Giovanni finally became a member of the College of Cardinals, and his fellow cardinals were very impressed with his level of maturity. As Giovanni celebrated, his father was too ill to attend, but he wrote a letter to his son warning him about Rome describing it as a hotbed of treachery and crime. Lorenzo, Giovanni’s greatest supporter, friend and father died at the age of 42.

Giovanni’s brother would become head of the family and ruler of Florence. But after he made a series of bad choices, the people became outraged, took over the government and banished the Medicis from the city. In 1500 Cardinal Giovanni went to Rome, where he continued to live a lavish lifestyle comparable to that of his late father.

The pope died in 1503, and his successor, Pius III, also died only four weeks after his election. Julius II was elected and would serve for the next ten years.