Pope under the name of Jules II, Giuliano Della Rovere is resulting from an obscure Piedmontese family, suddenly high at the summit of the Italian company: the uncle de Giuliano, Francesco Della Rovere, general Minister for Franciscan then cardinal, is elected pope under the name of Sixte IV in 1471. He then names his nephew bishop of Carpentras, then cardinal-bishop of Lausanne (1471), archbishop of Avignon (1474), legate in France (1480-1484) and cardinal of Ostie. The election of Alexandre VI Borgia (1492) made move away Giuliano from Rome. He flees in Lyon and will return only to the death of the pope. Elected official pope unanimously in 1503 thanks to the simony - which made it extremely rich -, it succeeds Pie III and chooses the name of Jules in remembering Julius Caesar.

Jules II wants to make of the Holy See the first Italian power, therefore to reinforce his temporal power and to dominate politically and militarily Italy.

Reinforcement of the temporal power

In the States of the Church, Jules II restores the order, reorganizes justice and finances. He especially seeks to reconquer the territories lost by the Holy See, and he reaches that point: cities in Romagna, Perugia, Bologna, duchy of Urbino yielded to its nephew Francesco Maria Della Rovere. Against Venice, he concludes the League from Cambric (1508) with the king of France Louis XII, duke of Milan, and the Maximilien emperor of Austria: Ravenne, Faenza, Rimini, old pontifical possessions, are taken again (demolished Venetian of Agnadel, 1509).

The Holy League against France

Jules II is turned over then against France, whose he considers the presence too heavy in Italy; thus the Holy League is formed (pope, princes Italian, Switzerland, Spain, England). Initially victorious in Bologna and Ravenne (1512), the French must give up their conquests soon. They are driven out of Italy. The combat is also held on the spiritual level: with the council convened by Louis XII to deposit Jules II, this one retorts by the meeting of another council, which reaffirms the preeminence of the pope on the councils. With the death of Jules II, the Church had recovered all its possessions.

Guard of the letters and arts, Jules II gathers many volumes in his library and makes build or restore several churches. He entrusts to Belling the construction of Saint-Pierre of Rome, to Michel-Angel the painting of the ceiling of the Sixtine vault and the erection of his tomb, in Raphaël the decoration of the Vatican. The realization of the monumental tomb tormented a long time the sculptor and the last version (church Saint-Pierre-with-Bonds) comprises only three works by Michel-Angel: the Brace (as from 1513), Lea and Rachel (as from 1542). The two Prisoners (or Slave S) of Louvre (as from 1513) and the four unfinished Slaves of the academy of Florence (as from 1519) were intended for this monument.

More worried by the political life than by the spiritual or pastoral life, incompetent to perceive the new problems which arose for Christendom, Jules II, by restoring the political power of the Church, allowed his successors to resist the attacks of the Protestant Reform.