Pius IV
1499–1565
Roman Catholic pope

Pope Pius IV led the Roman Catholic Church from 1559 to 1565. His greatest achievement as pope was to conclude the work of the Council of Trent. Pius IV was also an important patron* of the arts. He was born Giovanni Angelo Medici in Milan, Italy. His family, though noble, was not related to the powerful Medici family of Florence. Giovanni studied civil and church law and began his legal career while Clement VII was pope.

Medici developed his skills as a lawyer and worked his way up the church ladder of offices. He became an archbishop in 1545, even though he had never been ordained as a priest, and a cardinal four years later. In 1559 Catholic cardinals elected him pope after debating for almost four months. As Pope Pius IV, Medici's first act was to remove the former pope's relatives from office and to have two of them—a cardinal and a duke—sentenced to death for their crimes. Pius IV then granted his own relatives positions loaded with honors.

Pope Paul III had called the Council of Trent in 1545 to address problems within the Catholic Church following the spread of Protestantism. However, wars and political pressure caused long delays between sessions of the council. Pius IV called the council back into session after an interval of ten years. When the council called for thorough reforms, the pope established a permanent group of cardinals to enforce the decision.

An accomplished Latin scholar, Pius enjoyed reciting entire passages of classical* works from memory. As a patron of the arts, he promoted many projects in the Vatican. Among others, he supported Michelangelo Buonarroti as architect for St. Peter's Cathedral and hired him to build the church of Saint Mary of the Angels.

(See alsoCatholic Reformation and Counter-Reformation; Nepotism; Popes and Papacy. )

* patron

supporter or financial sponsor of an artist or writer

* classical

in the tradition of ancient Greece and Rome