Leo X

Giovanni de Medici

Became Pope in 1513 and died in 1521. Typical of corruption in the Roman Catholic Church at the time he became a Cardinal at 13. Spent vast sums of money on rebuilding Rome and continued to theme of the renaissance.

It was his issue of indulgences that when being sold in Wittenberg sparked off Martin Luther on his reformation drive. Condemned Luther and branded the whole Lutheran affair as a mere Monkish quarrel!

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While he did indeed become a cardinal at 13, Giovanni de Medici actually was unable to make use of the privileges or insignia of his office until he turned 16.

Furthermore, although corruption, nepotism, and venality flourished in the Catholic Church under his reign, Leo X was an important patron. He funded artists such as Raphael, as well as poets and scientists. He did, however, manage to live in such opulence as to empty the Vatican's coffers in only two years.

He died in 1521 at the age of 45.