Leo X

(born Dec. 1, 1475, Florence—died Dec. 1, 1521, Rome) Pope (1513–21), one of the most extravagant of the Renaissance pontiffs. The second son of Lorenzo de' Medici, he was educated at his father's court in Florence and at the University of Pisa.

He was named a cardinal in 1492, and in 1494 he was exiled from Florence by the revolt of Girolamo Savonarola. He returned in 1500 and soon consolidated Medici control of the city. As pope, he became a patron of the arts, accelerating construction of St. Peter's Basilica. He strengthened the papacy's political power in Europe, but his lavish spending depleted his treasury. He discouraged reforms at the fifth Lateran Council, and he responded inadequately to the Reformation, excommunicating Martin Luther in 1521 and failing to address the need for change, a lapse that signaled the end of the unified Western church.