Who he was
Alessandro Farnese came of an old Roman noble family and was educated at Rome and in the household of Lorenzo the Magnificent at Florence, where he became a friend of the future Leo X. Made a cardinal by Alexander VI in 1493, he spent over forty years in the College, and, like many of his time, lived worldly in his early years, before turning to a life of piety and zeal once ordained priest. He was elected almost by acclamation in October 1534, the first Roman-born pope since Martin V. He died in Rome in November 1549 and is buried in St Peter's beneath a tomb designed by Michelangelo.
What he is remembered for
He opened the Council of Trent in 1545 and began reforming the papal court, naming able reformers such as Reginald Pole and Gian Pietro Carafa as cardinals. He approved or favoured the new religious orders of his day, among them the Jesuits, Capuchins, Theatines, Barnabites and Ursulines, and he is counted among the popes who turned the tide of Catholic renewal. He was also criticised for advancing his own family, including two teenage grandsons made cardinals.
Sources
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