Sixtus IV (1414-1484) was among the most notorious of the Renaissance popes. He was elected pope in 1471, and Italian politics dominated much of his reign. Sixtus was also a great patron of Renaissance learning and the arts.
Sixtus was born on July 14, 1414, in Celle Ligure, Italy, near Savona. His given and family name was Francesco della Rovere. He joined the Franciscan religious order and gained fame as a theologian. After his election, his spiritual concerns receded as he enriched family members with papal offices and named six nephews cardinals. Sixtus became involved in a family plot to assassinate Lorenzo de’ Medici, the leader of Florence, and his brother Giuliano. Lorenzo was wounded and Giuliano was killed. A series of wars between the papacy and rival Italian powers followed.
Sixtus tried to transform Rome into a center of Renaissance culture. He provided the first permanent home for the Vatican Library; supported the studies of the Roman Academy; and built the Sistine Chapel, named for him, in the Vatican (see Sistine Chapel ). Sixtus also began the urban transformation of Rome from a medieval to a Renaissance city. He died on Aug. 12, 1484.
