Who he was
Giovanni Maria del Monte, son of a noted Roman lawyer, studied law at Perugia and Siena and succeeded his uncle as Archbishop of Siponto, later also becoming Bishop of Pavia. He was one of the hostages handed over after the Sack of Rome in 1527 and narrowly escaped being killed. Paul III made him a cardinal in 1536, and he was the first president of the Council of Trent, which he opened in December 1545. He was elected in February 1550 after a ten-week conclave and died in Rome in March 1555.
What he is remembered for
He reopened the Council of Trent in 1551, though war forced it to be suspended again in 1552. He was a generous supporter of the Jesuits and, at St Ignatius's request, founded the German College in Rome; he sent Cardinal Pole to England when Queen Mary restored the Catholic faith there. In his later years he withdrew to his Villa Giulia, and he was criticised for favouring his relatives and for making his young favourite, Innocenzo del Monte, a cardinal.
Sources
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