n.
orig. Giuliano della Rovere
born Dec. 5, 1443, Albisola, republic of Genoa
died Feb. 21, 1513, Rome
Pope (150313).
The nephew of Sixtus IV , he fled Rome in 1494 to escape assassination by Alexander VI . Elected pope in 1503, Julius set out to restore the Papal States, subjugating Perugia and Bologna (1508) and defeating Venice (1509) with the aid of the League of Cambrai . His first effort to expel the French from northern Italy failed, but a popular revolt drove them out in 1512, and Parma and Piacenza were added to the Papal States. The greatest art patron of all the popes, Julius was a close friend of Michelangelo , from whom he commissioned the sculpture of Moses and the paintings in the Sistine Chapel. He also commissioned Raphael 's Vatican frescoes.