His pontificate initiated the Catholic Reformation with the Council of Trent in 1545, and witnessed wars of religion in which Emperor Charles V launched military campaigns against the Protestants in Germany.

[3] Initially trained as an apostolic notary, he joined the Roman Curia in 1491 and in 1493 Pope Alexander VI appointed him Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Cosma e Damiano.

The elevation to the cardinalate of his grandsons, Alessandro Farnese, aged 14, and Guido Ascanio Sforza, aged 16, displeased the reform party and drew a protest from the emperor, but this was forgiven when, shortly after, he introduced into the Sacred College Reginald Pole, Gasparo Contarini, Jacopo Sadoleto, and Giovanni Pietro Caraffa,[2] who became Pope Paul IV.

In 1536, Paul III invited a committee of nine eminent prelates, distinguished by learning and piety alike, to report on the reformation and rebuilding of the Church.

However, to the Protestants, the report seemed far from thorough; Martin Luther had his edition (1538) prefaced with a vignette showing the cardinals cleaning the Augean stable of the Roman Church with foxtails instead of brooms.

As a consequence of the extensive campaign against "idolatry" in England, culminating with the dismantling of the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury, the pope excommunicated Henry VIII on 17 December 1538 and issued an interdict.

[11] In 1534, a decision by Paul III favoured the activity of merchants of all nationalities and religions from the Levant and allowed them to settle with their families in Ancona, which had become part of the Papal States under his predecessor Clement VII.

In the second half of the 16th century, the presence of Greek and other merchants from the Ottoman Empire declined after a series of restrictive measures taken by the Italian authorities and the pope.

At Rome, this definition was rejected in the consistory of 27 May, and Luther declared that he could accept it only provided the opposers would admit that this formula constituted a change of doctrine.

Pending the Diet of Worms in 1545, the emperor concluded a covenant of joint action with the papal legate Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, with Paul III agreeing to aid in the projected war against the German Protestant princes and estates.

This prompt acquiescence was probably grounded on personal motives: Because the emperor was preoccupied in Germany, the moment now seemed opportune for the pope to acquire for his son Pier Luigi the duchies of Parma and Piacenza.

Emperor Charles began open warfare against the Protestant princes, estates, and cities allied in the Schmalkaldic League (see Philip of Hesse).

Although the emperor had subdued the German Protestant armies, he had failed to support the pope's territorial ambitions for his son Pier Luigi, and relations between them cooled.

In the same year, and after the death of Francis I of France (1515–47) deprived the pope of a potential ally, the stress of circumstances compelled him to accept the ecclesiastical measures in the emperor's Interim.

With reference to the assassinated prince's inheritance, the restitution of which Paul III demanded ostensibly in the name of the church, the pope's design was thwarted by the emperor, who refused to surrender Piacenza, and by Pier Luigi's heir in Parma, Ottavio Farnese.

In consequence of a violent altercation on this account with Cardinal Farnese, Paul III, at the age of 81, became so overwrought that an attack of sickness ensued from which he died on 10 November 1549.

[14] However, it met with strong opposition from the Council of the West Indies and the Crown, which declared that it violated their patronato rights, and the pope annulled the orders the following year with the document Non Indecens Videtur.

[15] Stogre (1992) notes that Sublimis Deus is not present in Denzinger, the authoritative compendium of official Catholic teachings, and Davis (1988) asserts it was annulled due to a dispute with the Spanish crown.

[17] According to Falkowski (2002) Sublimis Deus had the effect of revoking the bull of Alexander VI, Inter caetera, but still leaving the colonizers the duty of converting the native people.

[21] Falola noted that the bull related to the native populations of the New World and did not condemn the transatlantic slave trade stimulated by the Spanish monarchy and the Holy Roman Emperor.

[22] In 1545, Paul repealed an ancient law that allowed slaves to claim their freedom under the emperor's statue on Rome's Capitoline Hill, in view of the number of homeless people and tramps in the city.

[29] As a cardinal, Alessandro had begun construction of the Palazzo Farnese in central Rome, and its planned size and magnificence increased upon his election to the papacy.

The palace was initially designed by the architect Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, received further architectural refinement from Michelangelo, and was completed by Giacomo della Porta.

However, the pope was severely depressed by the deceit of his own family and the fall of Parma to Emperor Charles V, and it is known that he had a very heated argument with his cardinal nephew, Alessandro Farnese, to the point that he grabbed his red beretta, tore it into shreds, and threw it down to the ground in his anger.

On 6 November, the pope suddenly contracted a fever, retreating to the Quirinal Hill where he had hoped that the fresher air would help ease his malady.

[citation needed] Paul III's bronze tomb, executed by Guglielmo della Porta, is located in Saint Peter's Basilica.