The Popes.

Felix V

Amadeus VIII of Savoy, called the Peaceful, 1st Duke of Savoy (1416), relinquished direct rule in 1434 and abdicated in 1439. His career seemed destined to end with his renunciation of power, but his name returned to the fore at the Council of Basel.

The controversies with Pope Eugene IV — accused of simony and heresy — are at the origin of the schism: the pontiff convened a Council at Ferrara, but many bishops and cardinals, having remained at Basel, declared the pope deposed (24 May 1438) and offered the pontifical tiara to Amadeus VIII. The Duke, not being properly a churchman and having no theological knowledge, long hesitated before accepting, choosing for himself the name of Felix V.

When Eugene IV died and Nicholas V succeeded him, Felix V yielded to the Roman pontiff's requests by abandoning the tiara and putting an end to the schism: he resigned spontaneously "to favour the unity of Christians" (1449) and was thereafter recognised Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. Felix V was the last Antipope.

Innocent VIII

Born Giovanni Battista Cybo, bishop of Molfetta, he was elected in the conclave that followed the death of Sixtus IV thanks to the support of Giuliano della Rovere, the future Julius II. Bound in friendship to Lorenzo de' Medici, he made the latter's son Giovanni a cardinal at only 13, later elected pope under the name of Leo X.

During his pontificate the struggle against witchcraft became ever more cruel, in particular after the promulgation of the bull Summis desiderantes. Innocent VIII was also the first pontiff to establish relations with the Ottoman empire, holding prisoner in the Vatican Cem (Djem), brother of the sultan Bayezid II. At his death Alexander VI was elected.

Alexander VI

Born Rodrigo Borgia / de Borja, he was adopted by the family of his maternal uncle Alfonso Borgia / de Borja (later pope Callixtus III). He studied law at Bologna, became cardinal in 1456, then vice-chancellor and an able administrator of the papal court.

He had four children by a Roman noblewoman, Vannozza Cattanei — among them the famous Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia — and a natural daughter, Isabella, by another concubine. In the conclave of 1492, which followed the death of Innocent VIII, he was elected to the pontifical throne thanks to his immense wealth and the promises made to the rival candidate Ascanio Sforza.

Alexander VI launched the reform of the papal finances, recovered the pontifical territories governed by local lords and sought to unite the Christian world against the Turks. In 1493 he published the bull Inter caetera, which divided the territories of the New World between Spain and Portugal. At his sudden death, pope Pius III was elected.

Julius II

Born Giuliano della Rovere, he entered the Franciscan order. His uncle, pope Sixtus IV, made him bishop and then cardinal. When in 1492 his sworn enemy, Rodrigo Borgia, became pope under the name of Alexander VI, Giuliano fled into exile in France, where he remained until the Borgia's death. In 1503 he was elected pope, succeeding Pius III.

The principal concern of his pontificate was the reunification and expansion of the Papal State. Julius II also relaunched the works of St Peter's Basilica, availing himself of the work of the masters of the Renaissance — Bramante, Raphael and Michelangelo, whom he commissioned for the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel and his own funerary monument.

Paul III

To him is owed the launch of the Counter-Reformation. Born Alessandro Farnese, after a youth of ease and dissipation he was made a cardinal at the age of twenty-five by Alexander VI. At the death of Clement VII he ascended the pontifical throne. Despite an inordinately nepotistic policy that advantaged his two illegitimate sons and some nephews, he openly supported the reform of the Catholic Church.

After having restored the Inquisition and in 1542 founded the Holy Office, in 1545 he convened the Council of Trent. He also commissioned Michelangelo for the Sistine Chapel and authorised the foundation of the order of the Jesuits, an important element of the Counter-Reformation. At his death pope Julius III was elected.

Gregory XIII

He reformed the calendar according to the system currently in force — the Gregorian calendar. Born Ugo Boncompagni, he distinguished himself as a theologian during the Council of Trent and in 1564 was made a cardinal by Pius IV. At the death of Pius V he was elected pontiff.

Gregory XIII promoted the re-edition of the Corpus iuris canonici (1582), spent considerable sums on instruction and the foundation of universities and undertook the construction of the papal Palace on the Quirinal hill in Rome, which later became the residence of Italian kings and presidents. A fierce anti-Protestant, he sought to form a coalition to fight against the Reformation. At his death pope Sixtus V was elected.