History UsefulNotes / NotablePopes

He's known for his personal humility, austerity (he famously refused a limousine as cardinal and instead commuted in Buenos Aires by bus and subway, lived in a small apartment instead of Church-owned residences--a practice he replicates as Pope, preferring to stay in a room in the Vatican guesthouse rather than the Apostolic Palace--and urged his parishioners to donate to the poor instead of making pilgrimages to Rome), commitment to social justice, and his adherence to doctrine, and is also known for his ability to bridge gaps between his own community (the Jesuits) and others like the Communion and Liberation movement. His papal namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, was assumed in homage to that saint's austere lifestyle, emphasis on ministering to the poor and downtrodden, and efforts to reform the medieval Catholic Church from the state of worldliness and decadence it found itself in at the time. He is also a ''staunch'' opponent of same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples (though he privately supported an Argentine bill to allow same-sex domestic partnerships), abortion and euthanasia, largely of the same mind as his predecessors. However, he has [[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/world/europe/pope-bluntly-faults-churchs-focus-on-gays-and-abortion.html?_r=0 gone on record]] to say that the Church has focused too much on opposing same-sex marriage, abortion, and birth control, and that homosexuals should not be discriminated against; it would appear that his position is, "these teachings matter, but if they don't proceed from a genuine love of God and neighbour, they're empty." Recently, he went on record in conversation with a gay Catholic who had suffered from sexual abuse by members of the clergy that, [of the man's sexuality] "God has made you this way and God loves you this way."

* '''Sixtus V''' (1585-1590): Real name, Felice Peretti. A Franciscan monk, he was a member of the order's hardliner faction. As in, he was the Inquisitor General of Venice before he became Pope, [[KnightTemplar and was so severe the Venetians threw him out]]. On becoming Pope, he made his first order of business bringing order to the Papal States, and [[CowboyCop did so with gusto]], [[OffWithHisHead with numerous decapitations]]. His foreign policy was likewise very much "us against them", with the "them" being Protestants and Muslims. Sixtus supported the [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOfTheSpanishArmada Spanish Armada]] and spent a lot of time trying to get a crusade against the Ottomans off the ground, although neither were successful. His other big project was beautifying and improving Rome, which he did, being responsible of public works such as the first modern aqueduct in Rome -- albeit frequently by demolishing the houses of the meddlesome poor who were cluttering the place up. He also ruled that abortion, rather than merely being a grave sin, was automatic grounds for excommunication. [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing On his death, mobs tore down his statue]], which says enough about his popularity, as it does the fact [[LastOfHisKind that he was the last pope to take the name Sixtus.]] Modern history has been a bit kinder to him, although he is still considered an over-ambitious and unpersonable example of a Pope.

* '''Gregory XIII''' (1572-85): Real name, Ugo Boncompagni. A promoter of arts of sciences, he is best known for promulgating the calendar used in the western world to this day and ordering calendar reforms that cemented the UsefulNotes/LeapDay. Had a pet project of uniting Spain, France and the Holy Roman Empire against the Turks in order to follow on the victory of Lepanto, but it failed miserably (as always), so he instead put his energies in the the Counter-Reformation: he worked hard to put into practice the principles of the Council of Trent, fostered multiple conspirations and spywork in the attempt to dethrone UsefulNotes/ElizabethI, and supported King UsefulNotes/PhilipII of Spain in his own ventures against the Dutch and British protestants (Gregory even tried to get John of Austria to invade England). He and Philip also received the first Japanese embassy in Europe.

* '''Paul IV''' (1555-1559): Real name Gian Pietro Carafa. A former head of the Roman Inquisition, whose creation he promoted while he was a cardinal, Paul IV was chosen in hopes that he would prove an effective reformer. Unfortunately, he proved to be a rather grim killjoy, making him unpopular in Rome, and, more dangerously, hated the Spanish who ruled most of Italy, to the point of openly calling them barbarians and starting a war against them. It didn't go exactly well, with the army of UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfAlba paying a visit to Rome, which cemented Paul's historical reputation as [[LordErrorProne a man who didn't know how to choose his battles]]. Making a bunch of his nephews cardinals likewise damaged his reformer credentials -- the fact that most of them proved horribly corrupt sunk them. He also hated Jews harder than usual at his time, and part of his hatred of Spanish was because of the high number of ''conversos'', Spanish Christians of Jewish blood. Oh, and he started [[CensorshipBureau the Vatican Index of Forbidden Books]]. So, not a guy making many papal top ten lists.

* '''Julius III''' (1549-1555): Real name Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte. A compromise candidate, who it was hoped would continue Paul III's reforms. Instead, he largely ignored them and spent his times occupied with Italian politics and a young teenage boy named Innocenzo who he adopted as a nephew (according to rumors, after he saw him fighting on the street with a peddler's monkey pet) and made a cardinal despite him being illiterate. Needless to say, this did not help the stature of the Papacy. It helped it even less when Cardinal Innocenzo killed two men for insulting him, though Julius was thankfully dead by that point. On the whole, not a papal high point.

* '''Clement VII''' (1523-38): Real name Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici. He brought to the papal throne a high reputation for political ability and possessed in fact all the accomplishments of a wily diplomat, but in turn was notoriously bad at decision-making. Among other things, he was considered worldly and indifferent to the perceived dangers of the Reformation by the people of the papacy. When Holy Roman Emperor UsefulNotes/CharlesV decided Clement needed a warning for calling for a league against him, he besieged Rome and accidentally caused the 1527 Sack of Rome when his troops (many of which were Protestant mercenaries) mutinied. The [[LastStand glorious]] [[YouShallNotPass sacrifice]] of the Swiss Guards allowed Clement to take refuge in Castel Sant'Angelo, but the Pope ended still greatly disturbed by the experience and took things more seriously, maybe a bit too much. Clement's subsequent refusal to rule on the validity of UsefulNotes/HenryVIII of England's marriage to UsefulNotes/CatherineOfAragon, Charles' aunt, despite years of arguments, set the stage for the English Reformation. Clement went to be considered "the most unfortunate of the Popes" due to all of his mistakes and their consequences.

* '''Adrian VI''' (1522-23): Real name Adriaan Floriszoon Boeyens. Born in Utrecht, he was the tutor of Holy Roman Emperor UsefulNotes/CharlesV and even acted as regent of Spain in his name before reaching Papacy. The last non-Italian pope until John Paul II was chosen 475 years later, he didn't enjoy his new position and came to outright hate it: he had been chosen in absentia against his will, and although Charles and him shared a goal of uniting Christendom against Islam, a rift soon opened between master and disciple because they differed in their approach and Adrian believed he should not be partial to him. In turn, he was noted to be too dependant on the cardinals' advice. Launched the Counter-Reformation, although he obtained little success due to their opposition. One of only two popes in the past thousand years (along with Marcellus II 32 years later) to keep their birth name as their papal name.

* '''Leo X''' (1513-21): Real name, Giovanni de' Medici. The son of [[TheMagnificent Lorenzo the Magnificent]], who got Pope Innocent VIII to make Giovanni a cardinal, but not until he turned 17 and finished school (he was 13 at the time of the promise). Leo X is mainly remembered for promoting the sale of indulgences for money to such an extent that it sparked UsefulNotes/TheProtestantReformation in the 16th century, which he supposedly called "[[ItWillNeverCatchOn some quarrel of monks]]". Patronized art and literature in Rome to an extraordinary extent, establishing a papal court that was the envy of Renaissance Italy. He became pope at only 37 years old, and he was the last man elected Pope to not already be an ordained priest at the time of his election, thus requiring him to be ordained as a priest and then consecrated as a Bishop before he could take the job. Historically, he and Cesare Borgia were students at Pisa University at the same time in 1491, the year before Giovanni's father died and Cesare's father was elected pope (see Alexander VI below). However, no indication survives regarding how they saw each other. He is traditionally believed to have been an enemy of the Borgias, but like many other aspects of their HistoricalVillainUpgrade, historians aren't so sure anymore. A few works show them as friends, including ''Series/{{Borgia}}'' (Giovanni is played by John Bradley), and ''Manga/CesareIlCreatoreCheHaDistrutto'' which focuses on their school life in 1491-92 and has Giovanni as a major character. [[/folder]]