Paul III

(1468–1549)

   Pope.

   Paul was born Alessandro Farnese. He became a Cardinal-Deacon in 1493; he was dean of the Sacred College under Pope Leo X and he was elected Pope in 1534. He cannot be described as a saintly figure. Despite the injunction to clerical celibacy, he was the father of three sons and a daughter and he was much given to promoting his own relations to senior positions within the Church. None the less he is primarily remembered for the significant reforms which took place within the Church during his reign. He restored the Inquisition; he approved the setting up of new orders such as the Jesuits and the Ursulines and, as a result of his determination, the first session of the Council of Trent opened in 1545. Although he failed to stem the tide of Protestantism, he must be regarded as a preliminary architect of the Counter- Reformation. In addition he was a great patron of art and learning. He appointed michelangelo as architect-in-chief to St Peter’s Cathedral and he did much to improve the Vatican Library.

   A.G. Dickens, The Counter Reformation, 2nd edn (1989).