I Among the many nephews whom Sixtus IV.

had raised to eminence, the most distinguished was Giuliano della Rovere, Cardinal of S.Pietro in Vincoli, and Bishop of Ostia.

This man possessed a fiery temper, indomitable energy, and the combative instinct which takes delight in fighting for its own sake.

Nature intended him for a warrior; and, though circumstances made him chief of the Church, he discharged his duties as a Pontiff in the spirit of a general and a conqueror.

When Julius II.