7 history-changing Pope Leos

5. Pope Leo X (1475-1521)

Born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, Italy, Pope Leo X was a notable supporter of the arts and helped to accelerate the construction of the modern St. Peter’s Basilica.

Reigning from 1513 until 1521, Leo X is probably best known for excommunicating Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther, whose movement had been launched four years into his rule.

“The legacy he left behind would remain permanently connected with his failures to stint the Reformation. His pontificate did not bring about the reforms anticipated by Lateran V, but instead deepened the fiscal and political problems in Rome,” noted Reformation 500.

“His attempt to prosecute Luther’s teaching on indulgences and ultimately to excommunicate him did not eradicate Lutheran doctrine, but instead further splintered the Western church.”