LEO X. Pope, second son of Lorenzo de’ Medicis, was born at Florence in December 1475, and received the baptismal name of Giovanni, or John. He received the tonsure at seven years of age, his father having destined him for the church. Being even at that early period declared capable of clerical preferment, he obtained two rich abbeys, through the interest of his father with Louis XI. of France, and Sixtus IV. At a very early period he held no fewer than twenty-nine church preferments, a strong proof of the most scandalous corruption, as well as of the interest which his family enjoyed. In the time of Innocent VIII. he was promoted to the rank of cardinal, when no more than thirteen years of age, which took place in the year 1488 ’. If the great influence of his father was unquestionably censurable in promoting the rapid and illegal advancement of his son, it is but justice to admit, that he employed all his efforts to qualify him for such premature dignity. Angelo Poliziano had the care of his early education, which was greatly accelerated by the uncommon gravity and solidity of his disposition. He was invested with the purple in 1492, and went afterwards to reside at Rome as one of the sacred college. Having opposed the election of Alexander VI. to the pontificate, he found it prudent to withdraw to Florence, in which place he acquired much personal esteem; but on the invasion of Italy by Charles VIII. of France, he was involved in the expulsion of his brother Pietro, and took refuge at Bologna. In 1499 he made a tour through the states of Venice, Germany, and France, and afterwards went to Rome, where, in consequence of his prudent behaviour, he lived safe and respected during the pontificate of Alexander.

ln 1505, when thirty years of age, he began to take an active part in public affairs, and Julius II. appointed him governor of Perugia. As he adhered with unshaken resolution to the interest of the pope, he acquired the confidence of his holiness in so eminent a degree, that he was intrusted with the direction of the papal army against France; and, if he was not competent to conduct the military operations, he was of singular service in maintaining good order in the camp. He was taken prisoner at the bloody battle of Ravenna in 1512, and conveyed to Milan, where the dignity of his sacred office procured him respect. From this place he found means to escape, returned to Bologna, and assumed the government of the district in the capacity of the pope’s legate.

At the election of a new pope in the room of Julius II. he was chosen to the pontificate, being then only thirt yeight years of age. Whatever might be the leading motives of the conclave for electing so young a pope, it is agreed on all hands that it was not effected by those corrupt practices too common on such occasions; and he ascended the throne under the name of Leo X. with stronger proofs of affection on the part of both Italians and foreigners than the greater part of his predecessors. He displayed his love of literature by the nomination of Bembo and Sadoleti as papal secretaries.

One of his first attempts was to free Italy from the dominion of foreign powers; and having taken into pay a large body of Swiss, he gained a victory over the French in the reign of Louis XII. at the bloody battle of Novara, by which means they were driven from Italy; whilst the king of France having incurred ecclesiastical censure, submitted in form, and received absolution. Having thus secured internal tranquillity, he turned his attention to the encouragement of literature and men of genius. He effected the restoration of the Roman university to its former splendour by means of new grants and privileges, and by filling the professorships with distinguished characters from every quarter. A Greek press was established in the city, and all Europe was informed that persons bringing ancient manuscripts to the pope would be liberally rewarded, besides having them printed at the expense of the holy see. He also promoted the study of oriental literature, and he had the honour of founding the first professorship of the Syriac and Chaldaic languages at Bologna.

On the death of Louis XII. of France, and the accession of Francis I. to the throne, it soon became apparent that a new war was inevitable in the north of Italy. Leo endeavoured to remain neutral, but without success; in consequence of which he joined in a league with the emperor, the king of Aragon, the states of Milan and Flo rence, and the Swiss cantons, against the French king and the state of Venice. But he soon found it expedient to desert his allies, and form a union with Francis, which took place in 1515, at an interview between the two sovereigns.

In 1517, the Duke of Urbino, whom he had expelled in order to make way for his nephew Lorenzo, collected an army, and by rapid movements regained his capital and dominions, which chagrined Leo to such a degree that he endeavoured to excite all the Christian princes against him. He raised an army under the command of his nephew, and the duke was finally compelled to relinquish his dominions upon honourable terms. In this year the life of Leo was in danger, and all his moments were embittered by a conspiracy against him in his own court. Petrucci, the ringleader, had formed a plan of destroying the pope by poison; but having failed in this attempt, he withdrew from Rome, still, however, carrying on a correspondence with his secretary. Some of his letters being intercepted, he was arrested on his way to Rome, committed to prison, and strangled, whilst his accomplices were put to death with the most severe tortures. To shelter himself from danger, whether real or imaginary, Leo created thirty-one new cardinals in one day, chiefly from amongst his own relations, though some of them were deserving of the dignity by their virtues and talents.

In the reign of this pontiff began the reformation of religion under the celebrated Martin Luther, who inflict- [7:13:231]e d a wound on the Catholic church which will never probably be healed. Leo’s taste for magnificence and expense having exhausted his coffers, he took from the church the profits arising from the sale of indulgences, for his own private emolument. These wares were extolled in language which shocked the pious and thinking part of mankind, and facilitated the progress of the reformation in the hands of such a man as Luther. The latter, du-rino his opposition to the extravagance of Leo in the sale of indulgences, was still willing to be reconciled to the church; but as he insisted on making an unqualified appeal to the language of Scripture, and Leo would admit of nothing but an unqualified appeal to the decrees of the church,'a reconciliation was found impossible. The works of Luther were burned in different places by Leo’s command, and Luther in his turn made a solemn and public conflagration of the papal decrees and constitutions, and even of the bull itself. It was this pontiff who conferred on Henry VIII. of England the title of defender of the faith.

The private hours of Leo, it is said, were devoted to indolence, or to amusements, some of which were unworthy of his clerical dignity. He never lost sight of his favourite idea of expelling the French from Italy. The Swiss in the service of France having been induced to desert, the allies crossed the Adda, and occupied Milan without opposition. They next entered the territories of the Duke of Ferrara, who had espoused the cause of France. Many of his strong ^places were taken, and siege was about to be laid to his capital, when it was prevented by the indisposition of the pope, which in the space of eight days terminated in his death, on the 1st of December 1521, in the forty-sixth year of his age and the ninth of his pontificate.