Eugene's papacy lasted sixteen years, but he spent nearly ten of them as an exile from Rome. He struggled against the cardinals at the Council of Basel, against the powerful Correr clan (a Roman family who could count several popes among them), against the combatants of the Wars of Lombardy, and against a slew of European monarchs and religious sects.

He took a really admirable stance against slavery. At the time, Spanish slave trading was a growing profession, kidnapping most of their stock from the Canary Islands. Eugene condemned the practice with a papal bull, demanding that the slaves be released immediately, without any kind of compensation to the traders.