Sixtus preachedCrusade against the Turks, and sent legates throughout Europe to drum up support.
Some troops were raised, some field action taken, but very little was accomplished.
He opposed King Louis XI's policy of approving all papal decrees before their publication in France, but was not able to stop it.
Worked without success to re-unite Russia with the Vatican.
His foreign affairs work coming to nothing, he turned his attention to Italian politics, which tarnished his papacy with intrigues, conspiracies, and nepotism, and involved the Vatican in wars between Italian states, and the appointment of unworthy churchmen.
He reigned in abuses in the Spanish Inquisition, and condemned the Waldenses.
He supported artists and writers, was the patron of the construction of the Sistine Chapel, and lavishly endowed the Vatican library.
Sixtus spread his good work through the city of Rome, improving the infrastructure, and the water and sewer systems.
![[Pope Sixtus IV]](pope0212.jpg "48kb jpg detail from a bronze monument of Pope Sixtus IV, by Antonio del Pollaiolo, c.1490; if you have information on this image, please email me; please do not write to ask about the image")
