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Fur Effects - Teddies, Cats, Hair .... by email@example.com
Have you ever watched Monsters Inc? Or other movies like Shrek? Or possibly played a computer game on your xbox where the hero character has realistic looking fur, and wondered just how you could do that? I bet you thought it was really really hard. I mean when I think back, I used to have ideas of modelling a single hair then multiplying it by a few thousand times!..which would take one large amount of processing...definitely not possible for games or for simple cool effects :)
One particular technique of creating good looking fur without killing yourself with maths and algorithms and weeks of processing time, is to use shell texturing! Remember those words, "Shell Texturing". As there's lots of information on generating Fur or Hair using shell texturing. Sometimes mixed in with the subject of volume shadowing and volume effects in 3D! The effect once you've grasped it!...which of course you should have once you've read my extremely informative and simplified tutorial allow you to expand into other areas, such as fields of grass, hair on a head, trees in a forest, or other things. Now this is not one of those easy tutorials that you can swish through, well I couldn't....so your going to have to stock up on coffee to get through this puppy! Lots of basic principles which are really simple and you'll kick yourself for not thinking of them earlier, and then there's a few ideas which are messy to implement...easy in theory...but the code is a bit complicated to see how it's doing it.
Feedback is always welcome on this....sort of a trial and error thing for me...reading articles and testing out new ideas that come to me while watching tv :) There's all sorts of things going on with fur! But it's well worth the trouble. I've supplied all my code, with different levels of complexity and ways of doing things, so you can look through it and see how the basics work, or to add more advanced things in, light inter-fur lighting or fur gravity/forces etc.
Well it's going to be a late night for me... I've taken a few screenshots of the various steps of the code so you can look at how the fur looks on different objects.
Lets have a look at the basic idea of layers and textures. I mean, what do these layers look like close up? What will we get? Well below is a few diagrams showing the basic idea of how we use textured layers to create a fur/hair effect. Now the secret to how this works is by using the Alpha value! As we render each layer we only see the values which have an alpha value greater than 0. So for we scatter the surface with noise dots, and make them some colour and also set their alpha value to 1. For all the rest of the texture we won't see, so we just set its alpha to 0.
We then have a single noise texture, which if we wanted could be used to generate a very basic fur model! We do this by multiplying the surface normal by the texture, so if we have 5 layers, we would render the texture 5 times on our model, each time extruding our texture surface out using the surface normal. Increasing the number of layers creates finer and finer hairs.
To show this in action I did simple Shader/DirectX demo just to make sure you've got this simple principle of layers! Even though the code uses vertex and pixel shaders to produce the fur effect, it is possible to create fur effects without shaders, it just means that you have to perform the additional vertex processing within your program without passing it along to the graphics card. If you understand the principles of how the fur is generated it shouldn't be to complicated to produce a non-shader fur demo.
I put together a simple demo - a simple main.cpp and a fur.fx file which uses a single texture to generate a fur/hair effect which you can play with - adjusting the number of layers, fur length, density, bias the tips with force effects and zoom in etc... A screenshot on the right shows the code running.
The top left hand corner of the screen is used to show the texture - nothing much as you can see - just a plain texture with noise blobs plotted across the surface. Of course all the surface except the blobs of noise has an alpha value of 0, so its see through.
The demo with practically no effort at all could be expanded to produce a field of grass swaying in the wind! Wow eh? And it doesn't use that much computational power - so you could create a massive field of grass, that looks almost picture perfect in your game and wouldn't cost you an arm and leg in cpu/gpu power.
This is still only a simple model, it's at its bare basics here - as we've not added varying density so that the fur is thicker or thinner as it approaches the tips, also spikes...the hairs are the same thickness all the way up, we can fix that. Then of course there's adding in textures, so our hair is the same colour as our textured surface.
And of course there's lighting! The simple demo uses basic diffuse (directional) lighting model...only a few extra lines...which of course you can comment out and see it with and without - but it doen'st really show the hair shadows. We can add this later by using UV offsets for each layer to create a per hair lighting, sweet stuff eh!
Download Source Code ( 11kb)
Lets take a look at what the main parts of code look like, and see if I can explain whats happening. Below shows the HLSL (High Level Shader Language) Shader which is used to produce the fur effect. We call the shader for each fur layer, and pass it along a parameter FurLength, which is used to determine which layer where at. The single line of code which is most important in the code is:
float3 P = IN.position.xyz + (IN.normal * FurLength);
Where we have our IN.position.xyz input vertice information, and of course IN.normal which is the vertice normal and finally FurLength which is a value from 0 to some max length. So for example, when FurLength is 0, our output vertice data is just the object surface. Then we increment FurLength by some amount for the next layer, e.g. to 1.0, then our next value for P is projected out by some amount producing the next shell or layer...then we increment our layer again and FurLength increases again and we render another shell/layer...eventually producing a fur effect.
File: fur.fx
/* */
/* File: fur.fx */
/* www.xbdev.net */
Verty basic fur/hair demo showing how to generate realistic looking fur/hair
using Shaders and DirectX.
float FurLength = 0;
float UVScale = 1.0f;
float Layer = 0; // 0 to 1 for the level
float3 vGravity = float3(0,-2.0,0);
float4 vecLightDir = float4(0.8,0.8,1,0);
texture FurTexture;
sampler TextureSampler = sampler_state;
// transformations
float4x4 worldViewProj : WORLDVIEWPROJ;
float4x4 matWorld : WORLD;
struct vertexInput {
float3 position : POSITION;
float3 normal : NORMAL;
float4 texCoordDiffuse : TEXCOORD0;
struct vertexOutput {
float4 HPOS : POSITION;
float4 T0 : TEXCOORD0; // fur alpha
float3 normal : TEXCOORD1;
//------------------------------------ ( vs 1.1 )
vertexOutput VS_TransformAndTexture(vertexInput IN)
vertexOutput OUT = (vertexOutput)0;
//This single line is responsible for creating the layers! This is it! Nothing
//more nothing less!
//Modify our normal so it faces the correct direction for lighting if we
//want any lighting
float3 normal = normalize(mul(IN.normal, matWorld));
// Couple of lines to give a swaying effect!
// Additional Gravit/Force Code
vGravity = mul(vGravity, matWorld);
float k = pow(Layer, 3); // We use the pow function, so that only the tips of the hairs bend
// As layer goes from 0 to 1, so by using pow(..) function is still
// goes form 0 to 1, but it increases faster! exponentially
P = P + vGravity*k;
// End Gravity Force Addit Code
OUT.T0 = IN.texCoordDiffuse * UVScale; // Pass long texture data
// UVScale?? Well we scale the fur texture alpha coords so this effects the fur thickness
// thinness, sort of stretches or shrinks the fur over the object!
OUT.HPOS = mul(float4(P, 1.0f), worldViewProj); // Output Vertice Position Data
OUT.normal = normal; // Output Normal
return OUT;
//----------------------------------- ( ps 1.3 )
float4 PS_Textured( vertexOutput IN): COLOR
float4 FurColour = tex2D( TextureSampler, IN.T0 ); // Fur Texture - alpha is VERY IMPORTANT!
float4 FinalColour = FurColour;
//Basic Directional Lighting
float4 ambient = {0.3, 0.3, 0.3, 0.0};
ambient = ambient * FinalColour;
float4 diffuse = FinalColour;
FinalColour = ambient + diffuse * dot(vecLightDir, IN.normal);
//End Basic Lighting Code
FinalColour.a = FurColour.a;
//return FinalColour; // fur colour only!
return FinalColour; // Use texture colour
//return float4(0,0,0,0); // Use for totally invisible! Can't see
The code should work with even the simplest shaders - and will run with vertex shaders vs1.1 and ps1.3 - but with later shader versions, you can implement loops within the script where by you can move all the fur details to the effect file.
Producing multiple fur textures for the different layers (Organising our Code, Fur Class)
To take our code to the next level, we create a XFurTexture(..) class which will be responsible for generating our textures! I say texture's', as for the next stage we'll use multiple textures for our fur, a different texture for each layer. We can of course use the same texture for each layer...for example we could have 20 textures, but spead them across 60 layers for find detail. But we still have multiple textures. This allows us to create even more stunning and realistic fur/hair.
With the exception of putting the fur class all the other parts of the code are more or less the same.
Download Source Code (15kb)
By adding multiple textures - a different texture for each layer we can create more realistic looking fur/hair. This is done by modifying the density across the layers, so that as we approach the tips we have less and less hair, while at the base we have more.
We can achieve this by understanding how the srand() random function works, and using it to generate the various random noise textures for each layer. As if you set the seed value for srand(), we know that each time we call srand() it will produce the same random values. So for each layer, we set the seed value, then call srand() for a certain density, so for example we would generate 1000 random pixel points on our base surface, but at the top layer where the tips of our fur are, we would only plot 100 pixels.
I say that we must set the seed value the same for each time we generate our fur texture layers, so that our hairs form single hairs from base to tip!
To show how the number of layers effects our output, I did a few screenshots of a simple pyramid with various numbers of layers, ranging from 2 to 60 skins. The more layers you have the finner the detail your hairs have, you do find that the more layers means the more time it takes to render....but more than often 30ish layers seems to produce pretty good results. Again if you have extremely long wavy hair and want picture perfect quality, you may find that you need 60+ layers. You can run the demo programs and use the 'Home', 'End' keys to increase or decrease the number of layers that is rendered so you can play around with the values you get.
Layers : 2
Layers : 6
Layers : 15
Layers : 30
Layers : 60
Varying Density with Length
The density is how many hairs are pair layer - so for example a fixed density across all the layers would be 1000 and would be pretty dense, while reducing the density linearly from the inner layer to the outer layer produces a more realistic and varying density. Of course we can use other functions to create sparse rough looking textures by varying them non-linearly.
Power 2
Power 3
Mixed (Lin & Pow5)
Loading X File and Rendering a Fur Surface
The previous couple of demos have used only a simple flat surface. With a few extra lines, and using the 'D3DXLoadMeshFromX(..)' API we can load a 3D X File and render fur to its surface. The code has been simplified a bit so that it's easier to make out. Also doesn't contain all the extra keyboard input information so you can fiddle with values such as fur length.
Have you ever looked at fur? I mean if you look closely, you'll notice that all the fur/hairs arn't all exactly the same colour. So by introducing an extra 3 lines into our colour generation code, we can generate fur with slight randomness to colour, note that the randomness is only slight, but gives an improved realness.
// hair color
// Slightly random plus or minus small amount fixed colour
D3DXCOLOR col;
col.r = rnd(0.9, 0.9); // ie. 0.9, 0.3, 0.3 is brown (rgb)
col.g = rnd(0.3, 0.5);
col.b = rnd(0.3, 0.7);
col.a = 1.0f;
Not much code, but gives each of the hairs their own individuality. Remember though, that each hair must keep its same colour across its layers, which is the reason why we keep setting the seed value for our random function. rnd(..) is a random function value which generates a float random value from min to max value.
const float INV_RAND_MAX = 1.0 / (RAND_MAX + 1);
inline float rnd(float max=1.0) { return max * INV_RAND_MAX * rand(); }
inline float rnd(float min, float max) { return min + (max - min) * INV_RAND_MAX * rand(); }
It's a MOUSE!!!
For the 3D Model (X-File) I used a simple model of a mouse (mouse.x), as someone said to me, it looks like an alien, but it is a mouse character :)
Would look good with a few bones and a bit of animation, but the code is only a simple version.
There's 'No Lighting' or 'Drag & Move' or any other such code in this demo...was kept very simple. The code loads a simple mesh model, applies the basic fur texture layers to the model and renders it. That simple.
Efficiency! - If you look at the code is very simple, the code has been done so you can go step by step over the various stages. So if your going to make this demo into something for release, look into optimising it first! As I've done a lot of creating and releasing of resources in the main loop.
He's Hollow I hear you say? Well yup, the code only renders the fur. So if you want him to have an additional skin, surface or something, then you just render a black surface or coloured surface of the 3d object before rendering the fur.
The fur stands out a great deal, by stands out I mean that the individual hairs are quiet noticeble across the object even though we have no lighting in the demo. This is mainly due to hair contrast colour being made darker at the base compared to the tips.
Also as I mentioned above the hairs are given a slight difference in colour across the texture - so they're still the same colour plus or minus a slight randomness.
Download Source Code (59kb)
MMmmmm Donuts!!
Well we all know that Homers favourite food is donuts, also sometimes referred to as torus shapes in the 3D world. Using a simple 3D algorithm to generate the 3D Donut including its texture coords and normals, we apply the fur algorithm to it.
Download Source Code (50kb)
Fur Shadowing (Inter Fur-Shadowing)
It's not so noticeble in some of the demos, as we have varying alpha values from base to tip, so as the hairs overlap the separate hairs stand out more. But if we had a constant set of hairs with fixed alpha values you'd notice that the hairs sort of mix together. Making it less obvious that we have multiple hairs.
No InterFur Shadowing
Per Hair Shadowing Offset
Lets examine how we achieve this inter-fur shadowing. The principle is very simple, but at the cost of having to render each fur layer an additional time. It works by taking each layer and offsetting the uv coordinates very slightly, using the surface normal as a bias as well, so that each layers dots or hairs are offset. Rather than just render the same colour though - as we are trying to generate a shadow effect, we convert the rgb offset value to a grey shadow. This grey offset is rendered underneath each layer, so that as the layers are built up as for the original layers for the fur, we get a shadowing effect, which makes the individual hairs stand out more.
I suppose my simple diagram above doesn't show the effect to well, I suppose the results might stand out a bit more if you bias the shadow a bit, so instead of using a grey value for the shadow, you could use a pure black, i.e. float4(1,1,1, fcolor.a) for the last line, so that the hairs really have a strong shadow. Of course the shadows don't really look realistic then, but thats the beauty of code, you can test out different methods to see what results you get.
vertexOutput VS_Shadow_TransformAndTexture(vertexInput IN)
float4 normal = mul(IN.normal, matWorld);
//---Additional Gravit/Force Code----
//---End Gravity Force Addit Code----
// We want the fur in the center of the object, as where doing offsets! So if we just
// use the normal, when it's facing in the z direction, the center of the object mesh,
// then it will be the same when we scale it larger. So we modify the normal so we
// have larger values in the center and less on the edge for use in our offset inter
// fur shading! If thats makes any sense?...not the best explanation I've ever done :(
float4 znormal = 1 - dot(normal, float4(0,0,1,0));
// Works pretty well though, even if you just do this below, and just use the normal!
//float4 znormal = normal;
OUT.T0 = IN.texCoordDiffuse * UVScale;
OUT.T1 = IN.texCoordDiffuse * UVScale + znormal * 0.0011;
// UVScale?? We only multiply the UVScale by the T0 & T1 as this is our Fur Alpha value!, hence
// scaling this value scales the fur across your object...so reducing it makes the fur thicker,
// increasing it makes it thinner. We don't do it to our T2 output as this is our texture
// coords for our texture...and we don't want to effect this
OUT.HPOS = mul(float4(P, 1.0f), worldViewProj);
OUT.normal = normal;
float4 PS_Shadow_Textured( vertexOutput IN ): COLOR
float4 furcolr = tex2D( TextureSampler, IN.T0 );
float4 furcolr_offset = tex2D( TextureSampler, IN.T1 );
//??We use a simple offset trick to give individual hair shadows. Works by using
//the normal - furcolor_offset in the direction of the normal of the triangle
//Of course we scale this by a value so our offset is only small, but just
//enough to give some individual hair lighting
float4 color = furcolr_offset - furcolr;
float4 fcolor = color;
fcolor.a = color.a;
//??We have our offset colour - but of course our fur colour could be a single
// colour, red or just green! So we want this as a grey, as we are concerned
// with the fur shadows!
// From RGB to YUV
// From YUV to RGB
// Y is the luma, and contains most of the information of the image
float4 Y = float4(0.299, 0.587, 0.114, 0.0f);
fcolor = dot(Y, fcolor); // grey output
return fcolor;
//return float4(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f, 0.3f); //rrggbbaa
Not shown in the vertex/pixel shader code above is the addition of about 4 lines that allow us to introduce basic lighting to our surface. Simple directional lighting added to the basic rendering of the shells, not the shadow shells the fur layers gives a slightly more eye catching effect.
Definitely worth testing out the demo to see the difference that inter-fur shadowing has. Few things make the demo a bit more catchy is that the surface and hairs have the added directional lighting added to it, so that gives an even more eye stunning effect.
If you comment out the basic directional lighting code in the shader demo you'll see the effects inter-fur shadows just as well
Download Source Code (16kb)
By experimenting with the code you can produce a while variety of effects. One such effect which jumps to mind is biasing the colour of the hairs for different layers or uv texture values. Alternatively once you get to texturing, you could only put hair in places where the surface is a particular colour for example. You could have it so that when you model a character, you make his head blue!...pure blue!...when you render the whole head, you could apply a fur algorithm to only the surface that is blue!
At this stage we have a relatively reasonable looking effect, which could be used as is, but as they say you can always go further. But it's worth noting that our vertex and pixel shader code, or HLSL is implemented using only the very basic shaders, vertex shaders 1.1+ and pixel shaders 1.3+, so the effects should work on even basic graphic cards.
Textured Fur
May the Force be with you!
Forces, such as gravity or wind or movement forces take the fur to that realistic dynamic level that isn't as hard as you think!
Using a simple biasing and of course the simple Newton Laws of force (F=ma) and Hooks Spring Law (F=kx) we can add a bit more to our fur demo. Simply by draging the bunny adds to the fur movement, it's not perfect, just a basic swishing back and forth in the x and y direction so you can see the fur working better.
The biasing of the fur is done by adding to the to the Positioning of each layer of the fur. So that it's not so linear, I use a slight adjustment of power of 3, so that the outer layers are effected more than the inner layers...giving a curving on the tips.
You can increase and decrease the fur length by pressing <Up> and <Down> keys in the demo, so that the forces are really notable. Of course the code could do with a bit more tweaking so it's a bit more bouncy...but it works.
Below shows the code snippet from the Shader code that adds to the forces to the fur...you can also just comment the code out with comments /* */ and it should still work. Might be an idea to just put the fur force code into a function later on so it's more structured, but I thought it was pretty simple to keep as it is, as it's only a few lines.
//float pp = 3.14 * 0.5 * Layer; // depth paramete
//float A = dot(normal, vGravity); //A is the angle between surface normal and gravity vector
Remember the code is repeated in two parts in the shader code, the fur rendering part and of course is repeated in the shadow shader code so our inter hair shadows are in the same place.
Improvements / Further Work
* Addition of Fins
* Fur texture is averaged over the current mesh, using the original fur colour texture - calculate each triangles size and exact tu/tv values for the fur texture individually.
* Optimise the render loop
* Organise the shader code more to use functions
* Do some performance work triangles vs FPS.


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What are the disadvantages of the combined pill?
- The combined pill does not protect against sexually transmitted infections, so women may need to use condoms as well.
- Women must remember to take the pill at the same time every day
- Women might get some temporary side effects when beginning taking the combined pill, but these should stop within a few months. This might include nausea, spotty skin, breast tenderness, weight change and headaches.
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What are health reasons (contra-indications) that indicate a woman should not take combined pills ?
What are possible side-effects of the combined pill?
Some women may experience temporary side-effects when beginning combined pills, but these usually stop within a few months. Side effects may include nausea, dizziness, spotty skin, breast tenderness, weight changes or headaches. Some women report changes in bleeding patterns (lighter, irregular 続きを読む »
What are health reasons (contra-indications) that indicate a woman should not take combined pills ?
Combined pills should NOT be used by women who : Are breastfeeding and have given birth within the previous 6 months. Are taking barbiturates, carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, phenytoin, primidone, topiramate, rifampicin, rifabutin. or ritonavir or ritonavir- boosted protease inhibitors. A backup… 続きを読む »

subset: commoncrawl


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Update at 1:31 p.m. ET. Larger Images, Mobile Oriented:
Facebook announced today that it was overhauling its "news feed." This is significant on two fronts: First, this is truly the first big makeover for the feature since its inception. Second, its users — some 1 billion worldwide — are known to be very touchy about changes.
Reuters said the new news feed is "visually richer" and "mobile device-oriented." It means the feed will look the same on your computer as it does on your mobile device.
From what we saw during the televised news briefing, the feed takes up more of the screen, leading to bigger photos and videos and longer summaries on stories shared by friends.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the new design was "more beautiful" and "more immersive."
Another big change is that you will now be able to toggle between feeds. Facebook compared it to reading a newspaper with different sections. You could choose a "friends" feed, which shows everything your friends have shared chronologically or you could choose a "photo" feed, which would show you all the photographs.
"We want to give the world the best personalized newspaper that we can," Zuckerberg said.
The new look will be rolled out "slowly and carefully" to a limited number of users until the quirks are worked out, Facebook said.
Our Original Post Continues:
Any change to the way Facebook presents information causes extensive ripples. Users — some 1 billion worldwide — are touchy about their news feed.
Today at 1 p.m. ET., Facebook expected to unveil a "new look" for its news feed. The company hasn't said much about the changes.
But one thing that is pretty much guaranteed, reports Fox News, is that Facebook users will grumble.
"Facebook users often complain about changes to the site, whether it's cosmetic tweaks or the overhaul of privacy settings," Fox reports.
Techcrunch talked to some insiders and it reports that Facebook will be segmenting your feeds. The website adds:
"These include a Photos feed of Facebook and Instagram photos, as well as a revamped Music feed of what friends are listening to, concerts, and new albums, according to multiple sources both within and close to Facebook. Larger images and image-based ads in the web and mobile feeds are coming too.
"Why is Facebook adding new streams? Because we are information junkies. Give us a feed and we'll read it. But when we scroll so far we hit re-runs – we hit the road. So Facebook has a plan to give us something different to look at starting March 7th. If the "new look" for the news feed that it's unveiling works, it could get us spending more hours on Facebook and seeing more — and more intense — ads."
The Wall Street Journal reads the tea leaves from Facebook's last earnings call.
Essentially, the paper reports, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants "advertisements and paid content [to] have a uniform look."
One of the expected changes, reports the paper, is likely to be "richer" advertisements.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
Safety Information
Our catchments are home to a variety of wildlife. Snakes are an ever-present threat in the Australian landscape, particularly in the warmer months. If you encounter a snake, give it a wide berth and do no try to handle or move it in any way.
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- take your rubbish with you or place litter in a bin if provided
- unless you are in an approved designated dog on leash area, leave your pets at home. Dogs and other domestic animals can disturb the wildlife that live in our natural areas.


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In today's pressing climate crisis, sustainability has now become a top priority for countries aiming to balance bullish economic development with its inevitable environmental impact.
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« Leo IX | Pope Leo X | Pope Leo XI » |
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X
(Giovanni de Medici).
Born at Florence, 11 December, 1475; died at Rome, 1 December, 1521, was the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492) and Clarice Orsini, and from his earliest youth was destined for the Church. He received tonsure in 1482 and in 1483 was made Abbot of Font Douce in the French Diocese of Saintes and appointed Apostolic prothonotary by Sixtus IV. All the benefices which the Medici could obtain were at his disposal; he consequently became possessed of the rich Abbey of Passignano in 1484 and in 1486 of Monte Cassino. Owing to the constant pressure brought to bear by Lorenzo and his envoys, Innocent VIII in 1489, created the thirteen year-old child a cardinal, on condition that he should dispense with the insignia and the privilege of his office for three years. Meanwhile his education was completed by the most distinguished Humanists and scholars, Angelo Poliziano, Marsilio Ficino, and Bernardo Dovizi (later Cardinal Bibbiena). From 1489 to 1491 Giovanni de' Medici studied theology and canon law, at Pisa, under Filippo Decio and Bartolomeo Sozzini. On 9 March, 1492, at Fiesole, he was invested with the insignia of a cardinal and on 22 March entered Rome. The next day the pope received him in consistory with the customary ceremonies. The Romans found the youthful cardinal more mature than his age might warrant them to expect. His father sent him an impressive letter of advice marked by good sense and knowledge of human nature, besides bearing witness to the high and virtuous sentiments to which the elder Lorenzo returned towards the end of his life. In this letter he enjoins upon his son certain rules of conduct, and admonishes him to be honourable, virtuous, and exemplary, the more so as the College of Cardinals at that time was deficient in these good qualities.
In the very next month Lorenzo's death recalled the cardinal to Florence. He returned once more to Rome for the papal election, which resulted, very much against his approval, in the elevation of the unworthy Alexander VI, after which Giovanni remained in Florence from August, 1492, until the expulsion of the Medici in 1494, when he fled from his native city in the habit of a Franciscan monk. After several fruitless attempts to restore the supremacy of his family, he led the life of a literary and artistic amateur. Patronage, liberality, and poor financial administration frequently reduced him even then to distressing straits; indeed, he remained a bad manager to the last. But though his manner of life was quite worldly he excelled in dignity, propriety, and irreproachable conduct most of the cardinals. Towards the end of the pontificate of Julius II (1503-1513), fortune once more smiled on Giovanni de' Medici. In August, 1511, the pope was dangerously ill and the Medici cardinal already aspired to the succession. In October, 1511, he became legate in Bologna and Romagna, and cherished the hope that his family would again rule in Florence. The Florentines had taken the part of the schismatic Pisans (see Julius II) for which reason the pope supported the Medici. Meanwhile the cardinal suffered another reverse. The army, Spanish and papal, with which he was sojourning, was defeated in 1512 at Ravenna by the French and he was taken prisoner. But it was a Pyrrhic victory, for the French soon lost all their possessions in Italy, and the cardinal, who was to have been taken to France, succeeded in making his escape. The supremacy of the Medici in Florence was re-established in September, 1512, and this unexpected change in the fortunes of his family was only the prelude to higher honours.
Julius II died on 21 February, 1513, and on 11 March Giovanni de' Medici, then but thirty-eight years old, was elected pope. In the first scrutiny he received only one vote. His adherents, the younger cardinals, held back his candidacy until the proper moment. The election met with approval even in France, although here and there a natural misgiving was felt as to whether the youthful pope would prove equal to his burden. In many quarters high hopes were placed in him by politicians who relied on his pliancy, by scholars and artists of whom he was already a patron, and by theologians who looked for energetic church reforms under a pacific ruler. Unfortunately he realized the hopes only of the artists, literati, and worldlings who looked upon the papal court as a centre of amusement.
Leo's personal appearance has been perpetuated for us in Raphael's celebrated picture at the Pitti Gallery in Florence, which represents him with Cardinals Medici and Rossi. He was not a handsome man. His fat, shiny, effeminate countenance with weak eyes protrudes in the picture from under a close-fitting cap. The unwieldy body is supported by thin legs. His movements were sluggish and during ecclesiastical functions his corpulence made him constantly wipe the perspiration from his face and hands, to the distress of the bystanders. But when he laughed or spoke the unpleasant impression vanished. He had an agreeable voice, knew how to express himself with elegance and vivacity, and his manner was easy and gracious. "Let us enjoy the papacy since God has given it to us", he is said to have remarked after his election. The Venetian ambassador who related this of him was not unbiased, nor was he in Rome at the time, nevertheless the phrase illustrates fairly the pope's pleasure-loving nature and the lack of seriousness that characterized him. He paid no attention to the dangers threatening the papacy, and gave himself up unrestrainedly to amusements, that were provided in lavish abundance. He was possessed by an insatiable love of pleasure, that distinctive trait of his family. Music, the theatre, art, and poetry appealed to him as to any pampered worldling. Though temperate himself, he loved to give banquets and expensive entertainments, accompanied by revelry and carousing; and notwithstanding his indolence he had a strong passion for the chase, which he conducted every year on the largest scale. From his youth he was an enthusiastic lover of music and attracted to his court the most distinguished musicians. At table he enjoyed hearing improvisations and though it is hard to believe, in view of his dignity and his artistic tastes, the fact remains that he enjoyed also the flat and absurd jokes of buffoons. Their loose speech and incredible appetites delighted him. In ridicule and caricature he was himself a master. Pageantry, dear to the pleasure-seeking Romans, bull-fights, and the like, were not neglected. Every year he amused himself during the carnival with masques, music, theatrical performances, dances, and races. Even during the troubled years of 1520 he took part in unusually brilliant festivities. Theatrical representations, with agreeable music and graceful dancing, were his favourite diversions. The papal palace became a theatre and the pope did not hesitate to attend such improper plays as the immoral "Calendra" by Bibbiena and Ariosto's indecent "Suppositi". His contemporaries all praised and admired Leo's unfailing good temper, which he never entirely lost even in adversity and trouble. Himself cheerful, he wished to see others cheerful. He was good-natured and liberal and never refused a favour either to his relatives and fellow Florentines, who flooded Rome and seized upon all official positions, or to the numerous other petitioners, artists and poets. His generosity was boundless, nor was his pleasure in giving a pose or desire for vainglory; it came from the heart. He never was ostentatious and attached no importance to ceremonial. He was lavish in works of charity; convents, hospitals, discharged soldiers, poor students, pilgrims, exiles, cripples, the blind, the sick, the unfortunate of every description were generously remembered, and more than 6000 ducats were annually distributed in alms.
Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that the large treasure left by Julius II was entirely dissipated in two years. In the spring of 1515 the exchequer was empty and Leo never after recovered from his financial embarrassment. Various doubtful and reprehensible methods were resorted to for raising money. He created new offices and dignities, and the most exalted places were put up for sale. Jubilees and indulgences were degraded almost entirely into financial transactions, yet without avail, as the treasury was ruined. The pope's income amounted to between 500,000 and 600,000 ducats. The papal household alone, which Julius II had maintained on 48,000 ducats, now cost double that sum. In all, Leo spent about four and a half million ducats during his pontificate and left a debt amounting to 400,000 ducats. On his unexpected death his creditors faced financial ruin. A lampoon proclaimed that "Leo X had consumed three pontificates; the treasure of Julius II, the revenues of his own reign, and those of his successor." It is proper, however, to pay full credit to the good qualities of Leo. He was highly cultivated, susceptible to all that was beautiful, a polished orator and a clever writer, possessed of good memory and judgment, in manner dignified and majestic. It was generally acknowledged, even by those who were unfriendly towards him, that he was unfeignedly religious and strictly fulfilled his spiritual duties. He heard Mass and read his Breviary daily and fasted three times a week. His piety cannot truly be described as deep or spiritual, but that does not justify the continued repetition of his alleged remark: "How much we and our family have profited by the legend of Christ, is sufficiently evident to all ages." John Bale, the apostate English Carmelite, the first to give currency to these words in the time of Queen Elizabeth, was not even a contemporary of Leo. Among the many sayings of Leo X that have come down to us, there is not one of a sceptical nature. In his private life he preserved as pope the irreproachable reputation that he had borne when a cardinal. His character shows a remarkable mingling of good and bad traits.
The fame of Leo X is due to his promotion of literature, science, and art. Under him Rome became more than ever the centre of the literary world. "From all parts", wrote Cardinal Riario in 1515 to Erasmus at Rotterdam, "men of letters are hurrying to the Eternal City, their common country, their support, and their patroness." Poets were especially numerous in Rome and few princes have been so lauded in verse as Leo X. He lavished gifts, favours, positions, titles, not only on real poets and scholars, but often on poetasters and commonplace jesters. He esteemed particularly the papal secretaries Bembo and Sadoleto, both celebrated poets and prose writers. Bembo charmed everyone by his polish and wit. His classic Ciceronian letters exhibit a remarkably varied intercourse with almost all the celebrities of his day. Among other things, he prepared a critical edition of Dante's works and was a zealous collector of manuscripts, books, and works of art. His conduct was not in accord with his position as papal notary, count palatine, and incumbent of numerous benefices, for he was worldly and self-indulgent. Sadoleto was quite another man. He led a pure and spotless life, was a model priest, united in himself the different phases of ancient and modern culture and was an ardent enthusiast for antiquity. In elegance and polish he was in no way inferior to Bembo. Among the Latin poets of Medicean Rome we may briefly mention Vida, who composed a poem of great merit, the "Christiade" and was extolled by his contemporaries as the Christian Virgil; Sannazaro, author of an epic poem on the birth of Christ which is a model of style; the Carmelite Spagnolo Mantovano with his "Calendar of Feasts"; Ferreri, who in the most naïve way recast the hymns in the Breviary with heathen terms, images, and allusions. The total number of these poets exceeds one hundred; and a lampoon of 1521 says they were more numerous than the stars in heaven. Most of them have fallen into well-deserved oblivion.
This is equally true of the contemporary Italian poetry–more prolific than notable. Among the Italian poets Trissino wrote a tragedy, "Sophonisba", and an epic "L'Italia liberata dai Gothi", but had no real success with either in spite of earnest purpose and beauty of language. Rucellai, a relative of the pope, whose clever and sympathetic didactic poem on bees met with great approval from his contemporaries, owed his reputation chiefly to an inferior work, the tragedy of "Rosmonda". The celebrated improvisatore, Tebaldeo wrote in both Latin and Italian. Towards Ariosto the pope was remarkably harsh. Archæology received great encouragement. One of its most distinguished representatives was Manetti. In 1521 the first collection of Roman topographical inscriptions appeared and introduced a new era. Important progress was due to the works of the learned antiquary, Fulvio. Fulvio, Calvo, Castiglione, and Raphael had planned an archælogical survey of ancient Rome with accompanying text. Raphael's early death abruptly interrupted the work which was carried on by Fulvio and Calvo. The Greek language also found favour and encouragement; Aldus Manutius, the Venetian publisher, whose excellent and correct editions of Greek classics became so popular, was one of Leo's protégés. Andreas Johannes Lascaris and Musurus were summoned from Greece to Rome and founded a Greek college, the "Medicean Academy". Moreover, the pope encouraged the collection of manuscripts and books. He recovered his family library which had been sold by the Florentines in 1494 to the monks of San Marco, had it brought to Rome, and enforced the regulations of Sixtus IV for the Vatican Library. The most distinguished of his librarians was Inghirami, less indeed through any learned works than for his gift of eloquence. He was called the Cicero of his age and played an important rôle at court. In 1516 he was succeeded by the Bolognese Humanist Beroaldo. Leo tried, as Nicholas V had formerly done, to increase the treasures of the Vatican Library, and with this object sent emissaries in all directions, even to Scandinavia and the Orient, to discover literary treasures and either obtain them, or borrow them for the purpose of making copies. The results, however, were unimportant. The Roman university, which had entered on decay, was reformed, but did not long flourish. On the whole, Leo, as a literary Mæcenas, has been overrated by his biographer Giovio and later panegyrists. Relatively little was accomplished, partly on account of the constant lack of money and partly because of the thoughtlessness and haste which the pope often showed in distributing his favours. He was in reality only a dilettante. Yet he gave an important stimulus to scientific and literary life, and was a potent factor in the cultural development of the West.
More important results ensued from his promotion of art, though he was unquestionably inferior in taste and judgment to his predecessor Julius II. Leo encouraged painting beyond all other branches of art; pre-eminent in this class stand the immortal productions of Raphael. In 1508 he had come to Rome, summoned by Julius II, and remained there until his death in 1520. The protection extended to this master genius is Leo's most enduring claim on posterity. Raphael's achievements, already numerous and important, took on more dignity and grandeur under Leo. He painted, sketched, and engraved from antique works of art, modeled in clay, made designs for palaces, directed the work of others by order of the pope, gave advice and assistance alike to supervisors and workmen. "Everything pertaining to art the pope turns over to Raphael", wrote an ambassador in 1518. This is not, of course, the place to treat Raphael's prodigious activity. We limit ourselves to brief mention of a few of his works. He finished the decoration of the Vatican halls or "Stanze" begun under Julius II, and in the third hall cleverly referred to Leo X by introducing scenes from the pontificates of Leo III and Leo IV. A more important commission was given him to paint the cartoons for the tapestries of the Sistine Chapel, the highest of Raphael's achievements, the most magnificent of them being "St. Peter's miraculous draught of fishes" and "St. Paul preaching in Athens". A third famous enterprise was the decoration of the Vatican Loggia done by Raphael's pupils under his direction, and mostly from his designs. The most exquisite of his paintings are the wonderful Sistine Madonna and the "Transfiguration". Sculpture showed a marked decline under Leo X. Michaelangelo offered his services and worked from 1516 to 1520 on a marble façade for the church of San Lorenzo in Florence, but did not finish it. On the other hand the pope gave especial attention and encouragement to the minor arts, e.g. decorative carving, and furthered the industrial arts. The greatest and most difficult task of Leo was in the field of architecture and was inherited from his predecessor, viz., the continuation of the new St. Peter's. Bramante remained its chief architect until his death in 1514. Raphael succeeded him, but in his six years of office little was done, much to his regret, through lack of means.
We may now turn to the political and religious events of Leo's pontificate. Here the bright splendour that diffuses itself over his literary and artistic patronage, is soon changed to deepest gloom. His well-known peaceable inclinations made the political situation a disagreeable heritage, and he tried to maintain tranqillity by exhortations, to which, however, no one listened. France desired to wreak vengeance for the defeat of 1512 and to reconquer Milan. Venice entered into an alliance with her, whereupon Emperor Maximilian, Spain, and England in 1513 concluded a Holy League against France. The pope wished at first to remain neutral but such a course would have isolated him, so he decided to be faithful to the policy of his predecessors and sought accordingly to oppose the designs of France, but in doing so, to avoid severity. In 1513 the French were decisively routed at Novara and were forced to effect a reconciliation with Rome. The schismatic cardinals (see Julius II) submitted and were pardoned, and France then took part in the Lateran Council which Leo had continued.
But success was soon clouded by uncertainty. France endeavoured to form an alliance with Spain and to obtain Milan and Genoa by a matrimonial alliance. Leo feared for the independence of the Papal States and for the so-called freedom of Italy. He negotiated on all sides without committing himself, and in 1514 succeeded in bringing about an Anglo-French alliance. The fear of Spain now gave way to the bugbear of French supremacy and the pope began negotiating in a deceitful and disloyal manner with France and her enemies simultaneously. Before he had decided to bind himself in one way or the other, Louis XII died and the young and ardent Francis I succeeded him. Once more Leo sought delay. He supported the League against France, but until the last moment hoped for an arrangement with Francis. But the latter shortly after his descent upon Italy, won the great victory of Marignano, 13-14 September, 1515, and the pope now made up his mind to throw himself into the arms of the Most Christian King and beg for mercy. He was obliged to alter his policy completely and to abandon to the French king Parma and Piacenza, which had been reunited with Milan. An interview with King Francis at Bologna resulted in the French Concordat (1516), that brought with it such important consequences for the Church. The Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438), deeply inimical to the papacy, was revoked, but the pope paid a high price for this concession, when he granted to the king the right of nomination to all the sees, abbeys, and priories of France. Through this and other concessions, e.g. that pertaining to ecclesiastical jurisdiction, the royal influence over the French Church was assured. Great discontent resulted in France among the clergy and in the parliaments. The abolition of the Pragmatic Sanction, drawn up in compliance with the decrees of the Council of Basle, affected the adherents of the conciliar system of church government. The abolition of free ecclesiastical elections affected grievously the interests of many and opposition to the Concordat was maintained for centuries. The advantage to the Church and the pope of such a great sacrifice was that France, hitherto schismatical in attitude, now stood firmly bound to the Holy See, which thus turned aside the danger of complete estrangement. However, the way in which the French crown abused its control over the Church led at a later period to great evils.
Meanwhile the Lateran Council, continued by Leo after his elevation to the papacy, was nearing its close, having issued numerous and very timely decrees, e.g. against the false philosophical teachings of the Paduan professor, Pietro Pompanazzi, who denied the immortality of the soul. The encroachments of pagan Humanism on the spiritual life were met by the simultaneous rise of a new order of philosophical and theological studies. In the ninth session was promulgated a Bull that treated exhaustively of reforms in the Curia and the Church. Abbeys and benefices were henceforth to be bestowed only on persons of merit and according to canon law. Provisions of benefices and consistorial proceedings were regulated; ecclesiastical depositions and transfers made more difficult; commendatory benefices were forbidden; and unions and reservations of benefices, also dispensations for obtaining them, were restricted. Measures were also taken for reforming the curial administration and the lives of cardinals, clerics, and the faithful. The religious instruction of children was declared a duty. Blasphemers and incontinent, negligent, or simoniac ecclesiastics were to be severely punished. Church revenues were no longer to be turned to secular uses. The immunities of the clergy must be respected, and all kinds of superstition abolished. The eleventh session dealt with the cure of souls, particularly with preaching. These measures, unhappily, were not thoroughly enforced, and therefore the much-needed genuine reform was not realized. Towards the close of the council (1517) the noble and highly cultured layman, Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola, delivered a remarkable speech on the necessity of a reform of morals; his account of the moral condition of the clergy is saddening, and reveals the many and great difficulties that stood in the way of a genuine reform. He concluded with the warning that if Leo X left such offences longer unpunished and refused to apply healing remedies to these wounds of the Church, it was to be feared that God Himself would cut off the rotten limbs and destroy them with fire and sword. That very year this prophetic warning was verified. The salutary reforms of the Lateran Council found no practical acceptance. Pluralism, commendatory benefices, and the granting of ecclesiastical dignities to children remained customary. Leo himself did not scruple to set aside repeatedly the decrees of the council. The Roman Curia, then much despised and against which so many inveighed with violence, remained as worldly as ever. The pope was either unwilling or not in a position to regulate the unworthy and immoral conduct of many of the Roman courtiers. The political situation absorbed his attention and was largely responsible for the premature close of the council.
In March, 1516, Emperor Maximilian crossed the Alps to make war on the French and Venetians. The pope followed his usual course of shifting and dissimulation. At first, when events seemed favourable for the French, he supported Francis. But his former double-dealing had left Francis in such ill-humour that he now adhered to an antipapal policy, whereupon Leo adopted an unfriendly attitude towards the king. Their relations were further strained apropos of the Duchy of Urbino. During the French invasion the Duke of Urbino had withheld the assistance which he was in duty bound to render the pope, who now exiled him and gave the title to his nephew, Lorenzo de' Medici. The French king was highly displeased with the papal policy, and when Francis I and Maximilian formed the alliance of Cambrai in 1517 and agreed on a partition of Upper and Central Italy, Pope Leo found himself in a disagreeable position. In part by reason of his constant vacillation he had drifted into a dangerous isolation, added to which the Duke of Urbino reconquered his duchy; to crown all other calamities came a conspiracy of cardinals against the pope's life. The ringleader, Cardinal Petrucci, was a young worldly ecclesiastic who thought only of money and pleasure. He and the other cardinals who had brought about Leo's selection, made afterwards such numerous and insistent demands that the pope could not yield to them. Other causes for discontent were found in the unfortunate war with Urbino and in the abolition of the election capitulations and the excessive privileges of the cardinals. Petrucci bore personal ill-will towards the "ungrateful pope", who had removed his brother from the government of Siena. He tried to have the pope poisoned by a physician, but suspicion was aroused and the plot was betrayed through a letter. The investigation implicated Cardinals Sauli, Riario, Soderini, and Castellesi; they had been guilty at least of listening to Petrucci, and perhaps had desired his success, though their full complicity was not actually proved. Petrucci was executed and the others punished by fines; Riario paid the enormous sum of 150,000 ducats.
The affair throws a lurid light on the degree of corruption in the highest ecclesiastical circles. Unconcerned by the scandal he was giving, Leo took advantage of the proceeding to create thirty-one new cardinals, thereby obtaining an entirely submissive college and also money to carry on the unlucky war with Urbino. Not a few of these cardinals were chosen on account of the large sums they advanced. But this wholesale appointment also brought several virtuous and distinguished men into the Sacred College, and it was further important because it definitively established the superiority of the pope over the cardinals. The war with Urbino, encouraged by Francis I and Maximilian for the purpose of increasing Leo's difficulties, was finally brought to a close, after having cost enormous sums and emptied the papal treasury. Lorenzo de' Medici remained in possession of the duchy (1517). Faithful to the ancient tradition of the Holy See, from the very beginning of his reign, Leo zealously advocated a crusade against the Turks, and at the close of the war with Urbino took up the cause with renewed determination. In November, 1517, he submitted an exhaustive memorial to all the princes of Europe, and endeavored to unite them in a common effort, but in vain. The replies of the powers proved widely dissimilar. They were suspicious of one another and each sought naturally to realize various secondary purposes of its own. Leo answered a threatening letter from the sultan by active exertions. Religious processions were held, a truce of five years was proclaimed throughout Christendom and the Crusade was preached (1518). The pope showed real earnestness, but his great plan miscarried through lack of cooperation on the part of the powers. Moreover, Cardinal Wolsey, Lord Chancellor of England, thwarted the pope's peaceful efforts and thus dealt a grievous blow to the international prestige of the papacy. When the Crusade was preached in Germany, it found a large section of the people strongly predisposed against the Curia, and furnished them with an occasion to express their views in plain terms. It was believed that the Curia merely sought to obtain more money. One of the numerous spiteful pamphlets issued declared that the real Turks were in Italy and that these demons could only be pacified by streams of gold. The good cause was gradually merged with an important political question, the succession to the imperial throne. Maximilian sought the election for his grandson, Charles of Spain. A rival appeared in the person of Francis I, and both he and Charles vied with each other in seeking to win the pope's favour by repeated assurances of their willingness to move against the Turks. The event of the election relegated the crusade to the background. In 1519 the pope realized that there was no longer any prospect of carrying out his design.
Leo's attitude towards the imperial succession was influenced primarily by his anxiety concerning the power and independence of the Holy See and the so-called freedom of Italy. Neither candidate was acceptable to him, Charles, if possible, less than Francis, owing to the preponderance of power that must result from his accession. The pope would have preferred a German electoral prince, that of Saxony or later, the Elector of Brandenburg. He "sailed", as usual, "with two compasses", held both rivals at bay by a double game played with matchless skill, and even succeeded in concluding simultaneously an alliance with both. The deceitfulness and insincerity of his political dealings cannot be entirely excused, either by the difficult position in which he was placed or by the example of his secular contemporaries. Maximilian's death (January, 1519) ended the pope's irresolution. First he tried to defeat both candidates by raising up a German elector. Then he worked zealously for Francis I in the endeavour to secure his firm friendship in case Charles became emperor, an event which grew daily more likely. Only at the last moment when the election of Charles was certain and unavoidable did Leo come over to his side; after the election he watched in great anxiety the attitude the new emperor might assume.
The most important occurrence of Leo's pontificate and that of gravest consequence to the Church was the Reformation, which began in 1517. We cannot enter into a minute account of this movement, the remote cause of which lay in the religious, political, and social conditions of Germany. It is certain, however, that the seeds of discontent amid which Luther threw his firebrand had been germinating for centuries. The immediate cause was bound up with the odious greed for money displayed by the Roman Curia, and shows how far short all efforts at reform had hitherto fallen. Albert of Brandenburg, already Archbishop of Magdeburg, received in addition the Archbishopric of Mainz and the Bishopric of Hallerstadt, but in return was obliged to collect 10,000 ducats, which he was taxed over and above the usual confirmation fees. To indemnify hiim, and to make it possible to discharge these obligations Rome permitted him to have preached in his territory the plenary indulgence promised all those who contributed to the new St. Peter's; he was allowed to keep one half the returns, a transaction which brought dishonour on all concerned in it. Added to this, abuses occurred during the preaching of the Indulgence. The money contributions, a mere accessory, were frequently the chief object, and the "Indulgences for the Dead" became a vehicle of inadmissible teachings. That Leo X, in the most serious of all the crises which threatened the Church, should fail to prove the proper guide for her, is clear enough from what has been related above. He recognized neither the gravity of the situation nor the underlying causes of the revolt. Vigorous measures of reform might have proved an efficacious antidote, but the pope was deeply entangled in political affairs and allowed the imperial election to overshadow the revolt of Luther; moreover, he gave himself up unrestrainedly to his pleasures and failed to grasp fully the duties of his high office.
The pope's last political efforts were directed to expanding the States of the Church, establishing a dominating power in central italy by means of the acquisition of Ferrara. In 1519 he concluded a treaty with Francis I against Emperor Charles V. But the selfishness and encroachments of the French and the struggle against the Lutheran movement, induced him soon to unite with Charles, after he had again resorted to his double-faced method of treating with both rivals. In 1521 pope and emperor signed a defensive alliance for the purpose of driving the French out of Italy. After some difficulty, the allies occupied Milan and Lombardy. Amid the rejoicings over these successes, the pope died suddenly of a malignant malaria. His enemies are wrongly accused of having poisoned him. The magnificent pope was given a simple funeral and not until the reign of Paul III was a monument erected to his memory in the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. It is cold, prosaic, and quite unworthy of such a connoisseur as Leo.
The only possible verdict on the pontificate of Leo X is that it was unfortunate for the Church. Sigismondo Tizio, whose devotion to the Holy See is undoubted, writes truthfully: "In the general opinion it was injurious to the Church that her Head should delight in plays, music, the chase and nonsense, instead of paying serious attention to the needs of his flock and mourning over their misfortunes". Von Reumont says pertinently–"Leo X is in great measure to blame for the fact that faith in the integrity and merit of the papacy, in its moral and regenerating powers, and even in its good intentions, should have sunk so low that men could declare extinct the old true spirit of the Church."
Pastor, History of the Popes, VII (St. Louis, 1908); Leonis X. P. M. Regesta, ed. HergenrnrÖther, Fasc. I-VIII (to 16 October, 1515), (Freiburg, 1884-91); Jovius, De vita Leonis X (Florence, 1548, 1551); Fabronius, Leonis X. P. M. vita (Pisa, 1707); Roscoe, Life and Pontificate of Leo X (Liverpool, 1805, London, 1883); Italian tr. with new materials by Bossi (Milan, 1816); Audin, Histoire de Léon X. et de son siècle (Paris, 1844); Nitti, Leone X et la sua politica (Florence, 1892); Conforti, Leone X ed il suo secolo (Parma, 1896); Von Reumont, Geschichte der Stadt Rom, III (Berlin, 1870), part ii; Gregorovius, Geschichte der Stadt Rom, VIII (Stuttgart, 1896); Geiger, Renaissance und Humanismus in Deutschland und Italien (Berlin, 1882).
Klemens LÖffler
« Leo IX | Pope Leo X | Pope Leo XI » |


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I've been hearing an ad on the radio lately about a discovery that the power company doesn't want you to know about from a guy named Frank Bates. He mentions that he could get in a lot of trouble for talking about it and calls the power companies and the government "incompetent, lying crooks who are counting on your ignorance and fear to keep your electric bills and heating bills criminally high." OK, I'm intrigued, so what's this guy selling?
He wants to show you the secret of how he beat 'em, and how you can beat 'em too. It's described as a "weird" trick on the website. It sounds almost too good to be true. You can hear the commercial along with a video at the Power4Patriots website.
Upon looking further into what Mr. Bates is selling, I discovered it's a CDROM and downloadable access to a series of pdf ebooks (about 300 pages total) and videos covering the topics of solar and wind energy. Much of it involves DIY information on how to build your own solar panels, wind turbines, and solar water heaters from components you can find in local hardware stores and online for less than you can buy equivalent off-the-shelf products. The value of this 'package' is $297, but with the 90% discount, the CD and downloads can be yours for only $27 + 2.99 S&H. After purchasing it, you'll find that if you pay $67 more, you get a physical spiral bound book along with 3 DVDs that also cover solar and wind DIY projects which is basically the same material, just in a format that might be more convenient for you. If you turn that down, you'll be offered the printed book for another $27. After that, you'll be offered heirloom seeds for another $67 to help you through any upcoming societal collapse. So there's a lot of upselling going on after the initial $27 investment. I'm also now on the email list and I suspect I'll be hearing a lot more from the company in the future.
How do I know this? I know this because I invested the $29.99 in the ebook/CDROM product. After all, what kind of blogger would review a product he didn't own? I gotta tell you, this guy's good. I'm surprised I got out without spending another $134 for the physical book/DVDs and heirloom seeds.
You'd have to be living under a rock if you haven't heard all the fuss about how Chinese solar panels are coming down in price so fast that they are putting companies out of business that were trying to manufacture solar panels in the U.S. Witness what happened with Solyndra and Abound Solar.
One of the ebooks and 6 of the videos are related to making your own solar panels. I was curious to see just how cheap these homemade panels would be and the book shows a bill of materials of $175 for a 65 watt panel. That's almost $3/watt not including your labor, and the amount of labor looks quite substantial. I'd estimate the labor at 10 hours per panel or more. That's not cheap, especially now that you can get manufactured panels that are $1/watt that are already assembled and guaranteed. The manufactured panels are designed to last 25 years, are safety agency-approved, and can withstand all kinds of weather, including hail up to 1 inch in diameter. So trying to roll your own solar panels would be a waste of time and money. And the cost of a solar system doesn't just depend just on the panel cost. The inverter costs about $.50/watt which is quite expensive in the grand scheme of things, or about half of what you'd be paying for the panels.
And then there's the installation cost. Of course, you can do the installation yourself if you're capable and comfortable working on roofs. Once you add in the other ancillary parts and equipment, you can put together a solar system for about $2/watt these days using off-the-shelf components. That's about half of what they cost just 4 years ago, thanks primarily to the drop in panel costs.
A typical house in the U.S. uses about 730 kWh in electricity per month. To satisfy this need, you are looking at approximately a 5 kW system. That system would cost about $10,000 for materials even if you're handy and can do the installation yourself. With U.S. electricity rates now at an average at $.12/kWh, it would take about 10 years to pay for itself. That's not too bad, considering most things you buy for your home will just depreciate over time and not save you a dime, let alone break even or start making you money in the long run. My grid-tied solar system is 5.6 kW and I haven't purchased any electricity since it was installed nearly 4 years ago but I do get charged about $8/month to be connected to the grid. I have accumulated a surplus (about 5000 KWh) on the meter that could run an electric car for more than 20,000 miles.
The radio commercials imply that you could slash your energy bills and live free of these greedy utility companies but you cannot do that if you install a grid-tied solar system with net metering, which is the most common kind. To disconnect from your utility company, you'd need to have a battery storage system, a charge controller, and a backup generator for those times that you may have a few cloudy days in a row. A set of batteries that would hold a day's charge of 24 kWh would cost at least another $4K and generator would add another $1K to it. So you're looking at a much bigger expense when you talk about completely disconnecting from the power grid, I'd say at least $5K more. And those batteries would need to be replaced every 6 years or so. That makes the whole payback period kind of a moot point because of this extra recurring expense so unless you live in an area where there is no grid power, or you believe we are on the verge of complete societal collapse, it's hard to justify an off-grid system when you can get away with the less expensive grid-tied solar system.
There are some other books included in the package related to making and installing a wind turbine (probably good for 5-10% of the average household energy needs), and some simple solar hot water and solar hot air DIY projects. Bonus materials include ebooks on surviving disasters, storing emergency water, and building a solar cooker.
So for $27, you get 10 ebooks all of which contain some useful information, especially if you're into renewable energy or worrying about Armageddon. I didn't feel ripped off afterwards, although the quality of some of the graphic images in the pdf files was pretty poor. I don't know what the printed materials might look like, but the numbers on many of the charts were unreadable like the image shown below.
I'm always intrigued when I hear an over-the-top advertisement for an energy product. Most of the time they turn out to be truly worthless and horrible investments. But this one is harmless enough, and you might even find a few good ideas for your $27. But don't get your hopes up that you'll take your electric and heating bills down to nothing without a significant investment in time and money even if you follow all of the DIY information in the ebooks.


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Eventually, we all know it's going to happen; the bounty of summer vegetables is going to begin to overwhelm home cooks. This rapid increase of summer heat has brought my tomato plants into full force growth, skyrocketing up in the garden and bursting out buds like crazy. If this keeps up, August is going to be both delicious and ridiculous. And zucchini? We all know that one plant per home garden is enough to keep a happy cook in oblong green delight, but the overly enthusiastic gardeners who tend several plants will one day walk out to their garden and be confronted with tons of zucchini. Mark my words. Then they'll do whatever they can to pawn the excess off on anyone who'll look their way. Then there's eggplant. The purple orbs are everywhere once they're ripe. My word. It's craaaaa- zee. But in a good, good way.
Because I found The. Best. summer vegetable option once your countertop is over-flowing with fresh zucchini, tomato and eggplant.
Provided your willingness to turn on your oven, here's a dish that screams out "SUMMERTIME!!" in every bite, from the heady garlic and fresh herb infused olive oil that you drizzle over everything to the fresh vegetables that make up the bulk of this gratin. Get a really, really good loaf of bread for the base, a fine bottle of white wine for you, and enjoy a meal worthy of any fancy summer dinner party, or simply a way to ease yourself out of a hectic day.
I spied this recipe on the Food & Wine website, searching for some new plant-friendly recipes to add to our eating repertoire. I knew we'd love it and I wasn't disappointed. Once out of the oven, the smell was killing me. I could barely wait for it to cool enough to cut a slice and dig in. Mike came home from meeting with some of his clients, and despite having already eaten lunch, I pretty much shoved a slice at him and demanded that he try it. Which he did. He's got the right attitude, hmm?
The base of this gratin is made from good rustic bread, torn in to pieces and drizzled with a heady blend of garlicky oil inundated with fresh herbs. It bakes up nice and crunchy, aromatic and flavorful, adding a nice contrast to the soft baked tomato, zucchini and eggplant slices gracing the top. A smattering of fresh basil, a spray of good parmesan cheese and a fork. Oh, and don't forget the wine. It's a dish that tastes of summertime, reeking of warm days, the scent of cut grass and the way the night air sulks around at dusk with the lingering scent of the day before finally giving way to the cool of night. If anything else smacks of good seasonal eating, show me, because I really want to know.
You know that day will come when you glance, overwhelmed, at the summer bounty before you and you think 'Oh dear, what do I do NOW???' Well I have the answer, my friends. You will make this dish. And with one bite, you will determine when you can make it again. And maybe, again.
Do you have any favorite ways to use zucchini and eggplant??
Ratatouille Gratin
1 medium eggplant, sliced 1/4″ thick
2 medium zucchini, sliced 1/4″ thick
3-4 medium tomato, sliced 1/4″ thick.
1/2 c. good olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced extra fine
1 heaping tablespoon each fresh thyme, parsley and basil, minced fine, plus extra for finishing
1 1-lb loaf good quality artisan bread, torn in to 1-2″ pieces (i used a good sourdough, left in a paper bag overnight)Stir olive oil, garlic and the heaping tablespoons of fresh herbs together in a small bowl. Whisk well to combine.
Toss eggplant and zucchini with 1-2 teaspoons of kosher salt and let stand for about 20-30 minutes. Drain any liquid and gently squeeze dry, if possible. Sprinkle tomato slices with salt and pepper.
Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray and arrange torn bread in bottom. Pack the bread in as tight as possible in one layer, using the entire loaf. Drizzle the bread with about 2 T. of the garlic/herb oil. Arrange the eggplant slices on top, then the zucchini, then the tomato. Drizzle the top of the vegetables with another tablespoon or two of the oil and sprinkle some thyme leaves over that.
Bake the gratin for 30-40 minutes, or until the vegetables are aromatic and slightly browned and the bread crust is crispy. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle with minced basil and parsley and fresh grated parmesan before serving, if desired. The gratin can be served warm, or at room temperature. To reheat, place gratin on a baking sheet and rewarm in a low oven.
From Food & Wine, with heavy modifications


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