JULIUS II. (Giuliano della Rovere), pope from the 1st of November 1503 to the 21st of February 1513, was born at Savona in 1443. He was at first intended for a commercial career, but later was sent by his uncle, subsequently Sixtus IV., to be educated among the Franciscans, although he does not appear to have joined that order. He was loaded with favours during his uncle's pontificate, being made bishop of Carpentras, bishop of Bologna, bishop of Vercelli, archbishop of Avignon, cardinal-priest of S. Pietro in Vincoli and of Sti Dodici Apostoli, and cardinal-bishop of Sabina, of Frascati, and finally of Ostia and Velletri. In 1480 he was made legate to France, mainly to settle the question of the Burgundian inheritance, and acquitted himself with such ability during his two years' stay that he acquired an influence in the college of cardinals which became paramount during the pontificate of Innocent VIII. A rivalry, however, growing up between him and Roderigo Borgia, he took refuge at Ostia after the latter's election as Alexander VI., and in 1494 went to France, where he incited Charles VIII. to undertake the conquest of Naples. He accompanied the young king on his campaign, and sought to convoke a council to inquire into the conduct of the pope with a view to his deposition, but was defeated in this through Alexander's machinations. During the remainder of that pontificate Della Rovere remained in France, nominally in support of the pope, for whom he negotiated the treaty of 1498 with Louis XII., but in reality bitterly hostile to him. On the death of Alexander (1503) he returned to Italy and supported the election of Pius III., who was then suffering from an incurable malady, of which he died shortly afterwards. Della Rovere then won the support of Cesare Borgia and was unanimously elected pope. Julius II. from the beginning repudiated the system of nepotism which had flourished under Sixtus IV., Innocent VIII. and Alexander VI., and set himself with courage and determination to restore, consolidate and extend the temporal possessions of the Church. By dexterous diplomacy he first succeeded (1504) in rendering it impossible for Cesare Borgia to remain in Italy. He then pacified Rome and the surrounding country by reconciling the powerful houses of Orsini and Colonna and by winning the other nobles to his own cause. In 1504 he arbitrated on the differences between France and Germany, and concluded an alliance with them in order to oust the Venetians from Faenza, Rimini and other towns which they occupied. The alliance at first resulted only in compelling the surrender of a few unimportant fortresses in the Romagna; but Julius freed Perugia and Bologna in the brilliant campaign of 1506. In 1508 he concluded against Venice the famous league of Cambray with the emperor Maximilian, Louis XII. of France and Ferdinand of Aragon, and in the following year placed the city of Venice under an interdict. By the