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 LEO 347 at his birth and before his eighth year ap- pointed by Louis XI. of France abbot of Font- Douce, and by Pope Sixtus IV. abbot of Pas- signano and prothonotary apostolic. At 13 he was created cardinal by Innocent VIII. , whose son, Francesco Cibo, had married in 1487 Madalena, Giovanni's sister. No pains were omitted by Lorenzo to make his son worthy of his rank in the church. He gradu- ated in theology and canon law at the univer- sity of Pisa, assumed for the first time the in- signia of the cardinalate March 9, 1492, and went immediately to Rome, whence he was recalled to Florence a few weeks afterward by the death of his father. He fixed his residence there as legate of the holy see, opposed the election of Alexander VI. in August, 1492, and then returned to Florence. In 1494 he and his brothers were expelled by the citizens, and after living five years an exile and fugi- tive, he quitted Italy in 1499, and visited Ger- many, the Netherlands, and France, seeking everywhere the acquaintance of the learned. He returned to Rome in 1503, and lived there in retirement, making his house the resort of the most distinguished artists and men of let- ters in Italy. On the accession of Julius II. he was employed in the most important affairs. In 1506 he was appointed governor of Peru- gia, and subsequently legate of Bologna and commander of the papal troops in league with Spain against the French in Italy. In this ca- pacity he was present at the battle of Ravenna, April 11, 1512, and was taken prisoner, but allowed to escape. The French having been driven out of Lombardy, Cardinal de' Medici employed the Spanish arms to reinstate his family at Florence. He was elected to succeed Julius II., March 11, 1513, received priest's orders March 15, was consecrated bishop on the 17th, was crowned on the 19th, and took possession of the Lateran April 11. Louis XII., who had been excommunicated and whose kingdom had been laid under an interdict by Julius II., was more than ever bent on con- quering Lombardy. In March, 1513, he had signed at Blois a treaty with the Venetians, by which they promised to aid him in obtaining possession of Milan. The new pope instantly formed a counter treaty with Henry VIII., signed at Mechlin April 5, to which the empe- ror Maximilian, Ferdinand of Aragon, and the Swiss cantons acceded, and which resulted in the defeat of the French at Novara, June 6. This warlike activity of Leo X. seemed in con- tradiction to the policy announced on the day after his election to King Sigismund I. of Po- land, to whom he wrote to urge him to make peace with Albert of Brandenburg, alleging that he was sending legates to all Christian na- tions to dissuade them from making war on each other. Before his coronation, too, he chose as his secretaries the illustrious scholars Bembo and Sadoleto, and bestowed his first care on reconstructing the Roman gymnasium 9r university, founded by Eugenius IV., re- vived and liberally endowed by Alexander VI., and neglected by the warlike Julius II. In 1514 it already counted 100 professors, the most eminent scientific body in Europe, teach- ing every branch of sacred and profane science, including medicinal botany for the first time. In 1513 Leo purchased on the Esquiline hill a large property on which he founded the Greek institute, and established a Greek press, en- couraging at the same time the culture of all the oriental languages, and paying out of his own purse for the printing of Sante Pagnino's version of the Bible, and of Piero Valeriano's key to Egyptian hieroglyphics. He also en- larged the patronage extended to the fine arts by Julius II. He obtained the release from prison of the conspirators against his own family at Florence, called to Rome and pro- tected there Piero Soderini their chief, as well as Machiavelli, and restored to favor and pub- lic life the Colonnas, disgraced under his prede- cessor. He reopened the fifth general council of Lateran, April 27, 1513, with great mag- nificence (see LATERAN, COUNCILS OF), and declared it to be his intention to continue its sessions until the establishment of a general peace among the princes of Christendom. He made his brother Giuliano de' Medici general of the papal armies, his nephew Lorenzo gov- ernor of Florence, and his cousin Cardinal Giulio de' Medici (afterward Clement VII.) archbishop of that city. At the same epoch King Emanuel of Portugal sent him a splendid embassy to offer him the first fruits of Albu- querque's conquests in the East Indies ; and Leo in return conferred on Emanuel the investiture of the conquered countries. Louis XII. after the battle of Novara was reconciled with the pope, who induced him to become the ally and brother-in-law of Henry VIII., and agreed not to oppose by open force his pretensions to the duchy of Milan. Louis secretly pledged himself to expel the Spaniards from Naples; and a matrimonal alliance was arranged be- tween the pope's brother Giuliano and Fili- berta of Savoy, aunt of the duke d'Angouleme. The latter prince, on his accession as Francis I., Jan. 1, 1515, assumed the title of duke of Milan, and gained on Sept. 13 the memorable victory of Melegnano (Marignano). This was followed by a treaty with the pope, who gave up to Francis Parma and Piacenza, Bologna being annexed to the Papal States, and the authority of the Medici reestablished in Flor- ence. Leo and Francis met in Bologna in De- cember, 1515, and agreed upon a concordat, afterward promulgated in the Lateran council, March 16, 1517. By this the king repealed the pragmatic sanction of Bourges (1438), guaran- teed to the pope the collection of annates and tithes, and obtained the right of nomination to all episcopal sees and principal benefices in France. Francis vainly interceded for the duke of Urbino, who, guilty of rebellion against Ju- lius II. and Leo himself, had killed with his own hand in the open street Cardinal Alidori,