Editing Pope Clement VII (section)

====Appearance====
[[File:Sebastiano del Piombo – Portrait of Pope Clement VII (ca. 1526).jpg|thumb|Clement VII, age 48<br />Portrait by [[Sebastiano del Piombo]], 1526]]
During his half-year imprisonment in 1527, Clement VII grew a full beard as a sign of mourning for the [[Sack of Rome (1527)|sack of Rome]]. This was in contradiction to Catholic [[canon law]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Beard |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02362a.htm |website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref> which required priests to be clean-shaven, but had as precedent the beard [[Pope Julius II]] wore for nine months in 1511–12 as a sign of mourning for the papal city of [[Bologna]].

Unlike Julius II, however, Clement kept his beard until his death in 1534. His example in wearing a beard was followed by his successor, [[Paul III]], and indeed by 24 popes after him, down to [[Innocent XII]], who died in 1700. Clement was thus the unintentional originator of a fashion that lasted well over a century.{{cn|date=October 2024}}