Paul III (Pope) (Alessandro Farnese; 1468–1549; Reigned 1534–1549)

PAUL III (POPE) (Alessandro Farnese; 1468–1549; reigned 1534–1549)

PAUL III (POPE) (Alessandro Farnese; 1468–1549; reigned 1534–1549), Italian ecclesiastic. Born 29 February 1468 at Canino in Latium of noble parents and in comfortable circumstances, Paul was educated in Rome by humanists Pompeo Leto and Giovanni Battista Pio and studied at the University of Pisa and at the court of Lorenzo the Magnificent. In 1493 Pope Alexander VI (reigned 1492–1503) elected him cardinal-deacon. He was ordained a priest in 1519, before which time he had four illegitimate children. He held bishoprics in Parma and Ostia, was made dean of the Sacred College by Leo X (reigned 1513–1521), and was elected pope on 13 October 1534. He died on 10 November 1549.

Paul's complex personality and decisions as pope typified a prince of the High Renaissance. Reflecting his sense of self-importance, his pontificate was given to the wholesale aggrandizement of his family: family members received key ecclesiastical positions, benefices, and lands. His pontificate also occurred when the Roman Church instituted new measures to check Lutheranism in Italy and northern Europe. A shrewd administrator who selected many men of talent (among them, cardinals Gasparo Contarini, Reginald Pole, and Giovanni Morone), Paul grasped the urgency for ecclesiastical reform, especially after the devastating sack of Rome (1527). Early on, he set up a reform commission to identify abuses in the church "in head and members" (1537); its private memorandum (Concilium de Emendanda Ecclesia) fell into the hands of Protestants and caused embarrassment, but it identified key abuses the Council of Trent would later address (such as episcopal absence and plurality of benefices). Frustrated after sending legates to Regensburg (Ratisbon) in 1541 to debate with Lutherans on theological questions such as transubstantiation, free will, and justification, he took more direct action. In 1542, he established the Roman Inquisition to check the spread of Lutheranism in Italy. Foremost in his mind was a general council of the church to clarify doctrine and correct abuses; after numerous delays, the council opened at Trent (1545–1563); Paul saw completed the council's first session (1545–1546).

Unyielding on papal authority, he gained a reputation early as an effective diplomat and negotiator for Julius II (reigned 1503–1513), Leo X, and Clement VII (reigned 1523–1534), distinguishing himself as a person acceptable to all political factions. As pope, he maintained frank and at times tense relations with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (ruled 1519–1558), but supported him in his military efforts to defeat the Protestant princes, even allying with him in 1546 against the Protestant Schmalkaldic League. He kept up cordial ties with Francis I (ruled 1515–1547), king of France, throughout the latter's perpetual antagonism with the emperor. Paul succeeded in bringing both parties to a truce long enough to open the Council of Trent. He urged a crusade against the Turks and chastised Henry VIII of England (ruled 1509–1547), though he grew frustrated after repeated efforts to resolve Henry's break with Rome.

In 1540 Paul confirmed the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). He supported the work of new religious orders such as the Barnabites, Capuchins, Theatines, Ursulines, and Somaschi. He also urged relations with the Armenian and Maronite churches, supported missionary work in Africa and the Americas, and forbade enslaving the American Indians.

Paul III, a liberal patron of education and the arts, gave generously to both these causes by rebuilding the University of Rome, bringing in scholars (such as Romolo Amaseo, teacher of rhetoric), donating books and manuscripts to the Vatican Library, and commissioning urban renewal, buildings, and artistic works, most notably the Palazzo Farnese on the Via Giulia, the renovation of the Campidoglio, the Castel Sant'Angelo, and the frescoes of the Sala Regia and the Capella Paolina. He commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Last Judgment for the Sistine Chapel, and appointed him to carry on as architect of the new Saint Peter's Basilica after the death of Antonio da Sangallo.

See also Inquisition, Roman ; Papacy and Papal States ; Rome, Sack of ; Trent, Council of .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hudon, William V. "Paul III (1534–49)." In The Great Popes through History: An Encyclopedia, edited by Frank J. Coppa. Vol. 1, pp. 307–314. Westport, Conn., 2002.

Pastor, Ludwig von. The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages. Vols. XI–XII. St. Louis, 1929.

Frederick J. McGinness