Pope Pius IV (Italian:Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), bornGiovanni Angelo Medici, was head of theCatholic Church and ruler of thePapal States from 25 December 1559 to his death, in December 1565. Born inMilan, his family considered itself a branch of theHouse of Medici and used the samecoat of arms. Although modern historians have found no proof of this connection, the Medici of Florence recognised the claims of the Medici of Milan in the early 16th century.^[1][2]

Pope Pius IV
Bishop of Rome
Portrait byScipione Pulzone,c. 1560s
Church	Catholic Church
Papacy began	25 December 1559
Papacy ended	9 December 1565
Predecessor	Paul IV
Successor	Pius V
Previous post(s)	Archbishop of Ragusa (1545–1553) Cardinal-Priest of Santa Pudenziana (1549–1550) Cardinal-Priest of Santa Anastasia (1550–1552) Apostolic Administrator of Cassano all'Jonio (1553–1556) Cardinal-Priest of San Stefano al Monte Celio (1553–1557) Bishop of Foligno (1556–1557) Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prisca (1557–1559) Apostolic Administrator of Milan (1559–1560)
Orders
Consecration	20 April 1546 by Filippo Archinto
Created cardinal	8 April 1549 byPaul III
Personal details
Born	Giovanni Angelo Medici 31 March 1499 Milan,Duchy of Milan
Died	9 December 1565(1565-12-09) (aged 66) Rome,Papal States
Signature
Coat of arms
Other popes named Pius

Papal styles of Pope Pius IV
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	None

Pope Paul III appointed MediciArchbishop of Ragusa, and sent him on diplomatic missions to theHoly Roman Empire andHungary. He presided over the final session of theCouncil of Trent. His nephew, CardinalCharles Borromeo, was a close adviser. As pope, Pius IV initiated a number of building projects in Rome, including one to improve the water supply.

Giovanni Angelo Medici was born inMilan on 31 March 1499 as the second of eleven children to Bernardino Medici and Clelia Serbelloni.^[3]

Giovanni Medici was the younger brother ofcondottieroGian Giacomo Medici, and the maternal uncle ofCharles Borromeo.^[4] Medici studied philosophy and medicine inPavia.

After studying atUniversity of Bologna and acquiring a reputation as ajurist he obtained his doctorate in bothcanon and civil law on 11 May 1525. Medici went in 1527 toRome, and as a favourite ofPope Paul III was rapidly promoted to the governorship of several towns, thearchbishopric of Ragusa (1545–1553),^[5] and the vice-legateship of Bologna.

On 8 April 1549,Pope Paul III made Medici acardinal, receiving his red hat and titular church title on the following 10 May.^[3] Under Papal authority, he was sent on diplomatic missions to the Holy Roman Empire and also to Hungary.

On the death ofPope Paul IV, he waselected pope on 25 December 1559, taking the name Pius IV,^[3] and installed on 6 January 1560. His first public acts of importance were to grant a general pardon to the participants in the riot after the death of his predecessor, and to bring to trial the nephews of his predecessor. One, CardinalCarlo Carafa, was strangled, andDuke Giovanni Carafa of Paliano, with his nearest associates, was beheaded.

On 18 January 1562 theCouncil of Trent, which had been suspended byPope Julius III, was convened by Pius IV for the third and final time.^[6] Great skill and caution were necessary to effect a settlement of the questions before it, inasmuch as the three principal nations taking part in it, though at issue with regard to their own special demands, were prepared to unite their forces against the demands of Rome. Pius IV, however, aided byGiovanni Morone andCharles Borromeo, proved himself equal to the emergency, and by judicious management – and concession – brought the council to a termination satisfactory to the disputants and favourable to the pontifical authority. Its definitions and decrees were confirmed by apapal bull ("Benedictus Deus") dated 26 January 1564; and, though they were received with certain limitations byFrance andSpain, the famous Creed of Pius IV, orTridentine Creed, became an authoritative expression of the Catholic faith.^[7] The more marked manifestations of stringency during his pontificate appear to have been prompted rather than spontaneous, his personal character inclining him to moderation and ease.

Thus, a warning, issued in 1564, summoningJeanne d'Albret, the Queen ofNavarre, before theInquisition on a charge ofCalvinism, was withdrawn by him in deference to the indignant protest ofCharles IX of France. In the same year he published a bull granting the use of the cup to the laity ofAustria andBohemia. One of his strongest passions appears to have been that of building, which somewhat strained his resources in contributing to the adornment of Rome (including the newPorta Pia and Via Pia, named after him, and the northern extension (Addizione) of therione ofBorgo), and in carrying on the work of restoration, erection, and fortification in various parts of the ecclesiastical states.

On the other hand, others bemoaned the austere Roman culture during his papacy;Giorgio Vasari in 1567 spoke of a time when "the grandeurs of this place reduced by stinginess of living, dullness of dress, and simplicity in so many things; Rome is fallen into much misery, and if it is true that Christ loved poverty and the City wishes to follow in his steps she will quickly become beggarly...".^[8]

In addition toBenedictus Deus, Pius issued a papal bull on 24 March 1564 entitledDominici Gregis Custodiae which set out the rules for forbidding books, including the stipulation that reading a vernacular translation of the Old Testament was restricted to learned and pious men who had episcopal permission.^[9]

Pius IV created 46 cardinals in four consistories during his pontificate, and elevated three nephews to the cardinalate, including Charles Borromeo. The pope also made Ugo Boncompagni, who would later be electedPope Gregory XIII, a cardinal. In 1561, the pope nominatedDaniele Barbaro as a cardinal "in pectore"; however, the nomination was never publicly revealed. In 1565, Pius IV offered the cardinalate toJean Parisot de Valette, the grand master of theOrder of Malta, in recognition for hisdefense of Malta against theOttoman Empire; however, he declined the pope's invitation.^[10]

A conspiracy against Pius IV, headed by Benedetto Accolti, cousin of cardinalBenedetto Accolti the Younger, was discovered and crushed in 1565.^[11]

During the reign of Pius IV,Michelangelo rebuilt the basilica ofSanta Maria degli Angeli (inDiocletian's Baths) and the eponymous Villa Pia, now known asCasina Pio IV, in theVatican Gardens designed byPirro Ligorio. It is now the headquarters of thePontifical Academy of Sciences. He also assigned Michelangelo to buildPorta Pia.^[12]

Pius IV also ordered public construction to improve the water supply of Rome.^[13]

During his papacy, Pius IV canonised no saints and onlybeatified one individual,Gundisalvus of Amarante, on 16 September 1561.

Pius IV died on 9 December 1565 from complications following aninfection in the urinary tract and a high fever. He was buried inSanta Maria degli Angeli on 4 January 1583 after his remains were initially housed at Saint Peter's Basilica. His successor wasPius V.

Pius IV suffered from many illnesses such asgout which restricted his mobility. Giacomo Soranzo remarked between May and August 1565 to theVenetian Senate about the pope's health, commenting that he possessed a great natural vigor. However, gout impeded movement in his legs, shoulders, arms, and hands. Sorzano also mentioned that this meant that the pope, more often than not, needed to be carried in thesedia gestatoria to avoid walking. Pius IV also suffered from a major illness in 1564 from which he recovered.^[14]

However, the pope fell ill eight days before his death with a constant fever throughout the duration. Borromeo, who arrived in Rome during the evening on 8 December, was with the pope when Pius died alongsideSaint Philip Neri.

• Cardinals created by Pius IV
• House of Medici
• List of popes from the Medici family

• Artaud de Montor, Alexis Francois (1911).The Lives and Times of the Popes. Vol. V. New York: Catholic Publication Society of America.
• Freedberg, Sydney J. (1993).Painting in Italy, 1500–1600. Pelican History of Art. Penguin Books Ltd. p. 429.^{[ISBN missing]}
• Pastor, Ludwig, Freiherr von (1928).The History of the Popes from the close of the Middle Ages.Volume XV,Volume XVI (1928). London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.
• Pattenden, Miles (2013).Pius IV and the Fall of The Carafa: Nepotism and Papal Authority in Counter-Reformation Rome. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2013.
• Robinson, Adam Patrick. "Morone, Pius IV and the Resumption of the Council, December 1559–March 1563." inThe Career of Cardinal Giovanni Morone (1509–1580) (Routledge, 2016) pp. 125–150.
• Waterworth, James, ed.The Canons and Decrees of the Sacred and Œcumenical Council of Trent: Celebrated Under the Sovereign Pontiffs, Paul III, Julius III and Pius IV (C. Dolman, 1848)online.
• Bonora, Elena (2014).Roma 1564: La congiura contro il papa (in Italian). Rome: Gius. Laterza & Figli Spa.ISBN 978-88-581-1379-0.
• Hinojosa, R. de (1889),Felipe II y el conclave de 1559, según los documentos originales, muchos inéditos. Madrid 1889.
• Rendina, Claudio (1984).I papi. Storia e segreti. Rome: Newton Compton.^{[ISBN missing]}

• Loughlin, James Francis (1911)."Pope Pius IV" .Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12.
• "Pius" .Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). 1911. pp. 684–685.
• Catholic Hierarchy,Pope Pius IV
• Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church,Cardinal Medici
• Works by Pope Pius IV atLibriVox (public domain audiobooks)