DK Travel : Rome : Top 10 Influential Popes

Rome : Top 10 Influential Popes

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1. St Peter

The Apostle (AD 42–67) tapped by Jesus to lead the church. After his martyrdom in Rome the city became the epicentre of Christianity.
2. St Leo the Great

Rome’s bishop (440–61) made himself pontifex maximus of the Christian church.
3. St Gregory the Great

Affirmed the papacy as the western secular leader and converted England to Christianity (590–604).
4. Innocent III

This medieval pope (1198– 1216) hand-picked emperors and approved monkish orders.
5. Boniface VIII

Imperious, pragmatic and power-hungry, Boniface (1294–1303) instituted the first Jubilee to make money.
6. Alexander VI

Ruthless Borgia pope (1492–1503) used the pontificate to destroy rival families.
7. Julius II

Warrior pope and patron of the arts (1513–21), he hired Michelangelo for the Sistine Chapel and Raphael to decorate his apartment (see , .
8. Paul III

Scholarly and secular, but fighting Protestant reforms, Paul III (1534–49) founded the Jesuits and the Inquisition.
9. Sixtus V

Cleansed Papal States of corruption (1585–90) and masterminded a Baroque overhaul of Rome.
10. John Paul II

The first non-Italian Pope for over 400 years, John Paul II (1920-2005), was famed for his extensive travelling.