Pope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese)

Alessandro Farnese, born in 1468, was Pope Paul III from 1534 to 1549. According to the Britannica he owed his cardinal's hat to the liaison of his sister Giulia with Pope Alexander VI. As a young man he fathered at least two children. As pope he introduced the Inquisition into Italy in 1542 and censorship and the Index in 1543. He made two grandsons cardinals at fourteen and sixteen, and in 1545 he gave Parma and Piacenza, territories of the Papal States, to his natural son Pier Luigi. The Britannica calls nepotism his most deplorable weakness.

Life dates

1468-1549 (about 81 years old)

Country

Italy, Vatican City

Institutions

Papal States
Roman Inquisition

Category

Expropriation, Heresy trials, Censorship

Level of evidence

B two independent scholarly sources · what does this mean?

Background

Course of events

1. Alessandro Farnese was born on 28 February 1468. In Rome he became the father of at least two children, later legitimised. According to the Britannica he owed his cardinal's hat to the liaison of his sister Giulia Farnese Orsini with Pope Alexander VI; the Catholic Encyclopedia gives his elevation by Alexander VI in 1493. As the Catholic Encyclopedia writes, he accumulated a number of opulent benefices in accordance with the abuses of his time. He became pope on 13 October 1534 and died on 10 November 1549.
   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Abschnitt Paul III.

   „pope from 1534 to 1549, was born on the 28th of February 1468“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Abschnitt Paul III.

   „became the father of at least two children, later legitimized“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Abschnitt Paul III.

   „To the liaison between his sister Giulia Farnese Orsini and Alexander VI. he owed his cardinal’s hat“

   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1911), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 1

   „he was created by Alexander VI cardinal-deacon“

   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1911), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 1

   „In accordance with the abuses of his time, he accumulated a number of opulent benefices“

   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1911), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 1

   „died at Rome, 10 Nov., 1549“

Who received the assets, who profited?

1. The Britannica calls nepotism his most deplorable weakness. He made his grandsons Alessandro Farnese and Guido Ascanio Sforza cardinals at fourteen and sixteen, which according to the Catholic Encyclopedia displeased the reform party and drew a protest from the emperor. Parma and Piacenza, territories of the Papal States, he transferred in 1545 to his natural son Pier Luigi, who was assassinated by his subjects in 1549; the quarrel over the duchies embittered the pope's last days.
   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Abschnitt Paul III.

   „The most deplorable weakness of Paul was his nepotism. Parma and Piacenza, states of the Church, he bestowed upon his natural son Pier Luigi (1545).“

   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1911), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913, Absatz 2

   „The elevation to the cardinalate of his grandsons, Alessandro Farnese, aged fourteen, and Guido Ascanio Sforza, aged sixteen, displeased the reform party and drew a protest from the emperor“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Abschnitt Paul III.

   „in 1549 Pier Luigi was assassinated by his outraged subjects“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Abschnitt Paul III.

   „This led to a family quarrel which greatly embittered the last days of the pope and hastened his death“

See also

• 1233-1966 · 733 years

  Book burnings and the Index of Forbidden Books

  • France
  • Italy
  • Spain
  • Vatican City
  • Anti-Judaism
  • Persecution
  • Censorship
• Person 1 Jan 1431-18 Aug 1503 · 72 years old

  Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia)

  • Italy
  • Spain
  • Vatican City
  • Expropriation
  • Financial misconduct
• Person 28 Jun 1476-18 Aug 1559 · 83 years old

  Pope Paul IV (Gian Pietro Carafa)

  • Italy
  • Vatican City
  • Anti-Judaism
  • Expropriation
  • Heresy trials
  • Persecution
• 21 Jul 1542-7 Dec 1965 · 423 years

  Roman Inquisition (Holy Office)

  • Italy
  • Vatican City
  • Heresy trials
  • Persecution
  • Censorship

Scholarly literature and reference works

1. Reference work
   Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911): Paul (popes), Abschnitt Paul III., 1 January 1911. Original · Archive copy (retrieved 12 Oct 2026)
2. Reference work
   The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 11 (1911), Wikisource-Ausgabe 1913: Pope Paul III, 1 January 1913. Original · Archive copy (retrieved 31 Oct 2026)

Last changed on 31 October 2026. Is something missing or wrong? Suggest an addition or correction.