Pope Sixtus V

Born Felice Piergentile in December 1521, he joined the Franciscans as a young man and rose through talent - sharp as a scholar, compelling as a preacher. Pius V saw something in him and made him a cardinal; he was known then as Cardinal Montalto. When he became pope in April 1585, he moved fast: stamped out corruption and crime across Rome, then launched a massive rebuilding program that razed antiquities to make way for his vision of the city. The costs ran high - heavy taxes brought widespread suffering - and his foreign ambitions matched the scale. He excommunicated Henry IV of France and renewed the sentence against Elizabeth I of England, staking the Counter-Reformation's claim with uncompromising force. He died in August 1590, five years into a papacy that left Rome transformed and his name the last Sixtus the office has seen.