Pope Julius II

The solemnization whereof ended, he found the means to get the possession of all his predecessor's goods into his hands, whereof I have seen divers times some part thereof furnish his house.

It was not long after that Dr. Bainbridge, Archbishop of York, died at Rome, being there the king's ambassador under Pope Julius, unto which benefice the king presented his new Bishop of Lincoln, so that he had three bishoprics in one year given him.

Then prepared he again of new as fast for his translation from the See of Lincoln unto the See of York.

After which solemnization done, and he being in possession of the Archbishopric of York and Primas Angliae, thought himself sufficient to compare with Canterbury, and thereupon erected his cross in the court, and in every other place, as well in the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and in the precinct of his jurisdiction as elsewhere.

And it is seen that his foundations were good, for the Romagna awaited him for more than a month.

in rome although but half alive he remained secure and whilst the baglioni the vitelli and the orsini might come to rome they could not effect anything against him if he could not have made pope him whom he wished at least the one whom he did not wish would not have been elected but if he had been in sound health at the death of alexander everything would have been different to him on the day that julius the second was elected he told me that he had thought of everything that might occur at the death of his father and had provided a remedy for all except that he had never anticipated that when the death did happen he himself would be on the point to die when all the actions of the duke are recalled i do not know how to blame him but rather it appears to be as i have said that i ought to offer him for imitation to all those who by the fortune or the arms of others are raised to government because he having a lofty spirit and far-reaching aims could not have regulated his conduct otherwise and only the shortness of the life of alexander and his own sickness frustrated his designs therefore he who considers it necessary to secure himself in his new principality to win friends to overcome either by force or fraud to make himself beloved and feared by the people to be followed and revered by the soldiers to exterminate those who have power or reason to hurt him to change the old order of things for new to be severe and gracious magnanimous and liberal to destroy a disloyal soldiery and to create new to maintain friendship with kings and princes in such a way that they must help him with zeal and offend with caution cannot find a more lively example than the actions of this man Only can he be blamed for the election of Julius II, in whom he made a bad choice, because, as is said, not being able to elect a pope to his own mind, he could have hindered any other from being elected pope, and he ought never to have consented to the election of any cardinal whom he had injured or who had caused to fear him if they became pontiffs.

For men injure either from fear or hatred.

Those whom he had injured, amongst others, were San Pietro Advincula, Colonna, San Giorgio, and Ascanio.

therefore any one wishing to maintain among men the name of liberal is obliged to avoid no attribute of magnificence so that a prince thus inclined will consume in such acts all his property and will be compelled in the end if he wish to maintain the name of liberal to unduly weigh down his people and tax them and do everything he can to get money this will soon make him odious to his subjects and becoming poor he will be little valued by any one thus with his liberality having offended many and rewarded few he is affected by the very first trouble and imperilled by whatever may be the first danger recognizing this himself and wishing to draw back from it he runs at once into the reproach of being miserly therefore a prince not being able to exercise this virtue of liberality in such a way that it is recognized except to his cost if he is wise he ought not to fear the reputation of being mean for in time he will come to be more considered than if liberal seeing that with his economy his revenues are enough that he can defend himself against all attacks and is able to engage in enterprises without burdening his people thus it comes to pass that he exercises liberality towards all from whom he does not take who are numberless and meanness towards those to whom he does not give who are few We have not seen great things done in our time except by those who have been considered mean.

The rest have failed.

Pope Julius II was assisted in reaching the papacy by the reputation for liberality, yet he did not strive afterwards to keep it up, when he made war on the King of France.

And he made many wars without imposing any extraordinary tax on his subjects, for he supplied his additional expenses out of his own thriftiness.

The barefoot boy did persevere until he had overcome every difficulty and become the greatest master of art the world has known.

Although Michelangelo made himself immortal in three different occupations and his fame might well rest upon his Dome of St. Peter as an architect, upon his Moses as a sculptor, or upon his Last Judgment as a painter, yet we find by his correspondence now in the British Museum that when he was at work on his colossal bronze statue of Pope Julius II, he was so poor that he could not have his younger brother come to visit him at Bologna because he had but one bed in which he and three of his assistants slept together.

Yet, quote, "The star of an unconquered will arose in his breast, serene and resolute and still and calm and self-possessed." End quote.

Concentrated energy.

The solemnization whereof ended, he found the means to get the possession of all his predecessor's goods into his hands, whereof I have seen divers times some part thereof furnish his house.

It was not long after that Dr. Bainbridge, Archbishop of York, died at Rome, being there the king's ambassador under Pope Julius, unto which benefice the king presented his new bishop of Lincoln, so that he had three bishoprics in one year given him.

Then prepared he again of new as fast for his translation from the see of Lincoln unto the see of York.

After which solemnization done, and he being in possession of the archbishopric of York and Primas Angliae, thought himself sufficient to compare with Canterbury, and thereupon erected his cross in the court, and in every other place, as well in the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury and in the precinct of his jurisdiction as elsewhere.

One event in particular profoundly affected him.

Pope Julius II had recently made a decree that a special indulgence was available to those who would walk on their knees up what had become known as Pilate's Staircase.

The staircase was believed to have been the very staircase Jesus walked on during his trial before Pontius Pilate, and the church claimed it had been miraculously transported from Jerusalem to Rome.

Luther was determined to acquire this indulgence, and so one day he devoutly climbed these stairs on his knees.

His real name, Il Sodoma, is Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, and he was born in 1477 in northern Italy in the region of Piemonte, Piedmont.

He was already integrated into the Sienese professional circle by 1503 and was working on the Vatican decoration of for Pope Julius II by 1508, which then led to his work for Agostino Chigi in the Farnesina.

Now, it's important to understand that Il Sodoma was his nickname, and it just means the Sodomite.

Sodoma lived well into the middle of the 16th century, and was a contemporary of the biographer Giorgio Vasari, who we talk about all the time, who gives us the story behind why Sodoma was given the This name is very important.