L 
prifoner, and conveyed to Milan, where the facrednefs 
of his function caufed him to be treated with great re- 
fpeft. When the French, from the decline of their caufe, 
were obliged to make a hafty retreat, they carried the car¬ 
dinal de Medici with them ; but, on his arrival at the 
banks of the Po, he found means to engage a party to 
refcue him, and effected his efcape. He returned to Bo¬ 
logna, and affumed the government of the diftrift in qua¬ 
lity of the pope’s legate. Not long after, the reftoration 
of the family of Medici to their former condition in Flo¬ 
rence took place, and the popular conftitution of that re¬ 
public was overthrown. The cardinal contributed, with 
his brother and relatives, to this event; and he remained 
at Florence, till the death of Julius II. called him fud- 
denly to Rome. 
At the fcrutiny for a new pontiff, in March 1513, the 
election was declared to have fallen on the cardinal 
de Medici, who was then in the thirty-eighth year of his 
age. What were the particular motives which influenced 
the conclave in the choice of fo young a cardinal, and one 
who feems by no means to have been hitherto diitin- 
guilhed for the vigour and abilities requifite to fill fo ex¬ 
alted and difficult a Ration, does not clearly appear. It 
is agreed, however, that the eleflion was not procured by 
the corrupt practices ufual on fuch occalions ; and the 
new pope, who affumed the name of Leo X. afcended the 
throne with greater manifeftations of good-will, both 
from Italians and foreigners, than moll of his predecef- 
fors had done. One of his firft adds was to interpofe in 
favour of fome confpirators againft the lioufe of Medici, 
at Florence; and he treated with great kindnefs the fa¬ 
mily of Soderini, which had long been the head of the 
oppofite party in that republic. His tafle and affedlion 
for literature were difplayed by the appointment of two 
of the molt elegant fcholars of the age, Bembo and Sa- 
doleti, to the office of papal fecretaries. 
With refpedl to foreign politics, he purfued the fyftem 
of his predeceffor, in attempting to free Italy from the 
dominion of foreign powers; and, as Louis XII. now al¬ 
lied with the Venetians, meditated a new invafion of the 
Milanefe, Leo formed a counter-league to oppofe him. 
He alfo took in^o pay a large body of Swifs, by whofe 
valour the bloody victory of Novara was gained over the 
French; of which the confequence was, their expulfion 
from Italy. In order to counteradl the anti-papal coun¬ 
cil of Pifa, which was now aflembled at Lyons, he re¬ 
newed the meetings of the council of Lateran, which Ju¬ 
lius II. had begun ; and he had the good fortune to ter¬ 
minate a divifion which threatened a fchifin in the church. 
Louis XII. who had incurred ecclefiaftical cenfure, made 
a formal fubmiffion, and received abfolution. 
Having thus, in the firft year of his pontificate, fecured 
external tranquillity, Leo did not delay to confult the in- 
terefls ot literature, by an ample patronage of learned 
iiudies. Many ot his predeceflors had honourably diftin- 
guiflied themfelves by fimilar attentions : even the infa¬ 
mous Alexander VI. had merited the applaufe of the vo¬ 
taries of learning. The ftormy pontificate of Julius II. 
however, had been unfavourable to letters, not only in 
Rome, but throughout Italy ; and peculiar exertions were 
requifite to recover them from the depreffion into which 
they had funk. One of the new pope’s firft cares was to 
reftore to its former fplendour the Roman gymnafium, or 
univerfity, which he effedfed by new grants of its reve¬ 
nues and privileges, and by filling its profeflbrfiiips with 
eminent men invited from all quarters. The ftudy of the 
Greek language was next a particular objedt of his en¬ 
couragement. Under the diredlion of Janus Lafcaris, 
(fee p. 254.) a college of noble Grecian youths was 
founded at Rome for the purpofe of editing Greek au¬ 
thors; and a Greek prefs was eflabliffied in that city, of 
which Lafcaris was appointed fuperintendant. Public no¬ 
tice was given throughout Europe, that all perfons who 
poflefled manufcripts of ancient authors would be libe¬ 
rally rewarded on bringing them to the pope, who would 
Vo a. ’XII, No. 846. 
E O. ' 489 
alfo print them at his own expenfe. The firft appearance 
from the prefs of the five firft books of Tacitus’s An¬ 
nals, was one of the refults of this invitation. Nor was 
Leo, although principally attached to claflical literature, 
wholly inattentive to the promotion of oriental learning ; 
and the firft profelforlhip in Italy of the Syriac and Chal- 
daic languages was founded by him in the univerfity of 
Bologna. 
The embarrafled politics of the time occupied in ftill 
more ferious concerns the mind of the pontiff, who had 
two leading objedts in view ; the maintenance of that 
balance of power which might protedt Italy from the 
over-bearing influence of any one foreign potentate, and 
the aggrandizement of the houfe of Medici. In order to 
prevent a propofed alliance between the courts of France, 
Spain, and Auftria, he promoted a reconciliation between 
the kings of France and England, cemented by the mar¬ 
riage of the former to the filter of the latter ; and he af- 
fedted to favour Louis in his purpofe of a new attempt to 
recover the duchy of Milan. The ambitious views he 
had entertained of obtaining the kingdom of Naples for 
one branch of his family, and forming a ftate out of Tuf- 
cany with the duchefs of Ferrara and Urbino for another, 
rendered the friendftiip of that monarch neceftary to him, 
and occafioned a fecret alliance between them. Yet, ap¬ 
parently intimidated at the nearer profpedl of a French 
army upon his frontiers, he not only ftrengthened himfelf 
by the purchafe of Modena from the emperor Maximilian, 
butfent Bembo as his legate to Venice, to detach that re¬ 
public from their connexion with Louis; in which at¬ 
tempt, however, he failed. Thefe crooked and mutable 
politics were at that time fo familiar to all the European 
iovereigns, that perhaps no one of them could juftly com¬ 
plain. of another on that head ; yet the popes, liaving 
ufually a double intereft in view, were pecqliarly liable to 
the charges of fludluation and double-dealing, and Leo 
feems to have imbibed a full portion of the fpirit of his fee. 
When the death of Louis XII. placed Francis I. on the 
throne of France, it foon became apparent that anew war 
was to be expedled in the north of Italy ; and Leo, after 
fome ineffectual attempts to remain neuter, found himfelf 
obliged to join in a league with the emperor, the king of 
Arragon, the ftates of Florence and Milan, and the Swifs 
cantons, againft the French king and the ftate of Venice. 
The rapid fucceffes of the French arms, however, foon 
brought him to temporize ;• and, after the Swifs, almolt 
unaided, had been defeated in the terrible combat of Ma- 
rignano, the pope thought it expedient to detach his caufe 
from that of his allies, and to form an union with Francis. 
Thefe two fovereigns, in the clofe of 1515, had an inter¬ 
view at Bologna, at which, among other political arrange¬ 
ments, the pragmatic fanflion, which was confidered as the 
bafis of the right’s of the Gallican church, was abolifhed, 
and a concordat was eftabliflted in its ftead. This change 
was advantageous both to the papal authority and to the 
regal prerogative, but was extremely difpleafing to the 
French nation, both clergy and laity. 
The death of Leo’s brother, Giuliano de Medici, a man 
of a weak conftitution and unambitious temper, left his 
nephew Lorenzo the principal obje&of that paffion for ag¬ 
grandizing his family, which this pontiff felt in a degree 
not inferior to that of any of his predeceflors. Under its 
influence he found pretexts, in 1516, for ifluing a moni¬ 
tory againft the duke of Urbino; and, upon his non-ap¬ 
pearance, Leo launched an excommunication againft him, 
and feized his whole territory, with which, together with 
the ducal title, he inverted his nephew Lorenzo. In the 
fame year, a general pacification took place among the 
contending powers, notwithftanding all the efforts of the 
pope to prevent it. A conduct fooppoiite to the duty of 
the general father of Chriltendom has been attributed to 
Leo’s regard for the lafting peace and independence of 
Italy, which could not but reft on frail foundations while 
Milan and Naples were in the poffeflion of two powerful 
foreign princes. The character of the pontiff, however, 
6 I jiiftifies 
