cial basis was secured by the local alum deposits and
banking.
It was during the early 16th century that the efforts of
JULIUS II(pope 1503–13) and LEO X(pope 1513–22) and
the genius of such artists as BRAMANTE, MICHELANGELO,
and RAPHAELenabled Rome to displace Florence as the
preeminent Renaissance city. The beginning of the re-
building of St. Peter’s basilica during Julius II’s pontificate
provided many opportunities which attracted men of tal-
ent and genius to Rome.
The Sack of Rome (1527) by CHARLES V’s troops was a
setback from which the city recovered later in the century
under such COUNTER-REFORMATIONpopes as Sixtus V
(pope 1585–90), the initiator of Domenico FONTANA’s
huge program of civic planning. By the late 16th century
Rome was again prosperous and cosmopolitan, with a
population of about 100,000.
Buildings that have survived from the 15th century
include the Palazzo Venezia (1445), Sta. Maria del Popolo
(1472–77), Sant’ Agostino (1479–83), and the Cancelleria
(1486–98). During the 16th century the new St. Peter’s
(from 1506) and the Quirinal palace (1574) were built,
and the Lateran and Vatican palaces were remodeled. Two
great works of art that have survived are Michelangelo’s
frescoes in the SISTINE CHAPEL(1508–12) and Raphael’s
frescoes in the papal apartments (begun 1509).
Further reading: Anthony Grafton (ed.), Rome Re-
born: The Vatican Library and Renaissance Culture (New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1993); George
Holmes, Florence, Rome and the Origins of the Renaissance
(Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon Press, 1986); Peter Partner, Re-
naissance Rome, 1500–1559: A Portrait of a Society (Berke-
ley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1976); Loren
Partridge, The Art of Renaissance Rome (Upper Saddle
River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1996); Ingrid D. Rowland, The
Culture of the High Renaissance: Ancients and Moderns in
Sixteenth-Century Rome (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge
University Press, 1998).
Rome, Sack of (1527) The pillage of Rome by imperial
troops after their commander was killed in their success-
ful assault on the city. Following the battle of PAVIA, Pope
Clement VII joined (1526) the French-led League of Co-
gnac to resist the threatened Hapsburg domination of Eu-
rope. Emperor CHARLES Vappealed to the German diet for
support and raised an army, which entered Italy in 1527
and joined the imperial forces from Milan, commanded by
the duke of Bourbon. This army marched on Rome, hop-
ing to detach the pope from the league. The many Luther-
ans in its ranks boasted that they came with hempen
halters to hang the cardinals and a silk one for the pope;
in addition, by the time they reached Rome, the troops
were mutinous because of lack of pay. Rome fell on May 6,
1527, Bourbon being killed in the first assault. Discipline
collapsed, and the city was savagely pillaged for a week
before some control was restored. The pope initially took
refuge in the Castel Sant’ Angelo before surrendering. The
imperial army occupied Rome until February 1528. While
achieving its immediate objective by bringing the pope
firmly under imperial control, the sack shocked the Chris-
tian world. Charles’s enemies were quick to take advan-
tage, France and England declaring war on him in 1528.
Further reading: Luigi Guicciardini, The Sack of
Rome, transl. James H. McGregor (New York: Italica,
1993).rondeau A verse form used in French song from the 13th
century and in French poetry in the 15th century. The typ-
ical rondeau consists of three stanzas of five, three, and
five lines, based on two rhymes, usually in the pattern
aabba, aab, aabba; the opening words (or, in the sung ron-
deau, the opening lines) of the first stanza are repeated as
a refrain at the end of the second and third stanzas. The
rhyming pattern, number of stanzas, and overall length of
the rondeau are subject to considerable variation: the ron-
deau redoublé consists of six four-line stanzas in the pat-
tern abab, baba, etc., in which the four lines of the first
stanza are used in turn as the fourth lines of the second,
third, fourth, and fifth stanzas. Notable exponents of the
rondeau include Guillaume DUFAY, Clément MAROT, and
Charles d’Orléans (1394–1465).Rondelet, Guillaume (1507–1556) French zoologist
Although trained in medicine Rondelet was enabled to in-
dulge his interest in natural history while traveling
throughout Europe with his patron, Cardinal Tournon. He
returned to his native Montpellier in 1545 to teach medi-
cine. Among his distinguished pupils were the botanists
Jacques d’Aléchamps (1513–88) and Matthias de L’OBEL.
In the main work of his life, Universae aquatilium historiae
(1555) he described 245 species of marine animals; it re-
mained the standard work on the subject for over a cen-
tury.
See also: ZOOLOGYRonsard, Pierre de (c. 1524–1585) French poet
Born near Couture into a noble family of the Vendôme,
Ronsard entered the French court in 1536 as page to the
royal family. He visited Scotland in the course of his duties
and subsequently accompanied Lazare de Baïf, father of
the poet Jean-Antoine de BAÏF, on a diplomatic mission to
Alsace. Forced to abandon his court career after an illness
that left him partially deaf, Ronsard turned to literature; at
the Collège de Coqueret he studied Greek and Latin po-
etry under the humanist Jean DAURATand, in association
with Joachim DU BELLAY, Baïf, and others, formed the
school of poets that became known as the PLÉIADE. Ron-
sard’s early verse collections, Odes (1550, 1552), contain-
ing the famous “Mignonne, allons voir si la rose...,” and
Amours (1552), were heavily influenced by Pindar, Ho-44116 6 RRoommee,, SSaacckk ooff