The marriage itself did not take place until 1503, just a century before the accession of James I.

Coming from modest beginnings in Savona, Liguria, the family rose to prominence through nepotism and ambitious marriages arranged by two Della Rovere popes, Francesco della Rovere, who ruled as Pope Sixtus IV ( 1471 – 1484 ) and his nephew Giuliano ( Pope Julius II, 1503 – 1513 ).

* 1503 – James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor are married according to a Papal Bull by Pope Alexander VI.

Moreover, from 1502 to 1503 he witnessed the brutal reality of the state-building methods of Cesare Borgia ( 1475 – 1507 ) and his father Pope Alexander VI, who were then engaged in the process of trying to bring a large part of central Italy under their possession.

Pope Pius III ( 29 May 1439 – 18 October 1503 ), born Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, was Pope from 22 September to 18 October 1503.

Amid the disturbances consequent upon the death of the Borgia Pope Alexander VI ( 1492 – 1503 ), it took the combined pressures of all the ambassadors to induce Cesare Borgia to withdraw from Rome, so that an unpressured conclave might take place.

In it, Cardinal Piccolomini was elected Pope Pius III on 22 September 1503.

The first of them was Rodrigo de Borja (" Borgia " in Italian ), that later became Pope Alexander VI ( 1492 – 1503 ), infamous for his alleged corruption and immorality.

Pope Julius II ( 5 December 1443 – 21 February 1513 ), nicknamed " The Fearsome Pope " ( Il Papa Terribile ) and " The Warrior Pope " ( Il Papa Guerriero ), born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513.

Pope Alexander died in 1503, and his son, Cesare fell ill at the same time.

Della Rovere did not support the candidature of Cardinal Piccolomini of Siena, who was ( on 8 October 1503 ) consecrated under the name of Pope Pius III, but who died twenty-six days afterwards.

* January 1 – Pope Alexander VI ( d. 1503 )

Pope Alexander VI ( 1492 – 1503 ) was one of the most controversial of the Renaissance Popes.

* May 9 – Pope Pius III ( d. 1503 )

For a time, Pope Alexander VI ( 1492 – 1503 ), the unsavory Rodrigo Borja, tolerated fra Girolamo ’ s strictures against the Church, but he was moved to anger when Florence declined to join his new Holy League against the French invader and blamed it on Savonarola ’ s pernicious influence.

In 1503, the River was the site of a battle between Spanish and French forces, in which Piero II de ' Medici was drowned, passing control of the Medici family to Giovanni de ' Medici, later Pope Leo X.

The worldly excesses of the secular Renaissance Church, epitomized by the era of Alexander VI ( 1492 – 1503 ), intensified during the Reformation under Pope Leo X ( 1513 – 1522 ), whose campaign to raise funds in the German states to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica by supporting use of indulgences served as a key impetus for Martin Luther's 95 Theses.

They produced two popes during this period, Alfons de Borja who ruled as Pope Calixtus III during 1455 – 1458, and Rodrigo Lanzol Borgia, as Pope Alexander VI, during 1492 – 1503.

In December 1503, Julius issued a dispensation allowing Henry VIII to marry Katharine of Aragon who had previously been briefly married to Henry's brother Prince Arthur Tudor who had died some years before.

Pandolfo IV, his son ( 1500 ), lost Rimini to Cesare Borgia, after whose overthrow it fell to Venice ( 1503 – 1509 ), but it was later retaken by pope Julius II and incorporated into the Papal States.

In November 1503, Julius engaged Bramante for the construction of the grandest European architectural commission of the 16th century, the complete rebuilding of St Peter's Basilica.

After acquiring the strong coloring and other distinctive stylistic features of the Lombard school and — though he is not known to have travelled to Milan — somehow absorbing the superficial mannerisms of Leonardo ( Freedberg 1993: 117 ), he traveled to Siena before 1503, perhaps at the behest of agents of the Spannocchi family, and began with fresco cycles for Olivetan monks and a series of small Ovidian ceiling panels and a frieze depicting the career of Julius Caesar for Sigismondo Chigi at Palazzo Chigi.

## Julius II: 1503 – 13

Catalanus, papal master of ceremonies, believes that even the earliest roses were anointed with musk and balsam, but the blessing with prayers, incense, and holy water had its inception later on, sometime before pontificate of Pope Julius II ( 1503 – 13 ).

When elected pope in 1503, Pope Julius II ( 1503-1513 ; born Giuliano della Rovere, 1443 – 1513 ), promised under oath that he would soon convoke a general council.

From 1471 to 1503, in which year he was elected Pope Julius II, Cardinal Della Rovere, the nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, effected notable rebuilding.

* 1503: Pope Alexander VI — Pope Pius III — Pope Julius II

He held it until his death on 16 May 1506, successively acting as Ceremoniere to Innocent VIII ( 1484 – 1492 ), Alexander VI ( 1492 – 1503 ), Pius III ( 1503 ) and during the early years of Julius II.

Though it has always been known to have belonged to Giuliano della Rovere before he became pope, as Julius II, its placement has been confused until as recently as 1986: Cardinal della Rovere, who held the titulus of San Pietro in Vincoli, stayed away from Rome for the decade during Alexander VI's papacy ( 1494 – 1503 ); in the interim, the Apollo stood in his garden at SS.

He had French troops at the gates of Rome, by means of which he could easily have frightened the conclave and induced them to elect him ; but he was persuaded to trust to his influence ; the troops were dismissed, and an Italian was appointed as Pius III ( 1503 ); and again, on the death of Pius within the month, another Italian, Julius II ( 1503 – 13 ), was chosen.

The desire to re-establish a sort of preparatory school for the papal choir, on the plan of the ancient schola, and incidentally to become independent of the ultramontane, or foreign, singers, led Julius II ( 1503 – 13 ) to issue, on 19 February 1512, a Bull founding the capella Julia, which to this day performs all the choir duties at St. Peter's.

He participated in the papal conclave of September 1503 that elected Pope Pius III and in the papal conclave of October 1503 that elected Pope Julius II.

Neither partner was faithful: beginning in 1503, Lucrezia enjoyed a long relationship with her brother-in-law, Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua as well as a love affair with the poet Pietro Bembo.

** Henry II of Navarre ( b. 1503 )

* December 1 – Peter II, Duke of Bourbon ( d. 1503 )

* Katharina ( Katarzyna ) ( 1503 – before 9 September 1548 ) wed after 1522 George II Count von Montfort in Pfannberg ( d. 1544 )

* Marietta de Patras ( died 1503 ), Greek mistress of King John II of Cyprus and the mother of his illegitimate son King James II of Cyprus

Henry II ( 18 April 1503 – 25 May 1555 ) was the eldest son of John III of Navarre ( died 1516 ) and Catherine I of Navarre, sister and heiress of Francis Phoebus, King of Navarre ; he was born at Sangüesa.

On 25 May 1521 in Linz, Austria, Ferdinand married Anna of Bohemia and Hungary ( 1503 – 1547 ), daughter of Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary and his wife Anne de Foix.

* Pius II ( 1503 )

Finally on 20 August 1503 he concluded a treaty with Sultan Beyazid II that preserved Moldavia's self rule, at the cost of an annual tribute to the Turks.

* Piero di Lorenzo de ' Medici ( 1471 – 1503 ) ( the Unfortunate, also Piero II de ' Medici ), son of Lorenzo the Magnificent

Duke Ulrich of Württemberg ( 8 February 1487, Riquewihr, Alsace – 6 November 1550 ) succeeded his kinsman Eberhard II as Duke of Württemberg in 1498, being declared of age in 1503.

* Magnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg ( 1441 – 1503 ), son of Heinrich IV, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Peter II, Duke of Bourbon ( 1 December 1438 – 10 October 1503, Moulins ) was the son of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon and Agnes of Burgundy, and a member of the House of Bourbon.

In 1503, Tetela del Volcán and nearby Hueyapan were subjugated to the Aztec Empire by Moctezuma II.

* Louis d ' Armagnac, Duke of Nemours ( Louis II ) ( 1491 – 1503 )