Roman Catholic Pope. He served as Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church from 1559 to 1565. Born Giovanni Angelo Medici in Milan, unrelated to famous Medici of Florence, after studying at Bologna and acquiring a reputation as a jurist, he went to Rome in 1527, and as the favorite of Pope Paul III was rapidly promoted to the governorship of Ascoli Picena, Città di Castello, Parma, Fano and Ancona, the archbishopric of Ragusa, the vice legate-ship of Bologna, and in the consistory of April 8, 1549, to the cardinalate with the title of Santa Pudenziana. Elected to the Papacy on December 25, 1559, he was installed on January 6 of his following year. Granting a general pardon to the participators of the riot which brought the previous pontificate to an end, he brought to trial the nephews of his predecessor, strangling Cardinal Carlo Carafa and beheading duke Giovanni Carafa along with his associates following a process deemed as a clear farce, which his successor, Pope Pius V, would later overturn. Reopening the Council of Trent for the third time on January 18, 1562, assisted by Cardinals Giovanni Morone and Charles Borromeo, his nephew, he brought the Council to a satisfactory termination, favourable to the pontifical authority, with its and decrees confirmed by a bull issued on January 26, 1564. With one his strongest passions being that of building, which somewhat strained his resources in contributing to the adornment of Rome, including the new Porta Pia and Via Pia, named after him, and the northern extension of the rione of Borgo, he also restored and erected several fortifications in various parts of the ecclesiastical states. During his pontificate, Michelangelo Buonarroti re-built the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in the Diocletian's Baths; Villa Pia, presently known as Casina Pio IV and and the headquarters of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in the Vatican Gardens. Upon his death, Pius was buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli which he had restored.