Pope Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici, r. 1513–1521) was a lavish patron of the arts whose sale of indulgences to help fund St. Peter's Basilica became the immediate trigger for Martin Luther's 1517 protest — the start of the Protestant Reformation.
BornGiovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, Florence, 1475
Reign1513–1521
FamilySon of Lorenzo the Magnificent
CommissionedRaphael's tapestries for the Sistine Chapel
TriggeredMartin Luther's 95 Theses, 1517
He inherited a half-built basilica and a family taste for luxury — and, trying to pay for one with the other, helped split the Church in two.
A Medici in the Vatican
The son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Giovanni de' Medici was made a cardinal at 13 and elected pope in 1513 at just 37, bringing his family's famous appetite for art and spectacle to Rome.
Funding St. Peter's the hard way
To help pay for the ongoing rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica, begun under Julius II, Leo X aggressively expanded the sale of indulgences — payments believed to reduce punishment for sin — across Germany.
The spark of the Reformation
That indulgence campaign was the direct target of Martin Luther's 95 Theses in 1517, the document usually credited with starting the Protestant Reformation — a movement Leo X badly underestimated, reportedly dismissing it early on as a squabble among monks.
