PAUL III

born Feb. 29, 1468, Canino, Papal States died Nov. 10, 1549, Rome original name Alessandro Farnese Italian noble who was the last of the Renaissance popes (reigned 153449) and the first pope of the Counter-Reformation. The worldly Paul III was a notable patron of the arts and at the same time encouraged the beginning of the reform movement that was to affect deeply the Roman Catholic Church in the later 16th century. He called the Council of Trent in 1545. Additional reading Ludwig Pastor, Geschichte der Ppste, 3rd ed. (1908; The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages, vol. 1112, 1923), the most reliable, detailed biography based on archival sources; Lon Dorez, La Cour du Pape Paul III, 2 vol. (1932), a documented account of finances and artistic interests; W.H. Edwards, Paul der Dritte, oder die geistliche Gegenreformation (1933), a detailed analysis of his religious and spiritual activities; Carlo Capasso, Paolo III, 15341549, 2 vol. (192324), an expansive, literary account; Pierre Janelle, The Catholic Reformation, pp. 5368 (1949, reprinted 1963), brief, comprehensive, and reliable.