovio, written in Como (Giovio 1548). Both Maffei and Giovio were well acquainted with the Roman scene, though Giovio 1548 was the most influential. Ambassadors at the papal court, such as Jeronimo Vich (Terrateig 1963), Alberto Pio (Godefroy 1712), and the Venetian representatives (Sanuto 1879–1903) sent back reports to their rulers describing events, policies, and personalities. Sanuto collected letters and reports from the time of his pontificate, while Guicciardini 1969 is a well-researched eyewitness account of the politics of Italy. The ceremonies of the pontificate of Leo were chronicled in the diary of Paride de’ Grassi (see Grassi 1884, cited under Official Papal Documents).

  • Anonymous. “Leonis X. Pont. Max. vita.” In The Life and Pontificate of Leo the Tenth. Vol. 6. 2d ed. By William Roscoe, 314–333. London: J. M’Creery. 1806.

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    This work praises Leo’s intellect, generosity, and patronage of writers and artists, but also claims he was given to all forms of pleasure, avoided troubles and anxieties, and did not keep the promises he made. It ends with the July 1517 mass creation of thirty-one cardinals and an evil portent.

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  • D’Amico, John F. “Papal History and Curial Reform in the Renaissance: Raffaele Maffei’s Brevis Historia of Julius II and Leo X.” Archivum Historiae Pontificiae 18 (1980): 157–210.

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    Maffei depicted Leo X as a cultured, magnanimous, pious, peace-loving, crusade-promoting pontiff who should continue to promote reform and restore learning, while reining in his lavish expenditures and avoiding unjustified wars such as those against the Petrucci of Siena and Francesco Maria della Rovere of Urbino. Reprinted in D’Amico’s Roman and German Humanism, 1450–1550: Collected Studies, edited by Paul F. Grendler (Brookfield, VT: Variorum, 1993).

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  • Giovio, Paolo. De vita Leonis Decimi Pont. Max. libri quatuor: His ordini temporum acc[esserunt] Hadriani VI. Pont. Max. et Pompeii Columnae cardinalis vitae. Florence, Italy: Torrentini, 1548.

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    Translated into Italian by Ludovico Domenichi and published in Venice in 1557. The tone of many subsequent biographies was set by this eyewitness account that praised the pope for establishing a golden age of culture in Rome and for maintaining an outward piety, but criticized him for political ruthlessness, excessive luxury, and suspected homosexual proclivities.

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  • Godefroy, Jean. Lettres dy Roy Louis XII et du cardinal George d’Amboise: Avec plusieur autres lettres, mémoires et instructions écrites 1504 jusque et compris 1514. 4 vols. Brussels, 1712.

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    A collection of letters and other documents, often coming from the imperial ambassador to Rome, Alberto Pio, regarding French relations with the papacy.

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  • Guicciardini, Francesco. The History of Italy. Translated and edited by Sidney Alexander. New York: Collier, 1969.

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    Classic account of the politics and warfare of the period by an eyewitness lay bureaucrat of Leo X. Libri XI–XIV (vols. 3–4) treat the pontificate of Leo X. For the standard edition of his history, see Storia d’Italia, edited by Costantino Panigada (Bari, Italy: Gius. Laterza and Figli, 1967; originally published 1929).

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  • Sanuto, Marino. I diarii di Marino Sanuto (MCCCCXLVI–MDXXXIII). Edited by Rinaldo Fulin, Federico Stefani, Nicolo Barozzi, Guglielmo Berchet, and Marco Allegri. 58 vols. Venice: F. Visentini, 1879–1903.

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    This collection of letters and ambassadorial reports from around the then known world contains materials related to the whole career of Leo X.

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  • Terrateig, Barón de (Jesús de Manglano y Cucaló de Montull). Politica en Italia del Rey Católico, 1507–1516: Correspondencia inédita con el embajador Vich. 2 vols. Biblioteca “Reyes Católicos”: Estudios 2.12. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Patronato “Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo,” 1963.

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    A study with transcriptions of the correspondence between Jeronimo de Vich, the Spanish ambassador at the papal court, and King Fernando.

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Life and Career Prior to Pontificate

The family, education, ecclesiastical benefices, and early career of Giovanni de’ Medici are examined in Picotti 1928. Bullard 1994 provides a biography of his father, Lorenzo de’ Medici, based on a careful study of his correspondence. De Roover 1963 looks at the decline of the Medici bank under Lorenzo, while Tewes 2002 demonstrates that the Medici maintained hidden major partnerships in banks in Florence and Lyons under the name of Bartolomeo Bartolini that continued to supply the financial needs of Giovanni during his exile. Gnoli 1938 examines his career as a cardinal in Rome, while Shearman 1972 shows he was actively involved in the debate (c. 1511) over the demonstrability of the soul’s immortality.

  • Bullard, Melissa M. Lorenzo il Magnifico: Image and Anxiety, Politics and Finance. Florence, Italy: Olschki, 1994.

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    Major biography of Giovanni’s father, Lorenzo, based on an intimate knowledge of the surviving correspondence and financial records.

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  • De Roover, Raymond. The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank, 1397–1494. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963.

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    A study of the base on which the Medici built their political power, how its commercial operations were neglected by Lorenzo as he assumed a greater role in Florentine politics, and how it collapsed with the exile of the Medici from Florence in 1494.

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  • Gnoli, Domenico. “Il cardinale Giovanni de’ Medici.” In La Roma di Leone X: Quadri e studi originali. Edited by Aldo Gnoli, 53–71. Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1938.

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    Traces Giovanni’s education; appointment as cardinal; exile; travels; residence in Rome in the Palazzo Madama, which become “a center of study and elegance” (p. 65) and where he reassembled his father’s library; legation to the army of the League; restoring the Medici to power in Florence at the head of the army; and election as pope. Originally published in 1930.

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  • Picotti, Giovanni Battista. La giovinezza di Leone X. Milan: Ulrico Hoepli, 1928.

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    Classic study of Giovanni’s early years, treating such subjects as his family members and teachers, his father’s decision that he pursue a clerical career, his father’s strategy of providing him with numerous rich benefices and securing his appointment as a cardinal despite his being underage, his training in canon law, and his legations as cardinal. See particularly Appendice I, 617–645. Reprinted in 1981 (Rome: Multigrafica Editrice).

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  • Shearman, John K. Raphael’s Cartoons in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, and the Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel. London: Phaidon, 1972.

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    Finds evidence that Giovanni personally took part in a public disputation in Rome, probably in 1511, on the soul’s immortality and on the power and mind of God; see pp. 71–73.

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  • Tewes, Götz-Rüdiger. “Die Medici und Frankreich in Pontificat Leos X: Ursachen, Formen und Folgen einer Europa polarisierenden Allianz.” In Der Medici–Papst Leo X. und Frankreich. Edited by Götz-Rüdiger Tewes and Michael Rohlmann, 11–116. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2002.

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    Documents the Medici strategy of being the hidden major partner in the bank of Bartolomeo Bartolini.

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Leo X as Ruler of the Papal States

Leo X’s efforts to restore peace between the Holy League and the French-Venetian Alliance are traced by Nitti 1998, Minnich 1984, and Gattoni 2000. His political control of Florence is studied in detail by Butters 1985. Leo X’s attempt to forge a new alliance with France is examined by Tewes 2002. His sincere attempts to unite Christians in an anti-Turkish crusade are traced by Setton 1984, while his particular efforts to enlist support in Poland-Lithuania and Hungary are treated by Bilaniuk 1975. His removal of the Petrucci faction from power in Siena that provoked the plot to poison him is the subject of Ferrajoli 1919 and Winspeare 1957. His suppression of rebellious lords in the Papal States (the Bentivogli in Bologna, Baglioni in Perugia, and Della Rovere in Urbino), his troubled relationship with his vassal Alfonso d’Este of Ferrara, and his packing of the College of Cardinals with thirty-one supporters are treated in such general works as Nitti 1998 and those cited under General Overviews. His failed attempt to prevent the election of Charles Habsburg as Holy Roman Emperor is also discussed in works listed under General Overviews.

  • Bilaniuk, Petro B. T. The Fifth Lateran Council (1512–1517) and the Eastern Churches. Toronto: Central Committee for the Defence of Rite, Tradition, and Language of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in USA and Canada, 1975.

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    Examines Leo X’s support for Poland-Lithuania in its struggle against Moscovy and for Hungary against the Turks.

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  • Butters, Humphrey C. Governors and Government in Early Sixteenth-Century Florence, 1502–1519. Oxford: Clarendon, 1985.

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    A study of how Giovanni de’ Medici ruled Florence as cardinal (1512–1513), and as pope through his brother Giuliano (1513–1516) and nephew Lorenzo (1516–1519), using various agents and Medici partisans and maintaining the façade of the republican government. His first cousin, Giulio, whom he appointed as archbishop of Florence and then cardinal vice-chancellor of the Roman Catholic Church, succeeded as the de facto ruler.

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  • Ferrajoli, Alessandro. La congiura dei cardinali contro Leone X. Miscellanea della Reale Società Romana di Storia Patria 7. Rome: Nella Sede della Società alla Biblioteca Vallicellana, 1919.

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    Many of the relevant documents related to the conspiracy were printed as appendices to this work (pp. 217–351).

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  • Gattoni, Maurizio. Leone X e la geo-politica dello Stato Pontificio (1513–1521). Collectanea Archivi Vaticani 47. Vatican City: Archivio Segreto Vaticano, 2000.

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    Looks at Leo X’s changing attitudes toward warfare as an instrument for establishing a stable (1512–1513), possible (with the French and Venetians, 1513–1514) and desirable (among Swiss, Spanish, and Germans, 1514–1515) peace, the historic role of warfare in deciding matters (1515), its role in creating his “empire” (1516–1517), the plot of the cardinals against him (1517), and the coming of peace (1517–1522). The study is enriched with transcriptions of numerous documents, mostly from Vatican and Florentine archives.

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  • Minnich, Nelson H. “The Healing of the Pisan Schism (1511–13).” Annuarium Historiae Conciliorum 16 (1984): 59–192.

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    Traces Leo X’s efforts to heal the Pisan schism by resolving conflicts with Ferrara, Bologna, and France that culminated in the abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges and the negotiation of the Concordat of Bologna. Gives attention to ecclesiological factors. Reprinted as Study 2, with new appendices, in Minnich’s The Fifth Lateran Council (1512–17): Studies on Its Membership, Diplomacy, and Proposals for Reform (Brookfield, VT: Variorum/Ashgate, 1993).

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  • Nitti, Francesco. Leone X e la sua politica. Edited by Stefano Palmieri. Istituto italiano per gli studi storici: Ristampa anastatiche 9. Bologna, Italy: Il Mulino, 1998.

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    A wide-ranging survey of Leo X’s efforts to restore peace while promoting his family’s interests. Originally published in 1892.

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  • Setton, Kenneth. The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571). Vol. 3, The Sixteenth Century to the Reign of Julius III. Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society 161. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1984.

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    Pages 142–197 explore the unsuccessful efforts of Leo X to organize a crusade against the Turks. He got the Lateran Council to call for a crusade and to levy a tithe to support it, but failed to secure the cooperation of rival Christian princes.

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  • Tewes, Götz-Rüdiger. “Die Medici und Frankreich in Pontificat Leos X: Ursachen, Formen und Folgen einer Europa polarisierenden Allianz.” In Der Medici–Papst Leo X. und Frankreich. Edited by Götz-Rüdiger Tewes and Michael Rohlmann, 11–116. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2002.

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    Looks at Leo X’s attempt to forge an alliance with France involving marriages. As part of the treaty of Viterbo/Milan, Leo was required to surrender Parma and Piacenza to France, and he promised to restore Modena to Ferrara. The deaths of the married, the need to secure the support of Charles Habsburg against Luther, and the prospect of the return of the alienated duchies led Leo to switch alliances back to the imperial one.

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  • Winspeare, Fabrizio. La congiura dei cardinali contro Leone X. Biblioteca dell’Archivio Storico Italiano 5. Florence, Italy: Olschki, 1957.

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    An impartial study of the documents related to the 1517 plot to assassinate Leo X, showing that the accused were guilty even if Leo X used the plot to execute some of the accused and extract huge fines from others.

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Court and Curia

The team of men who surrounded Leo X and helped him to run the bureaucracy are the subject of various studies. DeSilva 2007 documents his strategies to turn cardinals into docile bureaucrats. Ferrajoli 1984 examines the clerics he chose to live in the papal palace with him as domestic prelates. Partner 1990 examines the career bureaucrats. Hofmann 1914 and Frenz 1986 study the papal curia, how it functioned, and who held the various offices in it. Eubel 1923 lists the men appointed as cardinals and bishops. Tewes 2001 documents the revenues their services brought in to the papal coffers. Roth 2007 studies the papal chapels and the musicians who sang there. O’Malley 1979 examines how the papal chapels functioned and the revived classical epideictic style of oratory to be found in the sermons preached there.

  • DeSilva, Jennifer Mara. “Ritual Negotiations: Paride de’ Grassi and the Office of Ceremonies under Popes Julius II and Leo X (1504–1521).” PhD diss., Department of History, University of Toronto, 2007.

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    Shows how de’ Grassi, in concert with the pope, used ritual to help tame the cardinals and curialists, transforming them from independent senators and autonomous bureaucrats into courtiers and servants of the papal monarch.

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  • Eubel, Konrad. Hierarchia catholica medii et recentioris aevi sive summorum pontificum, S.R.E. cardinalium, ecclesiarum antistitum series. Vol. 3, Saeculum XVI ab anno 1503 complectans. 2d ed. Edited by Ludwig Schmitz-Kallenberg. Münster, Germany: Libraria Regensbergiana, 1923.

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    Provides a listing of the popes, cardinals, and bishops of the Roman Catholic Church, with the official dates for their holding the office, based on Vatican records.

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  • Ferrajoli, Alessandro. Il ruolo della corte de Leone X (1514–1516). Edited by Vincenzo de Caprio. Biblioteca del Cinquecento 23. Rome: Bulzoni Editore, 1984.

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    A reprinting of a series of articles published from 1911 to 1918 that provide archive-based biographies with transcriptions of relevant documents related to twenty-six domestic prelates who were members of the “family” of Leo X.

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  • Frenz, Thomas. Die Kanzlei der Päpste der Hochrenaissance (1471–1527). Bibliothek des deutschen historischen Instituts in Rom 63. Tübingen, Germany: Max Niemeyer, 1986.

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    A study of the organization, structure, and personnel of the papal chancellery, including a list (alphabetically by first name) of 2,223 officials, with brief biographical information. Supplements but does not replace Hofmann 1914.

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  • Hofmann, Walther von. Forschungen zur Geschichte der kurialen Behörden vom Schisma bis zur Reformation. 2 vols. Rome: Verlag von Loescher, 1914.

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    A study of the papal curia, including its offices, practices, revenues, officials, and attempts at reform, together with lists of those who held each office and when. Volume 1 is titled Darstellung; Volume 2, Quellen, Listen und Exkurse. Reprinted anastatically in 1971 (Turin, Italy: Bottega d’Erasmo).

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  • O’Malley, John W. Praise and Blame in Renaissance Rome: Rhetoric, Doctrine, and Reform in the Sacred Orators of the Papal Court, c.1450–1521. Duke Monographs in Medieval and Renaissance Studies 3. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1979.

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    O’Malley shows how the revival of epideictic rhetoric influenced the hundreds of sermons delivered in the papal chapel, producing a distinctive theology that emphasized the dignity of man and the necessity for peace and concord among Christians, as well as the reform of both church and society.

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  • Partner, Peter. The Pope’s Men: The Papal Civil Service in the Renaissance. Oxford, Clarendon, 1990.

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    A study of the papal bureaucracy, its social and political context, its patronage network, its composition with talented and distinguished humanists and churchmen, its operations, its factions, and its Italianization.

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  • Roth, Adalbert. “Il papato del Rinascimento: Rappresentazione, cerimoniale, musica.” In La papauté à la Renaissance. Edited by Florence Alazard and Frank La Brasca, 305–324. Paris: Honoré Champion Éditeur, 2007.

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    Examines, with particular attention to musicians, the personnel and functions of those charged with helping to conduct more than fifty ceremonies in the course of the liturgical year in which the pope celebrated the divine service in one of the chapels of the Apostolic Palace.

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  • Tewes, Göetz-Rüdiger. Die römische Kurie und die europäischen Länder am Vorabend der Reformation. Bibliothek des deutschen historischen Instituts in Rom 9. Tübingen, Germany: Max Niemeyer, 2001.

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    Shows that under Leo X the Curia increasingly derived its revenues from fees for provisions to benefices in France (36%), Italy (24%), and Spain (21%), with Germany unchanging (8%), and England with a slight increase (4%). Ironically, the lands that contributed the least to the papal coffers were the ones that complained the most, using the claim of abusive fees as an excuse for breaking with Rome during the Reformation. See pp. 75–109, 225–256.

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Leonine Rome

Leo X made Rome the new center of Renaissance culture. Rodocanachi 1931 surveys the civil and elite cultural life of Rome under Leo X, Paschini 1940 examines various aspects of life in Renaissance Rome, Partner 1976 shows how Roman society was transformed by Leo X, and Stinger 1985 sees Leonine Rome as modeled on that of Octavian Augustus. Specific aspects of the Roman world have been studied by scholars: Armellini 1881 looks at the population of the city, D’Amico 1983 examines Roman humanism, Reeves 1992 is a study of the prophecies of an imminent “angelic pope” who will usher in the end times, Cesareo 1938 explores popular criticisms (given voice by “Pasquino”) of Rome’s elite, and Bedini 1998 looks at the stir caused by the gift of an elephant to Leo X by King Manuel of Portugal.

  • Armellini, Mariano, ed. “Un censimento della città di Roma sotto il Pontificato di Leone X tratto da un codice inedito dell’Archivio Vaticano.” Gli Studi in Italia: Periodico didattico scientifico e letterario. Anno IV, vol. 2, 890–909. (1881).

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    The second part of this multi-part article appears in Anno V, volume 1 (1882): pp. 69–84, 161–192, 321–355, 481–517. Looks at an incomplete census of the rioni and parish churches in the city of Rome, made on the orders of Leo X in 1517 and detailing the houses and shops as well as their owners and inhabitants (name, country of origin, profession, trade, and condition). At the end, Armellini supplies a summary of what is notable.

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  • Bedini, Silvio A. The Pope’s Elephant. Nashville, TN: J.S. Sanders, 1998.

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    By studying the reception given to the baby Indian white elephant named Hanno, presented to Leo X by King Manuel I of Portugal in 1514, Bedini reveals the pope’s enjoyment of festivities and his attitudes toward the spread of Latin Christendom to the Orient.

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  • Cesareo, Giovanni Alfredo. Pasquino e pasquinate nell Roma di Leone X. Miscellanea della Reale Deputazione romana di Storia patria 11. Rome: Nella Sede della Deputazione alla Biblioteca Vallicelliana, 1938.

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    A study of the antique marble statue of a male torso dubbed “Pasquino,” to which poets affixed verses that commented satirically on the persons and events of Rome, including popes, cardinals, curialists, ambassadors, courtesans, comics, writers and poets, plots, deaths, and conclaves. Cesareo provides transcriptions of some of the verses, with annotations identifying the persons being attacked.

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  • D’Amico, John F. Renaissance Humanism in Papal Rome: Humanists and Churchmen on the Eve of the Reformation. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983.

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    Through a study of the writings of curial humanists such as Paolo Cortesi, Adriano Castellesi, and Raffaele Maffei, D’Amico shows how they reconciled their intellectual interests with their Roman and curial ambience, shifting their attention from literary and historical questions to ones focused on religion and Roman culture.

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  • Partner, Peter. Renaissance Rome, 1500–1559: A Portrait of a Society. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976.

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    Partner studies the social structures of the city of Rome and how it was transformed into a rationally ordered cultural center by a series of popes who were simultaneously dealing with major challenges on many fronts, especially political, economic, and religious.

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  • Paschini, Pio. Roma nel Rinascimento. Storia di Roma 7. Bologna, Italy: Licinio Cappelli Editore, 1940.

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    A study of the effect Leo X had on Rome, including the increased foreign population, the invasion of Florentines seeking preferment, the cost of wars and entertainment, the palaces and gardens, leading literary figures, public manifestations, the carnival celebrations, the classical theatre and comic plays, national churches, and hospices, hospitals, and confraternities. See pp. 405–464.

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  • Reeves, Marjorie, ed. Prophetic Rome in the High Renaissance Period: Essays. Oxford-Warburg Studies. Oxford: Clarendon, 1992.

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    A collection of nineteen essays that study the prominent influence on Rome of prophecy, notably the Joachimite and Amadeite predictions of an “angelic pope” who will usher in the end times.

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  • Rodocanachi, Emmanuel Pierre. Histoire de Rome: Le pontificat de Léon X, 1513–1521. Paris: Librairie Hachette, 1931.

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    Provides a biography of Leo X, with some attention to his banquets, entertainment, and hunts, but then concentrates on life in Rome, including Leo’s municipal projects and relations with the city’s government, carnival celebrations and theater, the popular manifestations and ceremonies, the literary culture of the city, its university and publishing houses, and its artists. Copiously illustrated with black and white photographs and engravings.

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  • Stinger, Charles L. The Renaissance in Rome. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985.

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    Stinger studies the attitudes and values of Rome’s intellectuals and artists, as well as their commitment to the cultural destiny of a mythical Rome undergoing renewal and restoration. He claims that whereas Julius II consciously imitated Julius Caesar, Leo X was seen as the new Octavian Augustus, the restorer of peace and patron of a golden age of intellectual and artistic achievement.

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Patron of Culture

Leo X supported culture in various ways. He backed the University of Rome with financial and administrative assistance (studied by Grendler 2002). He commissioned works of art. He hired Raphael, for example, to complete work on the Stanze (studied by Shearman 1971, Redig de Campos 1973, and Rohlmann 2002), create tapestries for the Sistine Chapel (Shearman 1972), and paint frescos for the Logge (Davidson 1985). He gave Michelangelo commissions to work on the facade of the church of S. Lorenzo in Florence and to carve tombs for his brother and nephew in its sacristy (Wallace 1994). He also patronized music (Roth 2002).

  • Davidson, Bernice F. Raphael’s Bible: A Study of the Vatican Logge. CAA Monographs on the Fine Arts 39. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1985.

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    A study of the biblical scenes depicted in the Vatican logge.

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  • Grendler, Paul F. The Universities of the Italian Renaissance. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.

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    The section on Rome is based primarily on the classic four-volume study of Filippo Maria Renazzi, Storia dell’Università degli Studj di Roma (Rome: 1803–1806, reprinted 1971). With the help of Leo X’s fiscal and administrative reforms, the university increased the size of its faculty, hiring many distinguished professors who, however, could neglect their teaching responsibilities to promote their other careers as secretaries and advisors. See pp. 56–64, especially 59–60.

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  • Redig de Campos, Deoclecio. Raphael in the Stanze. Translated by John Guthrie. Milan: Aldo Martello, 1973.

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    A reprise of Redig de Campos’s earlier study, The “Stanze” of Raphael (Rome: Edizioni del Drago, 1960), in which he examines the frescoes in the stanze della Segnatura, di Elidoro, and dell’Incendio, with color illustrations and sketches showing the measurements of the walls in each room.

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  • Rohlmann, Michael. “Gemalte Propheti: Papstpolitik und Familienpropaganda in Bildsystem von Raffaels ‘Stanze dell’Incendio.’” In Der Medici–Papst Leo X. und Frankreich. Edited by Götz-Rüdiger Tewes and Michael Rohlmann, 241–371. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2002.

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    Sees Leo X modeling himself on Leo III and IV; compares the original iconographical programs and prophetic visions of the stanze; interprets the frescoes as expanded depictions of Leo’s accomplishments that fulfilled his destiny; and studies the implications of the alliance of the Medici with Francis I, the glorification of the Medici family, and the family’s destiny realized in the surviving Giulio (Clement VII).

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  • Roth, Adalbert. “Französische Musiker und Komponisten am päpstlichen Hof unter Leo X.” In Der Medici–Papst Leo X. und Frankreich. Edited by Götz-Rüdiger Tewes and Michael Rohlmann, 529–546. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2002.

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    Leo X patronized musicians coming from the North, part of his reaching out for a political alliance with France.

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  • Shearman, John K. “The Vatican Stanze: Functions and Decorations.” Proceedings of the British Academy 57 (1971): 369–424.

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    Based on primary sources, Shearman reconstructs the original functions that were carried out in the rooms of the papal private apartment (library, office where documents were signed, audience chamber to meet with ambassadors, dining room, etc.) and how they might relate to the decorations.

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  • Shearman, John K. Raphael’s Cartoons in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, and the Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel. London: Phaidon, 1972.

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    Studies the design, iconography, manufacture, function, and use over time of the tapestries hung mostly in the Sistine Chapel that depicted events from the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles.

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  • Wallace, William E. Michelangelo at San Lorenzo: The Genius as Entrepreneur. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

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    A study of the various commissions given to Michelangelo for works (facade, tombs) at Leo X’s family Florentine church.

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Leo X as Head of the Roman Catholic Church

As pope, Leo X was the chief administrative official of the Catholic Church, and he had a variety of responsibilities: to promote and safeguard the Faith, to maintain the unity of the Church, and to assure the moral discipline of its members.

Propagator of the Faith

Leo X encouraged works of Christian humanists: Erasmus (see Chambers 1986), Vida (Di Cesare 1964), and Sannazaro (Kennedy 1983). He also encouraged the missionary efforts of the Portuguese (see Witte 1984).

  • Chambers, David S. “Pope Leo X.” In Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reformation. Vol. 2. Edited by Peter G. Bietenholz and Thomas B. Deutscher, 319–322. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1986.

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    Traces the relationship from their first meeting (c. 1500 in the Low Counties), to Cardinal Giovanni’s hospitality in Rome of 1509 and his granting dispensations from illegitimacy, and from the rule of his religious order and prohibitions against receiving benefices to the pope’s approval of Erasmus’s writings, especially his Novum Instrumentum.

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  • Di Cesare, Mario A. Vida’s Christiad and Vergilian Epic. New York: Columbia University Press, 1964.

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    Shows Leo X’s eagerness for a Christian epic to celebrate the deeds of Christ, and his commissioning of Marcantonio Vida (as a canon regular of St. John Lateran, he was called Marco Girolamo) to write it. See pp. 25–27.

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  • Kennedy, William J. Jacopo Sannazaro and the Uses of Pastoral. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1983.

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    Shows Leo X in 1521 urging Sannazaro to complete work on his epic poem on the birth of Christ, De Partu Virginis, begun in 1501. A sketch of the work was completed by 1513, but the whole work not published until 1526.

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  • Witte, Charles Martial de. “Les lettres papales concernant l’expansion portugaise au XVIe siècle.” Neue Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft Immensee 40.1 (1984): 1–25.

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    Demonstrates Leo X’s efforts to encourage the Portuguese monarch to evangelize the lands his agents had recently reached. For Leo’s allowing money to be drained from the military Order of Christ for this purpose, see pp. 194–205 of this journal; and for his creation of the Church hierarchy in the overseas empire, see vol. 41 (1985): 41–68 and 173–187.

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Restorer of Church Unity

Leo was interested in restoring unity to the Church. He successfully healed the Pisan schism that had rent the Western Church (Minnich 1984), and he sought to bring the Eastern churches into unity with Rome, approving reconciliation with the Maronite and Ethiopian churches (Bilaniuk 1975).

  • Bilaniuk, Petro B. T. The Fifth Lateran Council (1512–1517) and the Eastern Churches. Toronto: Central Committee for the Defence of Rite, Tradition, and Language of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in USA and Canada, 1975.

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    A study of Leo X’s efforts to restore to unity with Rome the Maronite and Ethiopian churches, and of his failure to condemn the Ruthenian church, as urged by the Poles.

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  • Minnich, Nelson H. “The Healing of the Pisan Schism (1511–13).” Annuarium Historiae Conciliorum 16 (1984): 59–192.

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    Traces Leo X’s successful efforts to heal the Pisan schism by resolving related political issues, securing the condemnation of the Council of Pisa-Milan-Asti-Lyon, and reconciling its members to the Roman Church. He later secured the conciliar abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges and a confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna.

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Preserver of Orthodoxy

Leo X took seriously his responsibilities as guardian of the Faith. He decided doctrinal questions then agitating the Church. Many of these decisions were made at the Fifth Lateran Council. For the decision on the soul’s immortality, see Price 1985, on montes pietatis, see Minnich 2006, and on prophetic preaching, see Minnich 1992. His attempt to reform the dating of Easter is examined in Marzi 1896, his treatment of Reuchlin is the subject of Peterse 1995, and his treatment of Luther is examined in Fabisch 1988.

  • Fabisch, Peter, and Erwin Iserloh, eds. Dokumente zur Causa Lutheri (1517–1521). Vol. 1. Corpus Catholicorum 41. Münster, Germany: Aschendorff, 1988.

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    Collects and reprints all the relevant documents related to the condemnation of Martin Luther, providing them with historical and bibliographical introductions and with clarifying annotations on the texts. Vol. 2 (Bd. 42) was published in 1991.

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  • Marzi, Demetrio. La questione della riforma del calendario nel quinto concilio lateranense (1512–1517). Pubblicazioni del Reale Istituto de Studi Superiori Practici e di Perfezionamento in Firenze: Sezione di Filosofia e Filologia 27. Florence, Italy: Tip G. Carnesecchi e Figli, 1896.

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    Studies Leo X’s failed efforts to correct the date for celebrating Easter by enlisting the advice of astronomers, one of whom was Nicholas Copernicus, whose calculations led to the Copernican Revolution.

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  • Minnich, Nelson H. “Prophecy and the Fifth Lateran Council (1512–1517).” In Prophetic Rome in the High Renaissance Period: Essays. Edited by Marjorie Reeves, 63–87. Oxford-Warburg Studies. Oxford: Clarendon, 1992.

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    Leo X’s effort to condemn Savonarola and other prophets failed, and the council agreed only to put some controls on preachers and restraints on their prophetic message.

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  • Minnich, Nelson H. “The Decree Inter multiplices of Lateran V on Montes pietatis.” Annuarium Historiae Conciliorum 38.2 (2006): 425–450.

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    Leo X weighed in on the controversy over the legitimacy of the pawn shop/credit organizations known as montes pietatis, siding with their Franciscan promoters.

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  • Peterse, Hans. Jacobus Hoogstraeten gegen Johannes Reuchlin: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Antijudaismus im 16. Jahrhundert. Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Europäische Geschichte Mainz, Abteilung abendländische Religionsgeschichte 165. Mainz, Germany: Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1995.

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    Provides a history of the controversy between Hoogstaten and Reuchlin, following it to Rome, where a commission studied the issue and Leo X decided against Reuchlin.

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  • Price, M. Daniel. “The Origins of Lateran V’s ‘Apostolici Regiminis.’” Annuarium Historiae Conciliorum 17 (1985): 464–472.

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    Under Leo X’s leadership, the council condemned teachings on the human soul’s mortality and unicity, on the eternity of the world, and on the possibility of double truth. Leo X’s role can be inferred, since he was personally interested in the topic, controlled the agenda of the council, appointed the membership of the deputation on faith and the three cardinals charged with vetting its draft decree, and voted in favor of the decree.

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Reformer of the Church

Leo X began his pontificate intent on reforming the Catholic Church. To this end, he had the Lateran Council pass a number of reform decrees, which are studied by Brosse 1975 and Minnich 2007. The council’s confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna is the subject of Thomas 1910, a three-volume study. Leo X also sought to modify the practices of the Roman Curia, and he issued a series of regulations that are the subject of Hofmann 1914. The pope urged the mendicant orders to embrace reform, and he attempted to resolve the conflicts over reform in the Franciscan Order by declaring the Observants the true disciples of Francis and forbidding the Conventuals to admit any new members; Moorman 1968 explores this aspect of his papacy.

  • Brosse, Olivier de la. “Latran V.” In Latran V et Trente. Edited by Olivier de la Brosse, Joseph Lecler, Henri Holstein, and Charles Lefebvre, 11–112. Historie des conciles œcuménique 10. Paris: Éditions de l’Orante, 1975.

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    A brief overview of the Fifth Lateran Council, which passed a number of useful decrees reforming the cardinals, other prelates, priests, and laity. The implementation of these decrees was spotty and problematic, however. On Leo X’s implementation of the decrees in Rome, see Nelson H. Minnich, “‘Incipiat Iudicium a Domo Domini’: The Fifth Lateran Council and the Reform of Rome,” in Reform and Authority in the Medieval and Reformation Church, edited by Guy Fitch Lytle (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1981).

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  • Hofmann, Walther von. Forschungen zur Geschichte der kurialen Behörden vom Schisma bis zur Reformation. 2 vols. Rome: Verlag von Loescher, 1914.

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    Hofmann studies the various efforts to reform the Roman Curia and provides detailed information on Leo X’s many measures to regularize the procedures and fees of the various bureaucracies. Volume 1 is titled Darstellung; Volume 2, Quellen, Listen und Exkurse. Reprinted anastatically in 1971 (Turin, Italy: Bottega d’Erasmo).

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  • Minnich, Nelson H. “Julius II and Leo X as Presidents of the Fifth Lateran Council.” In La papauté à la Renaissance. Edited by Florence Alazard and Frank La Brasca, 153–166. Paris: Honoré Champion Éditeur, 2007.

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    Shows how Leo X loosened the tight papal controls over the council only to find the bishops aggressively pushing their own agenda. In order to secure their approval of the abrogation of the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges and a confirmation of the Concordat of Bologna, Leo X allowed them to restrict some of the mendicants’ privileges, but he sided with the cardinals in adamantly rejecting their proposal for a permanent episcopal college in the Curia.

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  • Moorman, John A History of the Franciscan Order from Its Origins to the Year 1517. Oxford: Clarendon, 1968.

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    Having failed in his efforts to get the various branches of the Franciscan order to come together in one reformed order, Leo issued the decree “Ite vos” (1517), which divided the order into two groups, declaring the Observants to be the true sons of St. Francis and allowing the Conventuals to survive but not take new members. He was eventually pressured to rescind this prohibition.

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  • Thomas, Jules. Le concordat de 1516: Ses origines, son histoire au xvie siècle. 3 vols. Paris: Librairie Alphonse Picard et Fils, 1910.

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    Examines the origins of the Concordat of Bologna; provides transcriptions of original documents related to the negotiations over the text and its ratification by the pope and king, its registration by the parlements, and subsequent modifications of the concordat; and studies its implementation during the 16th century.

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Iconography

The famous portrait by Raphael of Leo X with his cousins Giuliano de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi has been variously interpreted. The recent cleaning of the painting revealed details that led Francesco Di Teodoro to relate it to the condemnation of Luther (Di Teodoro 1998), while Minnich 2003 argues that it suggests prophetic and liturgical themes. Rohlmann 2003 places it in the category of a family portrait to be hung in the Medici palace in Florence. While discussing this portrait, the authors make references to other depictions of Leo X.

  • Di Teodoro, Francesco P. Ritratto di Leone X di Raffello Sanzio. Saper Vedere I Capolavori 6. Milan: Tascabili degli Editori Associati, 1998.

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    Based on recent infrared and reflexographical studies of Raphael’s painting, Di Teodoro demonstrates stages in its production and hypothesizes that its iconography was an attempt to affirm the absolute authority of the pope against the criticisms of Luther (see pp. 66–67).

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  • Minnich, Nelson H. “Raphael’s Portrait Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi: A Religious Interpretation.” Renaissance Quarterly 56.4 (2003): 1005–1052.

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    Argues that the painting is primarily religious in theme, with prophetic and devotional overtones.

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  • Rohlmann, Michael. “I ritratti di Giulio II e Leone X di Raffaello.” Sztuka I Kultura 4 (2003): 185–219.

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    Argues that the painting celebrated the familiar union of the Medici clerics around Leo X and was designed to hang in the Medici palace in Florence.

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Legacy and Reputation

Opinions on Leo X have varied over the centuries, ranging from the witty bon mot of Paolo Sarpi (see Sarpi 1967) and the favorable assessment of Roscoe 1805 (cited under General Overviews) to the hostile judgment of Gregorovius and the mixed picture drawn by Picotti (quoted in Falconi 1987). Negative assessments are also rendered in two recent encyclopedia entries, Fossier 2002 and Schwaiger 2001.

  • Falconi, Carlo. Leone X, Giovanni de’ Medici. Milan: Rusconi Libri, 1987.

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    Summarizes the leading opinions on Leo X, and gives his own (which sides with Giovio). See pp. 580–584.

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  • Fossier, François. “Leo X.” In The Papacy: An Encyclopedia, Vol. 2. Edited by Philippe Levillain; translated by Deborah Blaz, 926–928. New York: Routledge, 2002.

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    Presents the conflicting views of Leo X held by contemporaries and historians, and comes down on the side of a very negative judgment. Translated from the French original of 1994.

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  • Sarpi, Paolo. History of Benefices and Selections from the History of the Council of Trent. Edited and translated by Peter Burke. New York: Washington Square, 1967.

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    At the beginning of his History of the Council of Trent (1616), Sarpi describes the pope as an ideal secular prince, but one lacking in the religious qualities expected of a pope.

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  • Schwaiger, Georg. “Leo X.” In Dictionary of Popes and the Papacy. Edited by Bruno Steimer and Michael G. Parker; translated by Brian McNeill and Peter Heinigg, 88–89. New York: Crossroad, 2001.

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    Schwaiger’s final assessment is blunt and to the point: “Leo X was a very great patron of scholars, poets, and artists (Raphael, Michelangelo, etc.). Nevertheless, his pontificate was one of the most disastrous in the history of the church” (p. 89). Original German edition published in 2000.

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LAST MODIFIED: 05/10/2010

DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780195399301-0061

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