Pope Clement VII

Not to be confused with Antipope Clement VII.

Pope

Clement VII
Bishop of Rome
Portrait by Sebastiano del Piombo, c. 1531
(oil on slate; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)
ChurchCatholic Church
Papacy began19 November 1523
Papacy ended25 September 1534
PredecessorAdrian VI
SuccessorPaul III
Previous post(s)
Orders
Ordination19 December 1517
Consecration21 December 1517
by Leo X[1][2]
Created cardinal23 September 1513
by Leo X
Personal details
Born
Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici

26 May 1478
Florence, Republic of Florence
Died25 September 1534(1534-09-25) (aged 56)
Rome, Papal States
BuriedBasilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome
ParentsGiuliano de' Medici
Fioretta Gorini
MottoCandor illæsus (Innocence inviolate)
Coat of armsClement VII's coat of arms
Other popes named Clement
Papal styles of
Pope Clement VII
Reference styleHis Holiness
Spoken styleYour Holiness
Religious styleHoly Father
Posthumous styleNone

Pope Clement VII (Latin: Clemens VII; Italian: Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate of the popes", Clement VII's reign was marked by a rapid succession of political, military, and religious struggles—many long in the making—which had far-reaching consequences for Christianity and world politics.[3]

Elected in 1524 at the end of the Italian Renaissance, Clement came to the papacy with a high reputation as a statesman.[4] He had served with distinction as chief advisor to Pope Leo X (1513–1521, his cousin), Pope Adrian VI (1522–1523), and commendably as gran maestro of Florence (1519–1523).[5][6][4] Assuming leadership at a time of crisis, with the Protestant Reformation spreading, the Church nearing bankruptcy, and large foreign armies invading Italy, Clement initially tried to unite Christendom by making peace among the many Christian leaders then at odds.[7] He later attempted to liberate Italy from foreign occupation, believing that it threatened the Church's freedom.[3]

The complex political situation of the 1520s thwarted Clement's efforts.[8] Inheriting unprecedented challenges, including Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation in Northern Europe; a vast power struggle in Italy between Europe's two most powerful kings, Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and Francis I of France, each of whom demanded that the Pope choose a side; Turkish invasions of Eastern Europe led by Suleiman the Magnificent. Clement's problems were exacerbated by souring relations with Charles V in 1527, which led to the violent Sack of Rome, during which Clement was imprisoned. After escaping confinement in the Castel Sant'Angelo, Clement—with few economic, military, or political options remaining—compromised the Church's and the Papal States' independence by allying with his former jailer, Charles V.[3][4] However, his problems continued during Henry VIII of England's contentious divorce, resulting in England breaking away from the Catholic Church.

In contrast to his tortured pontificate, Clement was personally respectable and devout, possessing a "dignified propriety of character", "great acquirements both theological and scientific", as well as "extraordinary address and penetration—Clement VII, in serener times, might have administered the Papal power with high reputation and enviable prosperity. But with all of his profound insight into the political affairs of Europe, Clement does not seem to have comprehended the altered position of the Pope" in relation to Europe's emerging nation-states and Protestantism.[9]

Clement left a significant cultural legacy in the Medici tradition.[10] He commissioned artworks by Raphael, Benvenuto Cellini, and Michelangelo, including Michelangelo's The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.[11][12][13] In matters of science, Clement is best known for approving, in 1533, Nicolaus Copernicus's theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun—99 years before Galileo Galilei's heresy trial for similar ideas.[14][15][16]

  1. ^ Miranda, Salvador. "The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church – Biographical Dictionary – Consistory of September 23, 1513". webdept.fiu.edu. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  2. ^ Cheney, David M. "Pope Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Clement VII". Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 5. Akron, OH: The Werner Company. 1905. 05015678.
  4. ^ a b c "Clement VII, Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com.
  5. ^ "The Works of John Adams, vol. 5 (Defence of the Constitutions Vols. II and III) – Online Library of Liberty". oll.libertyfund.org.
  6. ^ "Luminarium Encyclopedia: Pope Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici) (1478-1534)". www.luminarium.org.
  7. ^ Gouwens, Kenneth; Sheryl E. Reiss (2005). The Pontificate of Clement VII: History, Politics, Culture. Aldershot UK; Burlington VT USA: Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-0680-2.
  8. ^ Thurston, Herbert. "Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope Clement VII". www.newadvent.org.
  9. ^ "The Popes of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries". Museum of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, Volume 28. Philadelphia, PA: E. Little. 1836. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  10. ^ Chastel, André (1983). The Sack of Rome, 1527. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-09947-7.
  11. ^ Hankins, James (10 April 2020). "The Restorative Power of Faith". Wall Street Journal.
  12. ^ "Drawing | British Museum".
  13. ^ "Learn the Intriguing (and Sometimes Controversial) History Behind Michelangelo's 'Last Judgment'". 1 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Copernicus, Nicolaus (1473-1543)". Online Library of Liberty. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  15. ^ Rabin, Sheila (17 September 2018). Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University – via Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
  16. ^ "The Priest Who Realized the Earth Revolved Around the Sun". National Catholic Register. 25 October 2016.