§ 56. LEO X. 1513-1521. 479
§ 56. Leo X. 1513-1521.
The warlike Julius II. was followed on the pontifical throne by the voluptuary, Leo X., — the prelate whose iron will and ^cajididjmjnxi jC^ompelaZm^^ given to tTie pur-
suit of pleasure and an adept in duplicity. Leo loved ease and was without high aims. His Epicurean conception of the supreme office of Christendom was expressed in a letter he sent a short time after his election to his brother Julian. In it were these words, " Let us enjoy the papacy, for God has given it to us." ^ The last pontificate of the Middle Ages corresponded to the worldly philosophy of the pontiff. Leo wanted to have a good time. The idea of a spiritual mission never entered his head. No effort was made, emanating from the Vatican, to further the interests of true religion.
Born in Florence, Dec. 11, 1475, Giovanni de' Medici, the secondsonof Lorenzo the Magnificent Jiad every opportunity which family distinction, wealth and learned tutors, such as Poliziano, could give. At 7Jie received the tonsure, and at once the world of ecclesiastical preferment was opened to the child. Louis XI. of France presented him with the abbey of Fonte Dolce, and at 8 he was nominated to the archbishopric of Aix, the nomination, however, not being confirmed. A canonry in each of the cathedral churches of Tuscany was set apart for him, and his appointments soon reached the number of 27, one of them being the abbacy of Monte Cassino, and another the office of papal pronotary.2
The highest dignities of the Church were in store for the lad and, before he had reached the age of 14, he was mad© jcardinaj-deaiioj^^ &,. J489^ Three
1 These words are upon the testimony of the contemporary ambassador,
Marino Giorgi, and cannot be set aside. Similar testimony is given by a biographer of Leo in Cod. Vat.., 3920, which DoUinger quotes, Papstthum, p. 484, and which runs volo ut pontijicatu isto quam maximeperfruamur. Pastor, IV. 353, while trying to break the force of the testimony for Leo's words, pronounces the love of pleasure a fundamental and insatiable element of his nature — eine unersdttliche Vergnilgungssucht, etc. Hefele-Knopfler, Kirchengesch., p. 488, speak in the same vein when they say, Des neuen Papstes vorzWglichstes Strehen gait heiterem Lebensgenuss, etc.
2 See Vaughan, p. 13 sq.
480 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1204-1517.
years later, March _8j_1492j_Gig van ni received in RQma.fDxaiSLl investment into the prerogatives of his office. The letter, wliich Lorenzo wrote on this hitter occasion, is full of the affectionate counsels of a father and the prudent suggestions of the tried man of the world, and belongs in a category with the letters of Lord Chesterfield to his son. Lorenzo reminded Giovanni of his remarkable fortune in being made a prince of the church, all the more remarkable because he was not only the youngest member of the college of cardinals, but the first cardinal to receive the dignity at so tender an age. With pardonable pride, he spoke of it as the highest honor ever conferred upon the Medicean house. He warned his son that Rome was the sink of all iniquities and exhorted him to lead a virtuous life, to avoid ostentation, to rise early, an admonition the son never followed, and to use his opportunities to serve his native city. Lorenzo died a few months later. ^ Forthwith the young prelate was appointed papal legate to Tuscany, with residence in his native city.
When Julius died, Giovanni de' Medici "ivaa only ^. In proceedingToRome, he was obliged to be carried in a litter, on account of an ulcer for which an operation was performed during the meeting of the conclave. Giovanni, who belonged to the younger party, had won many friends by his affable manners and made no enemies, and his election seems to have been secured without any special effort on his part. Thegreatgrandson_^f the banker, Cosimo, chose the name of Leo X. TTeAvas consecrated to the priesthood Marcli 17, 1513, and~to the episcopate March 19. The election was received by the Romans with every sign of popular approval. On the festivities of the coronation 100,000 ducats, or perhaps as much as 150,000 ducats, were expended, a sura which the frugality of Julius had stored up.
The procession was participated in by 250 abbots, bishops and archbishops. Alfonso of Este, whom Julius IL had excommunicated, led the pope's white horse, the same one he had ridden the year before at Ravenna. On the houses and
1 The famous letter is given by Roscoe, Bohn's ed., pp. 285-288, and Vaughan, p. 23 sqq.
Pope Leo X