Editing Pope Clement VII (section)

===Gran Maestro of Florence===
Cardinal Giulio governed Florence between 1519 and 1523, following the death of its civic ruler, [[Lorenzo II de Medici]], in 1519. There "he was permitted to assume almost autocratic control of State affairs", and "did very much to place public interests upon a firm and practical basis".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10877/10877-h/10877-h.htm|title=The Tragedies of the Medici |first=Edgcumbe |last=Staley |via=Project Gutenberg}}</ref> U.S. [[President John Adams]] later characterized Giulio's administration of Florence as "very successful and frugal".<ref name="oll.libertyfund.org"/> Adams chronicles the cardinal as having "reduced the business of the magistrates, elections, customs of office, and the mode of expenditure of public money, in such a manner that it produced a great and universal joy among the citizens".<ref name="oll.libertyfund.org"/><ref name="Ashgate"/>

On the death of Pope Leo X in 1521, Adams writes there was a "ready inclination in all of the principal citizens [of Florence], and a universal desire among the people, to maintain the state in the hands of the Cardinal de' Medici; and all this felicity arose from his good government, which since the death of the Duke Lorenzo, had been universally agreeable."<ref name="oll.libertyfund.org"/>