Editing Pope Clement VII (section)

===Marriage of Catherine de' Medici===
[[File: Meeting of Francis I and Pope Clement VII in Marseilles 13 October 1533.jpg|thumb|Meeting of [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] and Pope Clement VII in [[Marseille]], 13 October 1533]]
In 1533, Clement married his cousin's granddaughter, [[Catherine de' Medici]], to the future King [[Henry II of France]], son of King Francis I. Due to an illness, before setting out to [[Marseille]] for the wedding, Clement issued a Bull on 3 September 1533 giving instructions on what to do if he died outside Rome.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/Bull_Clem_7.html|title=Sede Vacante 1534|first=John P.|last= Adams|website=www.csun.edu}}</ref> The wedding ceremony took place at [[Église Saint-Ferréol les Augustins]] on 28 October 1533 and was conducted by Clement himself. It was "followed by nine days of lavish banquets, pageants, and festivities."<ref name="Strathern"/> On 7 November in Marseille, Clement created four new cardinals, all of them French.<ref name=":1" />{{rp|22}} He also held separate, private meetings with Francis I and Charles V. Charles' daughter, [[Margaret of Parma|Margaret of Austria]] was set to marry Clement's relative—[[Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence]]—in 1536.<ref name="Fletcher">Catherine Fletcher, ''The Black Prince of Florence: The Spectacular Life and Treacherous World of Alessandro de' Medici'' (London: Bodley Head, 2016)</ref>

According to Medici historian Paul Strathern, Clement marrying Catherine into France's royal family and Alessandro becoming [[Duke of the Florentine Republic|Duke of Florence]] and marrying into the Hapsburg family "marked perhaps the most significant turning point in the history of the Medici family—the ascent into nobility in Florence, and the joining of the French royal family. Without the guiding hand of Clement VII, the Medici would never have been able to achieve the pinnacles of greatness that were yet to come" in the following centuries.<ref name="Strathern"/>