 Papacy is the term that refers to the office and position of the Pope  Some (not all) Renaissance popes started to get distracted from Church matters

 Many historians argue that Nicholas V ( ) was the first Renaissance Pope  Planned a new Vatican Palace (with Medici funds)  Planned construction of St. Peter’s Basilica  Began the famous Vatican Library Collection  Approved of slavery

 Sixtus IV ( ) represented some of the best and the worst of the Renaissance Papacy  Supported worthy artists  Nepotism (appoints family members to important positions)  Made six nephews Cardinals, one later became Pope Julius II (ended in 1692)  Involved in a plot to kill 2 members of the Medici family (Giuliano killed, Lorenzo wounded)

 Alexander VI & Nepotism  He made one of his 18 year old sons a Cardinal  Had four children with a mistress and 3 other children with unknown women  Suspected of simony, or, paying for church positions  Not all Popes were immoral at this time

 One of the better Popes at this time  Big supporter of poetry  Fascinated with ancient Roman ruins

 Also had several children  Founded the Swiss Guard, the Popes official bodyguards  Known as the “Warrior Pope”  Fought the Venetians and tried to fight off the French with the Holy League  Admired by Machiavelli

 Girolamo Savonarola called for reforming the Church (burned immoral items)  Pope Alexander VI tried bribing him, but it failed  In 1497, Pope Alexander VI excommunicated Savonarola  Excommunicate is when someone is removed from the Church (can be totally banned)

 Savonarola was arrested in 1498, tortured 14 times (rack) hung and eventually burned  In 20 years, Martin Luther will attempt to reform the Church  But that is a story for another day…