Julius II, originally Giuliano della Rovere 1443-1513
Italian pope

Born in Albizula, Genoa, he became pope in 1503 and his public career was mainly devoted to political and military enterprises for the re-establishment of papal sovereignty in its ancient territory, and for the ending of foreign domination in Italy. To compel Venice to restore the papal provinces on the Adriatic, he entered into the League of Cambrai with the Emperor Maximilian, Ferdinand the Catholic, of Aragon, and Louis XII of France, and placed the republic under the ban of the Church. The French king ineffectually attempted to enlist the Church against the pope, and the fifth Lateran Council, assembled by Julius, completely frustrated Louis's plans. He is best remembered as a patron of the arts. He employed Donato Bramante for the design of St Peter's, begun in 1506, had Raphael brought to Rome to decorate his private apartments and commissioned Michelangelo for the frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel and for his own tomb. His military exploits inspired Erasmus's satire Julius Exclusus.