Editing Pope Clement VII (section)

==Legacy==

=== Political legacy ===
[[File:Angelo Bronzino - Portrait of Pope Clement VII - WGA3272.jpg|thumb|left|[[Agnolo Bronzino]] – Portrait of Pope Clement VII]]
Clement VII's papacy is generally regarded as one of history's most tumultuous; opinions of Clement himself are often nuanced.<ref name="encyclopedia.com" /> For example, Clement's contemporary [[Francesco Vettori]] writes that he "endured a great labor to become, from a great and respected cardinal, a small and little-esteemed pope", but also that "if one considers the lives of previous popes one may truly say that, for more than a hundred years, no better man than Clement VII sat upon the Throne. Nevertheless, it was in his day that the disaster took place while these others, who were filled with all vices, lived and died in felicity—as the world sees it. Neither should we seek to question the Lord, our God, who will punish—or not punish–in what manner and in what time it pleases him."<ref name=":3">{{cite book |last=Chamberlin |first=E.R. |title=The Bad Popes |date=1969 |publisher=Dial Press |isbn=0880291168 |location=New York |page=}}</ref>{{rp|280}}

The disasters of Clement's pontificate—the Sack of Rome and the English Reformation—are regarded as turning points in the histories of Catholicism, Europe, and the Renaissance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.catholicdigest.com/faith/spirituality/key-figures-of-the-reformation-pope-clement-vii/|title = Key figures of the Reformation: Pope Clement VII|date = 20 January 2020}}</ref> Modern historian Kenneth Gouwens writes, "Clement's failures must be viewed above all in the context of major changes in the dynamics of European politics. As warfare on the Italian peninsula intensified in the mid-1520s, the imperative of autonomy [for the Catholic Church and Italy] required enormous financial outlays to field standing armies. Political survival perforce eclipsed ecclesiastical reform as a short-term goal, and the costs of war necessitated the curtailment of expenditure on culture. Clement pursued policies consistent with those of his illustrious predecessors Julius II and Leo X; but in the 1520s, those policies could but fail.... Reform of the Church, to which his successors would turn, required resources and concerted secular support that the second Medici pope was unable to muster."<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Corkery |first=James |title=The Papacy Since 1500: From Italian Prince to Universal Pastor. Edited by James Corkery and Thomas Worcester |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521509879 |location=Cambridge |page=}}</ref>{{rp|31}}

Regarding Clement's struggle to liberate Italy and the Catholic Church from foreign domination, historian Fred Dotolo writes that "one might see in his papacy a vigorous defense of papal rights against the growth of monarchial power, a diplomatic and even pastoral struggle to retain the ancient division within Christendom of the priestly and kingly offices. Should the new monarchs of the early modern period reduce the papacy to a mere appendage of secular authority, religious issues would become little more than state policy.... Clement VII attempted to restrain the expansion of royal power and maintain the independence of Rome and of papal prerogatives."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dotolo |first=Fred |date=2008-05-01 |title=Priest and Prince: Clement VII and the Struggle of Church and State in the Renaissance |url=https://fisherpub.sjf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1127&context=verbum |journal=Verbum |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=78–83}}</ref>

Ecclesiastically, Clement is remembered for orders protecting [[Marrano|Jews]] from the [[Portuguese Inquisition|Inquisition]], approving the [[Theatine]],<ref name=":4">{{cite book |last=Salomoni |first=David |title=Educating the Catholic People: Religious Orders and Their Schools in Early Modern Italy (1500–1800) |publisher=Brill |year=2021 |pages=}}</ref>{{rp|324}} [[Barnabite]],<ref name=":4" />{{rp|47-48}} and [[Capuchin Franciscan Order|Capuchin]] Orders,<ref>{{cite book |chapter=The new orders |first=H.O. |last=Evennett |title=The New Cambridge Modern History |volume=2, The Reformation, 1520–1559 |editor-first=G. R. |editor-last=Elton |edition=2 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |pages=320–321}}</ref> and securing the island of [[Malta]] for the [[Knights of Malta]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12273-popes-the|title=Popes, The|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.knightsofmalta.com/history/history.html|title=Knights of Malta |website=www.knightsofmalta.com|access-date=19 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224054406/http://www.knightsofmalta.com/history/history.html|archive-date=24 February 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="auto7" />

In a final analysis of Clement's papacy, historian E.R. Chamberlin writes, "in all but his personal attributes, Clement VII was a protagonist in a Greek tragedy, the victim called upon to endure the results of actions committed long before. Each temporal claim of his predecessors had entangled the Papacy just a little more in the lethal game of politics, even while each moral debasement divorced it just a little more from the vast body of Christians from whom ultimately it drew its strength."<ref name=":3" />{{rp|278}} More charitably, modern historian James Grubb writes, "indeed, at a certain point it is difficult to see how he might have fared much better, given the obstacles he faced. Certainly his predecessors since the end of the Schism had experienced their share of opposition, but did any have to fight on so many fronts as Clement, and against such overwhelming odds? At one time or another he battled the Holy Roman Empire (now fueled by precious metals from America), the French, the Turks, rival Italian powers, fractious forces within the papal states, and entrenched interests within the Curia itself. That the precious liberta d'Italia (freedom from outside domination) should have been lost irrevocably seems more an inevitability than a product of Clement's particular failings. He tried his utost...."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Grubb |first=J.S. |date=August 2006 |title= ''The Pontificate of Clement VII. History, Politics, Culture'', edited by Kenneth Gouwens and Sheryl E. Reiss |journal=Renaissance Studies |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=596–598 |doi=10.1111/j.1477-4658.2006.00214.x}}</ref>

===Portrayals===
The life of the second Medici pope has been portrayed numerous times in films and television, notably the Netflix series ''[[Medici (TV series)|Medici: The Magnificent]]'', where the figure is portrayed by British actor [[Jacob Dudman]].

=== Patronage ===
[[File:Last Judgement (Michelangelo).jpg|thumb| The Last Judgement by [[Michelangelo]], commissioned by Pope Clement VII]]
As both a cardinal and Pope, Giulio de' Medici "commissioned or supervised many of the best-known artistic undertakings of the [[cinquecento]]."<ref>{{cite journal
| last1      = Reiss
| first1     = Sheryl
| date       = 1 Jan 1991
| title      = Cardinal Giulio de'Medici's 1520 Berlin Missal and Other Works by Matteo da Milano
| url        = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272589044
| journal    = Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen
| volume     = 33
| pages      = 107–128
| doi = 10.2307/4125878
| jstor = 4125878
| access-date = 9 July 2021
}}</ref> Of those works, he's best known for Michelangelo's monumental fresco in the [[Sistine Chapel]], ''[[The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)|The Last Judgment]]''; [[Raphael]]'s iconic altarpiece ''[[Transfiguration (Raphael)|The Transfiguration]]''; Michelangelo's sculptures for the ''[[Medici Chapels|Medici Chapel]]'' in Florence; Raphael's architectural ''[[Villa Madama]]'' in Rome; and Michelangelo's innovative ''[[Laurentian Library]]'' in Florence.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2000JHA....31..156S|bibcode = 2000JHA....31..156S|title = Michaelangelo and Copernicus: A Note on the Sistine Last Judgement|last1 = Shrimplin|first1 = Valerie|journal = Journal for the History of Astronomy|year = 2000|volume = 31|issue = 2|page = 156|doi = 10.1177/002182860003100205|s2cid = 117021124}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/la-pinacoteca/sala-viii---secolo-xvi/raffaello-sanzio--trasfigurazione.html | title=Raffaello Sanzio, the Transfiguration }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-team-art-restorers-using-bacteria-clean-michelangelos-sculptures-180977866/|title=Italian Art Restorers Used Bacteria to Clean Michelangelo Masterpieces|first=Isis|last=Davis-Marks|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.michelangelo.net/laurentian-library/|title = Laurentian Library by Michelangelo}}</ref> "As a patron, [Giulio de' Medici] proved extraordinarily confident in technical affairs," which allowed him to suggest workable architectural and artistic solutions for commissions ranging from Michelangelo's ''Laurentian Library'' to [[Benvenuto Cellini]]'s celebrated Papal Morse.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/architectural-history/article/abs/michelangelos-laurentian-library-drawings-and-design-process/9CF8C0223BC94B01D64C6995DA3C9D0D|doi = 10.1017/S0066622X00004007|title = Michelangelo's Laurentian Library: Drawings and Design Process|year = 2011|last1 = Cooper|first1 = James G.|journal = Architectural History|volume = 54|pages = 49–90|s2cid = 194795995}}</ref><ref name="auto4"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/metabook?id=livespainters|title = Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects}}</ref> As Pope, he appointed goldsmith Cellini head of the Papal Mint; and painter [[Sebastiano del Piombo]] keeper of the Papal Seal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/cellini/2/index.html|title = Medals and coins}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/sebastiano-del-piombo|title = Sebastiano del Piombo (About 1485–1547) &#124; National Gallery, London}}</ref> Sebastiano's tour de force, ''[[The Raising of Lazarus (Sebastiano del Piombo)|The Raising of Lazarus]]'', was produced via a contest arranged by Cardinal Giulio, pitting Sebastiano in direct competition with Raphael over who could produce the better altarpiece for the [[Narbonne Cathedral]].<ref name="auto2"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/sebastiano-del-piombo-incorporating-designs-by-michelangelo-the-raising-of-lazarus|title = Sebastiano del Piombo incorporating designs by Michelangelo &#124; the Raising of Lazarus &#124; NG1 &#124; National Gallery, London}}</ref>

Giulio de' Medici's patronage extended to theology, literature, and science. Some of the best known works associated with him are [[Erasmus]]' ''[[De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio|On Free Will]]'', which he encouraged in response to [[Martin Luther]]'s critiques of the Catholic Church; [[Machiavelli]]'s ''[[Florentine Histories]]'', which he commissioned; and [[Copernicus]]' [[heliocentrism|heliocentric idea]], which he personally approved in 1533.<ref name="auto7" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Florentine-Histories|title = Florentine Histories &#124; work by Machiavelli}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/><ref name="auto6"/><ref name="auto"/> When [[Johann Widmanstetter]] explained the [[Copernican heliocentrism|Copernican system]] to him, he was so grateful that he gave Widmanstetter a valuable gift.<ref name="Repcheck">{{cite book|last=Repcheck|first=Jack|title=Copernicus' Secret: How the Scientific Revolution Began|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|isbn=978-0-7432-8951-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/copernicussecret00repc/page/79 78–79, 184, 186]|location=New York|year=2007|url=https://archive.org/details/copernicussecret00repc/page/79}}</ref> In 1531 Clement issued rules for the oversight of human cadaver dissection and medical test trials, a sort of primitive code of medical ethics.<ref>{{cite book
 |last= Rankin
 |first= Alisha
 |date= 2021
 |title= The Poison Trials: Wonder Drugs, Experiment, and the Battle for Authority in Renaissance Science 
 |url= https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo68660583.html
 |location= Chicago
 |publisher= University of Chicago Press
 |isbn= 978-0226744711
}}</ref> Humanist and author [[Paolo Giovio]] was his personal physician.<ref>{{cite book
 |last= Zimmerman
 |first= T.C. Price
 |date= 1995
 |title= Paolo Giovio: the Historian and the Crisis of Sixteenth-Century Italy 
 |url= https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo68660583.html
 |location= Princeton
 |publisher= Princeton University Press
 |isbn= 978-1400821839
}}</ref>

Giulio de' Medici was a talented musician, and his circle included many well-known artists and thinkers of the Italian [[High Renaissance]].<ref name=":0" /> For example, "in the days before his papacy, the future Clement VII had been close to [[Leonardo da Vinci]]," with Leonardo gifting him a painting, the ''[[Madonna of the Carnation]]''.<ref name="Strathern"/> He was a patron of the satirist [[Pietro Aretino]], who "wrote a series of viciously satirical lampoons supporting the candidacy of Giulio de' Medici for the papacy."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pietro-Aretino|title=Pietro Aretino &#124; Italian author|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=16 April 2023}}</ref> As Pope, he appointed author [[Baldassare Castiglione]] as Papal diplomat to [[Holy Roman Emperor Charles V]]; and historian [[Francesco Guicciardini]] as governor of the [[Romagna]], the northernmost province of the Papal States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03409c.htm|title = Catholic Encyclopedia: Baldassare Castiglione}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francesco-Guicciardini|title = Francesco Guicciardini &#124; Italian historian and statesman| date=18 May 2023}}</ref>

==== The Clementine Style ====
Italian Renaissance artistic trends from 1523 to 1527 are sometimes called the "Clementine style", and notable for their technical virtuosity.<ref>{{Cite book |last1= Reiss|first1= Sheryl E.|editor1-first= Jill|editor1-last=Burke|title= Rethinking the High Renaissance: The Culture of the Visual Arts in Early Sixteenth-Century Rome, "Pope Clement VII and the Decorum of Medieval Art"|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dj0rDwAAQBAJ&q=rethinking+the+high+renaissance+jill+burke&pg=PR4|access-date= 29 September 2017|year= 2012|orig-year=2012 |publisher= Ashgate Publishing Company|location= Burlington, VT|language=en|isbn= 978-1409425588|page=289|chapter=12}}</ref> In 1527, the Sack of Rome "put a brutal end to an artistic golden age, the Clementine style that had developed in Rome since the coronation of the Medici Pope".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ehne.fr/en/encyclopedia/themes/arts-in-europe/migration-and-artistic-identities/sack-rome-1527-triumph-mannerism-in-europe|title=Sack of Rome (1527): the Triumph of Mannerism in Europe|website=Encyclopédie d’histoire numérique de l’Europe}}</ref> [[André Chastel]] describes the artists who worked in the Clementine style as [[Parmigianino]], [[Rosso Fiorentino]], Sebastiano del Piombo, Benvenuto Cellini, [[Marcantonio Raimondi]], and numerous associates of Raphael: [[Giulio Romano (painter)|Giulio Romano]], [[Giovanni da Udine]]; [[Perino del Vaga]]; and [[Polidoro da Caravaggio]].<ref name="auto5">{{cite book|last=Chastel|first=André|title=The Sack of Rome|year=1983|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton|isbn=978-0691099477}}</ref> During the Sack, several of these artists were either killed, made prisoner, or took part in the fighting.<ref name="auto5"/>

=== Character ===

[[File:Giorgio vasari, cena in casa di san gregorio magno, 1540, da s. giovanni in bosco, 04.jpg|thumb|Pope Clement VII as [[Saint Gregory the Great]] by [[Giorgio Vasari]]]]
Clement was renowned for his intelligence and counsel, but maligned for his inability to take timely and decisive action. Historian G.F. Young writes, "he spoke with equal knowledge of his subject whether that were philosophy and theology, or mechanics and hydraulic architecture. In all affairs he displayed an extraordinary acuteness; the most perplexing questions were unravelled, the most difficult circumstances penetrated to the very bottom, by his extreme sagacity. No man could debate a point with more address."<ref>{{cite book |last= Young|first= G.F.|date= 1930|title= The Medici, Vol. 1|location= London|publisher= University Press of the Pacific|page= 437|isbn= 0898754127}}</ref> Historian Paul Strathern writes, "his inner life was illuminated by an unwavering faith;" he was also in "surprisingly close contact with the ideals [of Renaissance humanism], and even more surprisingly was deeply sympathetic to them."<ref name="Strathern"/> For example, "Clement VII had no difficulty in accepting [[Copernicus]]'s [[heliocentrism|heliocentric idea]], and appeared to see no challenge to his faith in its implications; his Renaissance humanism was open to such progressive theories."<ref name="Strathern"/> Of Clement's other qualities, Strathern writes "he had inherited [[Giuliano de Medici|his murdered father]]'s good looks, though these tended to lapse into a dark scowl rather than a smile. He also inherited something of his great-grandfather [[Cosimo de' Medici]]'s skill with accounts, as well as a strong inclination to his legendary caution, making the new pope hesitant when it came to taking important decisions; and unlike his cousin Leo X, he possessed a deep understanding of art."<ref name="Strathern"/>

Of Clement's limitations, historian [[Francesco Guicciardini]] writes, "although he had a most capable intelligence and marvelous knowledge of world affairs, he lacked the corresponding resolution and execution.... He remained almost always in suspension and ambiguous when he was faced with deciding those things that from afar he had many times foreseen, considered, and almost revealed."<ref>{{cite book |last= Guicciardini|first= Francesco|date= 1969|title= The History of Italy; translated, edited, with notes and an introduction by Sydney Alexander|location= Princeton|publisher= Princeton University Press|page= 363|isbn= 0691008000}}</ref> Strathern writes that Clement was "a man of almost icy self-control, but in him the Medici trait of self-contained caution had deepened into a flaw.... If anything, Clement VII had too much understanding—he could always see both sides of any particular argument. This had made him an excellent close adviser to his cousin Leo X, but hampered his ability to take matters into his own hands."<ref name="Strathern"/> The ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' notes that while his "private life was free from reproach and he had many excellent impulses ... despite good intention, all qualities of heroism and greatness must emphatically be denied him."<ref name="newadvent.org" />
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