Leo Africanus (Hassan El Wazzan) the Vietnamese political system If the dynasty could not protect a village, the villages would often support a rebel movement, which then had to provide security and to institutionalize their political power Although it ensured the preservation of a sense of national and cultural identity, the strength of the villages was a factor contributing to the political instability of the society as it expanded southward Beginning in 1527, Vietnam came under the control of two families, the Trinh, dominant in the northern, and the Nguyen in the southern part Their military and political rivalry destabilized Le dynasty and brought its end in 1788 The new Nguyen dynasty ruled Vietnam into the modern period Further reading: Haines, David W “Reflections of Kinship and Society under Vietnam’s Le Dynasty.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Vol 15, No (September 1984); Karnow, Stanley Vietnam: A History New York: Viking Press, 1983; Nguyen-Van-Thai and Nguyen-Van-Mung A Short History of Vietnam Saigon, South Vietnam: 1958; Vinh, Pham Kim Vietnam: A Comprehensive History Fountain Valley, CA: Pham Kim Vinh Research Institute, 1992 211 other popes and bishops Leo never recognized the gravity of the Reformation, and the Counter-Reformation did not come about until after his death He was a great patron of the arts and prepared a critical edition of the works of Dante His greatest contribution was his support of the collection of historical Christian manuscripts and the merging of the Medici family library with the papal library See also Medici family Further reading: Duffy, Eamon Saints & Sinners: A History of the Popes New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002; Maxwell-Stuart, P G Chronicles of the Popes: A Reign-byReign Record of the Papacy from St Peter to the Present New York: Thames & Hudson, 1997; Pham, John-Peter Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004 James Russell Leo Africanus (Hassan El Wazzan) (c 1494–1554) Moroccan traveler Jitendra Uttam Leo X (1475–1521) pope Pope Leo X was born Giovanni de’ Medici in Florence on December 11, 1475, and died in Rome on December 1, 1521 He was the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent He became abbot of Font Douce in France in 1483, at the age of eight Under political pressure by Lorenzo Giovanni, he was made a cardinal at age 13 by Pope Innocent VIII His family’s political dealings caused friction in late 15th century Italy, and Giovanni fled to France at the election of Pope Alexander VI He was captured by the French army at the defeat of the combined papal and Spanish armies in 1512 at Ravenna, probably for purposes of ransom Giovanni was elected pope on February 21, 1513, at age 38, again because of the political pressures of his family on the college of cardinals He lived a lavish life and expended the papal treasury within two years of his election; he also sold offices within the church to raise money to support the papacy This practice, known as simony, led in part to the Reformation in Germany and other parts of Europe The reformers argued against the selling of church offices and indulgences, practices taken up by Leo X and Leo Africanus exemplified the positive cross-cultural exchanges between the Muslim and Christian worlds in the 15th and 16th centuries Hassan El Wazzan was born circa 1494 in Granada during the last years of Muslim rule in Spain His family, following the example of Boabdil, the last Muslim ruler of Granada, went into exile to Fez in present-day Morocco around 1502 after the final Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula by Christian forces Leo Africanus received a classical Islamic education at the well-known Quarawin (Kairaouine) mosque and university in Fez He worked for a short time in a maristan, a combination hospital and asylum for the mentally ill While in his teens, he accompanied a relative on major diplomatic missions within Morocco and Africa Leo Africanus lived during an age of political and cultural changes He twice visited the famed city of Timbuktu, as well as much of the Sudan in western Africa (Mali and Mauritania), Constantinople, and Cairo, where he saw the defeat of the Mamluks by Ottoman forces In 1518, the ship he was traveling on from Egypt to Tunis was captured by Portuguese Christian pirates (corsairs); however, owing to his learning and diplomatic experience he was not sold into slavery as a galley slave but was given to Pope Leo X as a gift The pope made use of Leo Africanus’s knowledge of Arabic and the Muslim world in his dealings with