Papal election On the death of Clement VII in 1534, he was elected as Pope Paul III on 13 October 1534. Farnese, who did not fall within any of the factions, was considered a very good choice by the cardinals since his state of health denoted a short papacy which would give those cardinals time to select a proper candidate for a future conclave. On 3 November, Paul III was formally
crowned by the
protodeacon Innocenzo Cybo. The elevation to the cardinalate of his grandsons,
Alessandro Farnese, aged 14, and
Guido Ascanio Sforza, aged 16, displeased the reform party and drew a protest from Emperor Charles V, but this was forgiven when, shortly after, he introduced into the Sacred College
Reginald Pole,
Gasparo Contarini,
Jacopo Sadoleto, and Giovanni Pietro Caraffa, Soon after his elevation, 2 June 1536, Paul III summoned a general council to meet at
Mantua in the following May, but the opposition of the Protestant princes and the refusal of
Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua to assume the responsibility of maintaining order frustrated the project. exposing gross abuses in the Roman Curia, the church administration, and public worship; and proffering bold proposals aimed at abolishing such abuses. The report was widely printed, and the pope was in earnest when he took up the problem of reform. He clearly perceived that Emperor
Charles V would not rest until the problems had truly been addressed. However, to the Protestants, the report seemed far from thorough;
Martin Luther had his edition (1538) prefaced with a vignette showing the cardinals cleaning the
Augean stable of the Roman Church with foxtails instead of brooms. In the end, no results followed from the committee's recommendations. As a consequence of the extensive campaign against "idolatry" in
England, culminating with the dismantling of the shrine of St.
Thomas Becket at
Canterbury, Paul III excommunicated
Henry VIII on 17 December 1538 and issued an interdict on England. In 1534, a decision by Paul III favoured the activity of merchants of all nationalities and religions from the
Levant and allowed them to settle with their families in
Ancona, which had become part of the
Papal States under his predecessor
Clement VII. This decision helped make Ancona a prosperous trading city for centuries to come. A Venetian travelling through Ancona in 1535 recorded that the city was "full of merchants from every nation and mostly Greeks and Turks." In the second half of the 16th century, the presence of Greek and other merchants from the
Ottoman Empire declined after a series of restrictive measures taken by the Italian authorities and the pope. Around this time, family complications arose. In order to vest his grandson
Ottavio Farnese with the
Duchy of Camerino, Paul forcibly wrested the same from the
duke of Urbino (1540). He also incurred virtual war with his own subjects and vassals by the imposition of burdensome taxes.
Perugia, renouncing its obedience, was besieged by Paul's son, Pier Luigi, and forfeited its freedom entirely on its surrender. The burghers of
Colonna were duly vanquished, and Ascanio was banished (1541). After this, the time seemed ripe for annihilating heresy. In 1540, the Church officially recognized the society forming about
Ignatius of Loyola, which became the
Society of Jesus. In 1542, a second stage in the process of Counter-Reformation was marked by the institution, or reorganization, of the Congregation of the Holy Office of the
Inquisition. On another side, the emperor was insisting that Rome should forward his designs toward a peaceable recovery of the German Protestants. Accordingly, Paul III despatched
Giovanni Morone (not as yet a cardinal) as
nuncio to
Hagenau and
Worms in 1540; and in 1541 Cardinal
Gasparo Contarini took part in the adjustment proceedings at the
Conference of Regensburg. It was Contarini who proposed the famous formula "by faith alone are we justified," which did not, however, supersede the Roman Catholic doctrine of good works. At Rome, this definition was rejected in the
consistory of 27 May, and Luther declared that he could accept it only provided the opposers would admit that this formula constituted a change of doctrine. was made cardinal by Paul III at the age of 15. However, after the Regensburg Conference had proved fruitless, the emperor insisted on a still larger council, with the final result being the
Council of Trent, which finally was convoked on 15 March 1545, under the bull
Laetare Hierusalem. Meanwhile, after the peace of
Crespy (September 1544), Emperor Charles V (1519 – 1556) began to put down Protestantism by force. Pending the
Diet of Worms in 1545, the emperor concluded a covenant of joint action with the papal legate Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, with Paul III agreeing to aid in the projected war against the German Protestant princes and estates. This prompt acquiescence was probably grounded on personal motives: Because the emperor was preoccupied in Germany, the moment now seemed opportune for the pope to acquire for his son Pier Luigi the duchies of
Parma and Piacenza. Although these belonged to the Papal States, Paul III planned to overcome the reluctance of the cardinals by exchanging these papal duchies for the less valuable domains of Camerino and
Nepi. The emperor agreed, welcoming the prospect of 12,000 infantry, 500 cavalry, and considerable funds from the pope. In Germany the campaign began in the west, where
Archbishop of Cologne Hermann of Wied had converted to Protestantism in 1542. Emperor Charles began open warfare against the Protestant princes, estates, and cities allied in the
Schmalkaldic League (see
Philip of Hesse). Hermann was excommunicated on 16 April 1546 and compelled by the emperor to abdicate in February 1547. By the close of 1546, Charles V had subjugated South Germany. The victory at the
Battle of Mühlberg on 24 April 1547 established his imperial sovereignty everywhere in Germany, and the two leaders of the League were captured. The emperor declared the
Augsburg Interim as a magnanimous compromise with the defeated schismatics. in Rome Although the emperor had subdued the German Protestant armies, he had failed to support the pope's territorial ambitions for his son Pier Luigi, and relations between them cooled. The situation came to a total rupture when
Ferrante Gonzaga, the imperial vice-regent, forcibly expelled Pier Luigi. In 1547, the pope's son was assassinated at
Piacenza, and Paul III placed some of the blame on the emperor. In the same year, and after the death of
Francis I of France (1515–47) deprived the pope of a potential ally, the stress of circumstances compelled him to accept the ecclesiastical measures in the emperor's Interim. With reference to the assassinated prince's inheritance, the restitution of which Paul III demanded ostensibly in the name of the church, the pope's design was thwarted by the emperor, who refused to surrender Piacenza, and by Pier Luigi's heir in Parma, Ottavio Farnese. In consequence of a violent altercation on this account with Cardinal Farnese, Paul III, at the age of 81, became so overwrought that an attack of sickness ensued from which he died on 10 November 1549. Paul III proved unable to suppress the Protestant Reformation, but it was during his pontificate that the foundation was laid for the
Counter-Reformation. He decreed the second and final
excommunication of Henry VIII of England in December 1538. His efforts in Parma led to the
War of Parma two years after his death.
Slavery and Sublimis Deus In May–June 1537, Paul issued the bull
Sublimis Deus (also known as
Unigenitus and
Veritas ipsa), described by Prein (2008) as the "Magna Carta" for the human rights of the
indigenous peoples of the Americas in its declaration that "the Indians were human beings and they were not to be robbed of their freedom or possessions". The subsequent implementing document
Pastorale officium declared automatic excommunication for anyone who failed to abide by the new ruling. However, it met with strong opposition from the Council of the West Indies and the Crown, which declared that it violated their patronato rights, and the pope annulled the orders the following year with the document
Non Indecens Videtur. Stogre (1992) notes that
Sublimis Deus is not present in
Denzinger, the authoritative compendium of official Catholic teachings, and Davis (1988) asserts it was annulled due to a dispute with the Spanish crown. However, the original bull continued to circulate and be quoted by
las Casas and others who supported Indian rights. According to Falkowski (2002)
Sublimis Deus had the effect of revoking the bull of Alexander VI,
Inter caetera, but still leaving the colonizers the duty of converting the native people. Maxwell (1975) notes that the bull did not change the traditional teaching that the enslavement of Indians was permissible if they were considered "enemies of Christendom", as this would be considered by the Church as a "just war". He further argues that the Indian nations had every right to self-defence. Stark - 2003 - describes the bull as "magnificent" and believes that it was long forgotten due to the neglect of Protestant historians. Falola noted that the bull related to the native populations of the New World and did not condemn the transatlantic slave trade stimulated by the Spanish monarchy and the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1545, Paul repealed an ancient law that allowed slaves to claim their freedom under the emperor's statue on Rome's
Capitoline Hill, in view of the number of homeless people and tramps in the city. The decree included those who had become Christians after their enslavement and those born to Christian slaves. The right of inhabitants of Rome to publicly buy and sell slaves of both sexes was affirmed. Stogre (1992) asserts that the lifting of restrictions was due to a shortage of slaves in Rome. In 1548, Paul authorized the purchase and possession of Muslim slaves in the Papal states. Also in 1537, Paul issued
Altitudo divini consilii. This bull discusses evangelization and conversion, including the real way to apply the sacraments, in particular baptism. This was especially important in the early days of colonial rule, when hundreds and sometimes thousands of indigenous people were baptized every day. One interesting aspect of this bull is its discussion of how to deal with local practices, for example, polygamy. After their conversion, polygamous men had to marry their first wife, but if they could not remember which wife was the first, they then "could choose among the wives the one they preferred."
Patron of the arts Arguably the most significant artistic work produced during Paul's reign was the
Last Judgement by
Michelangelo in the
Sistine Chapel of the
Vatican Palace. Although the work was commissioned by Paul III's predecessor,
Pope Clement VII, following the latter's death in 1534 Paul renewed the commission and oversaw its completion in 1541. '' (Later Pope Paul III) by
Raphael, 1512. As a cardinal, Alessandro had begun construction of the
Palazzo Farnese in central Rome, and its planned size and magnificence increased upon his election to the papacy. The palace was initially designed by the architect
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, received further architectural refinement from
Michelangelo, and was completed by
Giacomo della Porta. Like other Farnese family buildings, the imposing palace proclaims the family's power and wealth, similarly to Alessandro's
Villa Farnese at Caprarola. In 1546, after the death of Sangallo, Paul appointed the elderly Michelangelo to take supervision of the building of
St. Peter's Basilica. Paul also commissioned Michelangelo to paint the 'Crucifixion of St. Peter' and the 'Conversion of St. Paul' (1542–50), his last frescoes, in the
Pauline Chapel of the Vatican. Paul III's artistic and architectural commissions were numerous and varied. The
Venetian artist
Titian painted a portrait of the pope in 1543, and in 1546, the well-known portrait of Paul III with his grandsons Cardinal Alessandro Farnese and
Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma. Both are now in the
Capodimonte Museum in Naples. The military fortifications in Rome and the Papal States were strengthened during his reign. He had Michelangelo move the ancient bronze of the Emperor
Marcus Aurelius to the
Capitoline Hill, where it became the centerpiece to the
Piazza del Campidoglio.
Other activities Society of Jesus and religious orders On 27 September 1540, Paul III formally approved the establishment of the
Society of Jesus in the
papal bull,
Regimini militantis Ecclesiae. Originally, Paul III restricted the fledgling order to 60 members in the bull
Iniunctum nobis, but he lifted that restriction upon seeing just how effective they were in their missionary actions. In 1548, he permitted
Saint Ignatius of Loyola to print his
Spiritual Exercises. Similarly, in 1540, Paul III approved the Rule of the
Somaschi Fathers, and on 9 June 1544, he approved the Rule for the
Ursulines in the bull
Regimini Universalis.
Consistories Throughout his papacy, Paul III elevated 71 cardinals in 12 consistories. Six of those whom he named, and later revealed publicly, were nominated "
in pectore". Among those he named were his three immediate successors:
Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte (the future Pope Julius III), Marcello Cervini (the future
Pope Marcellus II), and Gian Pietro Carafa (the future
Pope Paul IV). Among those he named were
Reginald Pole,
Rodrigo Luis de Borja y de Castre-Pinós (the great-great-grandson of
Pope Alexander VI),
Ippolito II d'Este (the grandson of Pope Alexander VI), and
Enrique de Borja y Aragón (the great-grandson of Pope Alexander VI). Paul III also named
John Fisher as a cardinal, but King
Henry VIII had him executed after warning the pope not to nominate him. In 1535, Paul III intended to nominate Desiderius
Erasmus to the cardinalate, but he declined on the grounds of ill health and his age. In preparations for the 1542 consistory, Paul III intended to nominate
Giovanni Guidiccioni, but the latter died before the consistory took place. In that 1542 consistory, according to Conradus Eubel, the pope is said to have reserved an undefined number of other cardinals
in pectore.
Canonizations During his papacy, Paul III canonized
Ginés de la Jara (1541). == Death ==