AG giulio •ALMA•ROMA | •S•PAVLVS• St. Paul, full length, standing, facing forward.sword in right hand, book in left hand..
	•SEDE•VAC | ANTE•1559 Arms of Guido Ascanio Card.Sforza, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church (1537-1564), surmounted by the Ombrellone, crossed keys. Berman, p. 104 #1060.

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GUIDO ASCANIO CARDINAL SFORZA (1518-1564) was the son of Bosio Sforza, Conte di Santa Fiora e Cotignola, and Costanza Farnese, the legitimized daughter of Alessandro Farnese (Pope Paul III). He became Cardinal at the age of sixteen on December 18, 1534, in his grandfather's first Consistory. He was named Bishop of Parma (1535-1560), and became Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church in 1537 at the age of 19, a post he held until his death on October 6, 1564. He served as Legate of Bologna and the Romagna ( from 1537), and was Papal Legate in Hungary in 1540. He presided over the Interregnum of 1549-50, the two interregna of 1555, and that of 1559.

Pope Paul IV (Carafa) died on August 18, 1559, widely hated for his narrow-mindedness, harshness and intolerance. Riots ensued, lasting several days and destroying the Palace of the Inquisition and liberating its prisoners; Paul's statue on the Capitoline was overturned and its head used as a football for three days before being thrown into the Tiber. The Carafas' anti-Spanish policy made King Philip II determined to influence the cardinals to elect a pope friendly to Spanish interests. The Emperor, Ferdinand I, and King Philip wanted help in dealing with problems with the Protestants, but the Council of Trent, which would have greatly helped in that direction, was looked on with grave suspicion by the Emperor and kings, because the reforms which were being promoted (especially in the realm of episcopal appointments, episcopal residence, and the holding of benefices) threatened the control of monarchs over the Church, its leaders, and its finances. The reformers were also promoting the reform of the Roman Curia, which certainly did not want to be reformed.

On September 9, 1559 (or September 4/5, according to some), the Conclave opened, with forty-four cardinals in attendance. The political requirements of King Philip of Spain and the French Court of the new king François II (in fact under the control of Catherine de Medicis and the Guise faction) were, as usual, the determining factors in the choice of a pope. Prominent among the deliberations and maneuvers were Cardinals Farnese (nephew of Paul III), who was in close touch with King Philip and who controlled perhaps four votes; Carafa (nephew of Paul IV), who controlled around eleven votes; Ippolito II d' Este, the Cardinal of Ferrara, was the leader of the French interest, which included Louis I de Guise and Lorenzo Strozzi (both of whom arrived on the 15th of September)..

Giovanni Angelo de' Medici was elected by acclamation, in the Pauline Chapel, on the afternoon of Christmas Day, 1559; on the next day, in the Sistine Chapel, the choice of the previous day was ratified. He was crowned on January 6, 1560, as Pius IV, and took possession of the Lateran Basilica on January 28.