Editing Pope Clement VII

{{Short description|Bishop of Rome from 1523 to 1534}}
{{Not to be confused with|Antipope Clement VII}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
 | type                = Pope
 | honorific-prefix    = [[List of popes|Pope]]
 | name                = Clement VII
 | title               = [[Bishop of Rome]]
 | image               = El papa Clemente VII, por Sebastiano del Piombo.jpg
 | image_size          = 
 | caption             = Portrait by [[Sebastiano del Piombo]], {{circa |1531}}
 | church              = [[Catholic Church]]
 | term_start          = 19 November 1523
 | term_end            = 25 September 1534
 | predecessor         = [[Adrian VI]]
 | successor           = [[Paul III]]
 | ordination          = 19 December 1517
 | consecration        = 21 December 1517
 | consecrated_by      = [[Leo X]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Miranda |first=Salvador |title=The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church – Biographical Dictionary – Consistory of September 23, 1513 |url=https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios1513.htm#Medici |website=webdept.fiu.edu |access-date=22 October 2024}}</ref><ref name="catholic-hierarchy.org">{{cite web |last=Cheney |first=David M. |title=Pope Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici) [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bdemg.html |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org |access-date=22 October 2024}}</ref>
 | cardinal            = 23 September 1513
 | created_cardinal_by = Leo X
 | rank                = 
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
 | birth_name          = Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici
 | birth_date          = 26 May 1478
 | birth_place         = [[Florence]], [[Republic of Florence]]
 | death_date          = 25 September 1534 (aged 56)
 | death_place         = Rome, Papal States
 | buried              = [[Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva]]
 | parents             = [[Giuliano de' Medici]]<br />[[Fioretta Gorini]]
 | motto               = {{lang|la|Candor illæsus}} (Innocence inviolate) {{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} 
 | coat_of_arms        = Medici popes.svg
 | signature           = Signature of Pope Clement VII.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
 | previous_post       = {{indented plainlist|
* [[Archbishop of Florence]] (1513–1523)
* [[Santa Maria in Domnica|Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Domnica]] (1513–1517)
* [[S. Clemente|Cardinal-Priest of San Clemente]] (1517)
* [[S. Lorenzo in Damaso|Cardinal-Priest of San Lorenzo in Damaso]] (1517–1523)
}}
<!---------- Other ---------->
 | other               = Clement
}}
{{Infobox popestyles
|image                 = File: Medici popes.svg
|dipstyle              = [[His Holiness]]
|offstyle              = Your Holiness
|relstyle              = Holy Father
|deathstyle            = None
}}

'''Pope Clement VII''' ({{langx|la|Clemens VII}}; {{langx|it|Clemente VII}}; born '''Giulio di Giuliano 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.<ref name="Clement VII">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica Volume 5 |title=Clement VII |publisher=The Werner Company |location=Akron, OH |year=1905 |id=05015678}}</ref>

Elected in 1523 at the end of the [[Italian Renaissance]], Clement came to the papacy with a high reputation as a statesman.<ref name="encyclopedia.com" /> 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, Italy|Florence]] (1519–1523).<ref name="oll.libertyfund.org">{{cite web|url=https://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/adams-the-works-of-john-adams-vol-5-defence-of-the-constitutions-vols-ii-and-iii/simple|title=The Works of John Adams, vol. 5 (Defence of the Constitutions Vols. II and III) – Online Library of Liberty|website=oll.libertyfund.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/clement7.htm|title=Luminarium Encyclopedia: Pope Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici) (1478-1534)|website=www.luminarium.org}}</ref><ref name="encyclopedia.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/philosophy-and-religion/roman-catholic-popes-and-antipopes/clement-vii|title=Clement VII, Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> Assuming leadership at a time of crisis, with the [[Protestant Reformation]] spreading, the Church nearing bankruptcy, and large [[Italian Wars|foreign armies invading Italy]], Clement initially tried to unite Christendom by making peace among the many Christian leaders then at odds.<ref name="Ashgate">{{cite book|last1=Gouwens|first1=Kenneth|author2=Sheryl E. Reiss|title=The Pontificate of Clement VII: History, Politics, Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pDAZw-VtQBcC|year=2005|publisher=Ashgate|location=Aldershot UK; Burlington VT USA|isbn=978-0-7546-0680-2}}</ref> He later attempted to liberate Italy from foreign occupation, believing that it threatened the Church's freedom.<ref name="Clement VII"/>

The complex political situation of the 1520s thwarted Clement's efforts.<ref name="newadvent.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04024a.htm|author=Thurston, Herbert|title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Pope Clement VII|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref> 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, [[Holy Roman Emperor Charles V|Charles V]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and [[Francis I of France]], each of whom demanded that the Pope choose a side; [[Ottoman Empire|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 (1527)|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 enemy, Charles V.<ref name="Clement VII" /><ref name="encyclopedia.com" /> However, his problems continued during [[Henry VIII of England]]'s contentious divorce, resulting in [[English Reformation|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.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Popes of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries |url=https://archive.org/details/museumforeignli00smitgoog |magazine=Museum of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, Volume 28 |publisher=E. Little |location=Philadelphia, PA |date=1836 |access-date=24 September 2017}}</ref>

Clement left a significant cultural legacy in the [[House of Medici|Medici]] tradition.<ref name="auto5" /> He commissioned artworks by [[Raphael]], [[Benvenuto Cellini]], and [[Michelangelo]], including Michelangelo's ''[[The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)|The Last Judgment]]'' in the [[Sistine Chapel]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-restorative-power-of-faith-11586548134|title = The Restorative Power of Faith|newspaper = Wall Street Journal|date = 10 April 2020|last1 = Hankins|first1 = James}}</ref><ref name="auto4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1893-0411-10-2|title = Drawing &#124; British Museum| work=The British Museum }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mymodernmet.com/last-judgment-michelangelo-sistine-chapel/|title=Learn the Intriguing (and Sometimes Controversial) History Behind Michelangelo's 'Last Judgment'|date=1 August 2020}}</ref> 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 [[Galileo affair|trial for similar ideas]].<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/copernicus-nicolaus-1473-1543|title=Copernicus, Nicolaus (1473-1543)|website=Online Library of Liberty|access-date=19 January 2018|archive-date=14 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514031611/https://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/copernicus-nicolaus-1473-1543|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="auto6">{{cite book|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2015/entries/copernicus/|title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|first=Sheila|last=Rabin|editor-first=Edward N.|editor-last=Zalta|date=17 September 2018|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|via=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ncregister.com/blog/astagnaro/the-priest-who-realized-the-earth-revolved-around-the-sun|title=The Priest Who Realized the Earth Revolved Around the Sun|website=National Catholic Register|date=25 October 2016 }}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:Leonardo da Vinci - Hanging of Bernardo Baroncelli 1479.jpg|thumb|Hanging of [[Bernardo Bandini Baroncelli|Bernardo Baroncelli]], [[Leonardo da Vinci]], 1479. Pazzi Conspirator.]]
Giulio de' Medici's life began under tragic circumstances. On 26 April 1478—exactly one month before his birth—his father, [[Giuliano de Medici]] (brother of [[Lorenzo the Magnificent]]) was murdered in the [[Florence Cathedral]] by enemies of his family, in what is now known as the "[[Pazzi conspiracy]]".<ref name=fiu>{{cite web |url=https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios1513.htm |title=The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church |work=Biographical Dictionary |date=September 23, 1513 |access-date=January 27, 2018 |publisher=[[Florida International University]]}}</ref> He was born illegitimately on 26 May 1478, in Florence; the exact identity of his mother remains unknown, although a plurality of scholars contend that it was [[Fioretta Gorini]], the daughter of a professor, Antonio Gorini.<ref name=fiu/><ref name="newadvent.org" /> Giulio spent the first seven years of life with his godfather, the architect [[Antonio da Sangallo the Elder]].<ref name=fiu/>

Thereafter, Lorenzo the Magnificent raised him as one of his own sons, alongside his children Giovanni (the future [[Pope Leo X]]), [[Piero the Unfortunate|Piero]], and [[Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours|Giuliano]].<ref name=paradox>{{cite web |url=http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Italian%20Images/Montages/Firenze/Medici%20Popes.htm |title=The Medici Popes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615172353/http://paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Italian%20Images/Montages/Firenze/Medici%20Popes.htm |archive-date=June 15, 2017 |work=Paradox Place}}</ref> Educated at the [[Palazzo Medici]] in Florence by [[Humanism|humanists]] like [[Angelo Poliziano]], and alongside prodigies like [[Michelangelo]], Giulio became an accomplished musician.<ref name=paradox/><ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1= Cummings|first1= Anthony M.|date= 1991|title= Giulio de' Medici's Music Books|journal= Early Music History|volume= 10|pages= 65–122|doi= 10.1017/S0261127900001108|s2cid= 191652342}}</ref> In personality he was reputed to be shy, and in physical appearance, handsome.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stsmarthaandmary.org/popes/Clement%20VIIa.htm |title=Clement VII – A Second Medici |work=Sts. Martha and Mary Parish |access-date=January 27, 2018}}</ref>

Giulio's natural inclination was for the clergy, but his illegitimacy barred him from high-ranking positions in the Church. So Lorenzo the Magnificent helped him carve out a career as a soldier.<ref name=fiu/> He was enrolled in the [[Knights Hospitaller|Knights of Rhodes]], but also became [[Grand Prior]] of [[Capua]].<ref name=fiu/> In 1492, when Lorenzo the Magnificent died and Giovanni de' Medici assumed his duties as a cardinal, Giulio became more involved in Church affairs.<ref name=fiu/> He studied canon law at the [[University of Pisa]], and accompanied Giovanni to the [[conclave of 1492]], where [[Rodrigo Borgia]] was elected [[Pope Alexander VI]].<ref name=fiu/>

Following the misfortunes of Lorenzo the Magnificent's firstborn son, [[Piero the Unfortunate]], the Medici were expelled from Florence in 1494.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Piero-di-Lorenzo-de-Medici |title=Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici |author=((Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica))|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]] |access-date=January 27, 2018}}</ref> Over the next six years, Cardinal Giovanni and Giulio wandered throughout Europe together—twice getting arrested (first in [[Ulm]], and later in [[Rouen]]). Each time Piero the Unfortunate bailed them out.<ref name=fiu/> In 1500, both returned to Italy and concentrated their efforts on re-establishing their family in Florence. Both were present at the [[Battle of Ravenna (1512)|Battle of Ravenna]] in 1512, where Cardinal Giovanni was captured by the French but Giulio escaped; this led to Giulio becoming an emissary to [[Pope Julius II]].<ref name="auto7">{{Cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/clemente-vii_(Enciclopedia-dei-Papi)|title=Clemente VII in 'Enciclopedia dei Papi'|website=www.treccani.it}}</ref> That same year, with the assistance of Pope Julius and the Spanish troops of [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]], the Medici retook control of Florence.<ref name=fiu/>

===Paternity of Alessandro de' Medici===
In 1510, while the Medici were living near Rome, a servant in their household—identified in documents as [[Simonetta da Collevecchio]]—became pregnant, ultimately giving birth to a son, [[Alessandro de' Medici]]. Nicknamed "il Moro" ("the Moor") due to his dark complexion, Alessandro was officially recognized as the illegitimate son of [[Lorenzo II de Medici]], but at the time and to this day, various scholars suggest that Alessandro was the illegitimate son of Giulio de' Medici.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/37dcb24c-0bcc-11e6-b0f1-61f222853ff3 |title=Review: 'The Black Prince of Florence: The Spectacular Life and Treacherous World of Alessandro de' Medici', by Catherine Fletcher |last=Lyons |first=Matthew |newspaper=Financial Times |date=29 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622183348/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/37dcb24c-0bcc-11e6-b0f1-61f222853ff3,Authorised=false.html?siteedition=intl&_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F37dcb24c-0bcc-11e6-b0f1-61f222853ff3.html%3Fsiteedition%3Dintl&_i_referer=&classification=conditional_standard&iab=barrier-app |archive-date=June 22, 2016 |access-date=January 27, 2018}}</ref> The truth of his lineage remains unknown and debated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/africans-in-medieval-and-renaissance-art-duke-alessandro-de-medici/ |title=Africans in Medieval & Renaissance Art: Duke Alessandro de' Medici |year=2016 |location=London |work=[[Victoria and Albert Museum]] |access-date=January 27, 2018}}</ref>

Regardless of his paternity, throughout Alessandro's brief life, Giulio—as Pope Clement VII—showed him great favoritism, elevating Alessandro over [[Ippolito de Medici]] as Florence's first hereditary monarch, despite the latter's comparable qualifications.<ref name=pbs>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/medici.html |title=Alessandro de Medici |last=de Valdes |first=Mario |work=The Blurred Racial Lines of Famous Families |access-date=January 27, 2018}}</ref>

== Cardinal ==
===Under Pope Leo X===
[[File:Portrait of Pope Leo X and his cousins, cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Luigi de' Rossi (by Raphael).jpg|thumb|left|Giulio Cardinal de' Medici, left; with his cousin [[Pope Leo X]], center; and Luigi Cardinal de' Rossi, right; by [[Raphael]], 1519]]

Giulio de' Medici appeared on the world stage in March 1513, at the age of 35,<ref name="catholic-hierarchy.org"/> when his cousin Giovanni de' Medici was elected Pope, taking the name Leo X. Pope Leo X reigned until his death on 1 December 1521.

"Learned, clever, respectable, and industrious",{{attribution needed|date=March 2024}} Giulio de' Medici's reputation and responsibilities grew at a rapid pace, unusual even for the Renaissance.<ref name="newadvent.org"/> Within three months of Leo X's election, he was named [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence|Archbishop of Florence]].<ref name=":1">Guilelmus Gulik and Conradus Eubel, {{lang|la|Hierarchia catholica medii et recentioris aevi}}, volume III, revised ed. (Monasterii 1923).</ref>{{rp|197}} Later that autumn, all barriers to his attaining the Church's highest offices were removed by a papal dispensation declaring his birth legitimate. It stated that his parents had been betrothed {{lang|la|per sponsalia de presenti}} (i.e. "wed according to the word of those present").<ref name="newadvent.org"/> Whether or not this was true, it allowed Leo X to create him [[cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]] during the first papal consistory on 23 September 1513.<ref name="newadvent.org"/> On 29 September, he was appointed Cardinal Deacon of [[Santa Maria in Domnica]]—a position that had been vacated by the Pope.<ref name="catholic-hierarchy.org"/>

Cardinal Giulio's reputation during the reign of Leo X is recorded by contemporary Marco Minio, the Venetian ambassador to the Papal Court, who wrote in a letter to the Venetian Senate in 1519: "Cardinal de' Medici, the Pope's [[cardinal nephew]], who is not legitimate, has great power with the Pope; he is a man of great competence and great authority; he resides with the Pope, and does nothing of importance without first consulting him. But he is returning to Florence to govern the city."<ref>Gar, p. 64: {{lang|it|"Il cardinal de' Medici, suo nepote, che non è legittimo, ha gran potere col papa; è uomo di gran maneggio e di grandissima autorità; tuttavia sa vivere col papa, nè fa alcuna cosa di conto se prima non domanda al papa. Ora si ritrova a Fiorenza a governare quella città"}}.</ref>

====Statesmanship====
While Cardinal Giulio was not officially appointed Vice-Chancellor of the Church (second-in-command) until 9 March 1517, in practice Leo X governed in partnership with his cousin from the beginning.<ref name="newadvent.org"/> Initially, his duties centered primarily on administering Church affairs in Florence and conducting international relations. In January 1514, [[Henry VIII of England]] appointed him [[Cardinal protector of England]].<ref name="reformation500.csl.edu">{{cite web|url=https://reformation500.csl.edu/bio/pope-clement-vii/|title=Pope Clement VII|date=5 February 2014|access-date=12 March 2018|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922141228/https://reformation500.csl.edu/bio/pope-clement-vii/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The following year, [[Francis I of France]] nominated him to become [[Archbishop of Narbonne]], and in 1516 named him cardinal protector of France.<ref name="reformation500.csl.edu"/> In a scenario typical of Cardinal Giulio's independent-minded statesmanship, the respective kings of [[Kingdom of England|England]] and [[Kingdom of France|France]], recognizing a conflict of interest in Giulio protecting both countries simultaneously, brought pressure to bear on him to resign his other protectorship; to their dismay, he refused.<ref name="auto7" />

Cardinal Giulio's foreign policy was shaped by the idea of {{lang|it|la libertà d'Italia}}, which aimed to free Italy and the Church from French and Imperial domination.<ref name="auto7"/> This became clear in 1521, when a personal rivalry between King Francis I and [[Holy Roman Emperor Charles V]] boiled over into war in northern Italy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_first_hapsburg_valois.html|title=First Hapsburg-Valois War (1521–26) / Fourth Italian War|website=Military History Encyclopedia on the Web}}</ref> Francis I expected Giulio, France's cardinal protector, to support him; but Giulio perceived Francis as threatening the Church's independence—particularly the latter's control of [[Lombardy]], and his use of the [[Concordat of Bologna]] to control the Church in France. At the time, the Church wanted Emperor Charles V to combat [[Lutheranism]], then growing in Germany. So Cardinal Giulio negotiated an alliance on behalf of the Church, to support the Holy Roman Empire against France.<ref name="csun.edu">{{cite web|url=https://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1521.html|title=Sede vacante 1521–1522|first=John P. |last=Adams |publisher=California State University, Northridge}}</ref> That autumn, Giulio helped lead a victorious Imperial-Papal army over the French in Milan and Lombardy.<ref name="csun.edu"/> While his strategy of shifting alliances to liberate the Church and Italy from foreign domination proved disastrous during his reign as Pope Clement VII, during the reign of Leo X it skillfully maintained a balance of power among the competing international factions seeking to influence the Church.<ref>{{cite book |last=Reston |first=James |date= 5 May 2015 |title=Luther's Fortress: Martin Luther and His Reformation Under Siege |location=United States |publisher= Hachette |isbn= 978-0465063932 }}</ref>

====Armed conflicts====

Giulio de' Medici led numerous armed conflicts as a cardinal. Commenting on this, his contemporary [[Francesco Guicciardini]] wrote that Cardinal Giulio was better suited to arms than to the priesthood.<ref>Sidney Alexander, Introduction to Francesco Guicciardini, ''The History of Italy'', (Princeton, 1969)</ref> He served as papal legate to the army in a campaign against Francis I in 1515, alongside inventor [[Leonardo da Vinci]].<ref name="Strathern">{{cite book|last=Strathern|first=Paul|title=The Medici: Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance|date=7 March 2016|publisher=Pegasus|location=New York City|isbn=978-1-60598-966-2}}</ref>

====Achievements====
[[File:Transfiguration Raphael.jpg|thumb|''The Transfiguration'', by [[Raphael]], 1520. Commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici]]
Cardinal Giulio's other endeavors on behalf of Pope Leo X were similarly successful, such that "he had the credit of being the prime mover of papal policy throughout the whole of Leo's pontificate".<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/clement-vii-pope|title=Clement VII, Pope |website=Encyclopedia.com}}</ref> In 1513, he was member of the [[Fifth Lateran Council]], assigned the task of healing the schism caused by [[conciliarism]].<ref name="auto7"/> In 1515, his "most significant act of ecclesiastical government" regulated prophetic preaching in the manner of [[Girolamo Savonarola]].<ref name="auto7"/> He later organized and presided over the Florentine Synod of 1517, where he became the first member of the Church to implement the reforms recommended by the Fifth Lateran Council.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> These included prohibiting priests from carrying arms, frequenting taverns, and dancing provocatively – while urging them to attend weekly confession.<ref name="Ashgate"/> Similarly, Cardinal Giulio's artistic patronage was admired (e.g., his commissioning [[Raphael]]'s ''[[Transfiguration (Raphael)|Transfiguration]]'' and [[Michelangelo]]'s ''[[Medici Chapels|Medici Chapel]]'', among other works), particularly for what goldsmith [[Benvenuto Cellini]] later called its "excellent taste".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=3029|title=Pope Clement VII |encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia |via=Catholic Online}}</ref>

===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"/>

===Under Pope Adrian VI===
[[File:Paus Adrianus VI (1459-1523) Rijksmuseum SK-A-513.jpeg|thumb|Portrait of Pope Adrian VI in the [[Rijksmuseum]]]]

When Pope Leo X died on 1 December 1521, Cardinal Giulio was "widely expected to succeed him"—but instead, during the conclave of 1522, the College of Cardinals elected a compromise candidate, [[Adrian VI]] of the Netherlands.<ref name="Strathern"/> Of why this happened, historian [[Paul Strathern]] writes, "it was common knowledge that [Cardinal Giulio] had been Leo X's most able adviser, as well as manager of the pope's financial affairs. The fact that Leo X had blithely ignored his cousin's advice, on so many occasions, was widely seen as being responsible for the plight of the papacy—not the influence of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici. On the contrary, Cardinal Giulio appeared to be everything that Leo X was not: he was handsome, thoughtful, saturnine and gifted with good taste. Despite this, many remained steadfast in their opposition to his candidacy."<ref name="Strathern"/>

In conclave, Cardinal Giulio controlled the largest voting bloc, but his enemies forced the election to a stalemate.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{Cite web|url=http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1521.html|title = Sede Vacante 1521–1522}}</ref> Among them were Cardinal [[Francesco Soderini]], a Florentine whose family had lost a power struggle to the Medici "and held a grudge"; Cardinal [[Pompeo Colonna]], a Roman nobleman who wanted to become Pope himself; and a group of French cardinals who "were unwilling to forget Leo X's treachery to their King".<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="Strathern"/>

Realizing that his candidacy was in jeopardy, "Cardinal Giulio now chose to make an astute tactical move. He declared modestly that he was unworthy of such high office; instead, he suggested the little-known Dutch scholar Cardinal Adriaan Boeyens, an ascetic and deeply spiritual man who had been tutor to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Cardinal Giulio was sure that Cardinal Boeyens would be rejected—on the grounds of his obscurity, his lack of political expertise and the fact that he was not Italian. The selfless suggestion that had been made by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici would then demonstrate to all that he was in fact the ideal candidate. But this move backfired badly, Cardinal Giulio's bluff was called and Cardinal Boeyens was elected as Pope Adrian VI."<ref name="Strathern"/>
 
During his 20-month papacy, Adrian VI "seemed to set great store by Cardinal Medici's opinions&nbsp;... And all the other cardinals were kept distinctly at arm's-length."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pickle-publishing.com/papers/triple-crown-adrian-vi.htm|title = Pope Adrian VI: Proceedings of the Conclave that led to his election}}</ref> In this way, Cardinal Giulio "wielded formidable influence" throughout Adrian's reign.<ref>{{cite web |first=J. P. |last=Adams |url=http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1521.html |title=Sede Vacante and Conclave of 1521–1522 |publisher=California State University, Northridge |access-date=2016-03-27}}</ref> Splitting time between the Palazzo Medici in Florence and the [[Palazzo della Cancelleria]] in Rome, Cardinal Giulio "lived there as a generous Medici was expected to live, a patron of artists and musicians, a protector of the poor, a lavish host".<ref>{{cite book|first=Christopher|last=Hibbert|author-link=Christopher Hibbert|title=The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall|year= 1999}}</ref>

====Assassination plot of 1522====
In 1522, rumors began to swirl that Cardinal Giulio—lacking legitimate successors to rule Florence—planned to abdicate rule of the city and "leave the government freely in the people".<ref name="oll.libertyfund.org"/> When it became clear that these rumors were untrue, a faction of mostly elite Florentines hatched a plot to assassinate him and then install their own government under his "great adversary", Cardinal [[Francesco Soderini]].<ref name="webdept.fiu.edu">{{Cite web|url=https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios1503.htm#Soderini |first=Salvador |last=Miranda |work = The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church: Biographical Dictionary |title=SODERINI, Francesco (1453-1524)}}</ref><ref name="oll.libertyfund.org"/> Soderini encouraged the plot, exhorting both Adrian and [[Francis I of France]] to strike against Giulio and invade his allies in Sicily. This did not happen. Instead of breaking with Giulio, Adrian had Cardinal Soderini imprisoned.<ref name="webdept.fiu.edu"/> Afterward, the principal conspirators were "declared rebels", and some were "apprehended and beheaded; by which means Giulio was again secured [as leader of Florence]."<ref name="oll.libertyfund.org"/>

==Pope==
Following Adrian VI's death on 14 September 1523, Cardinal Giulio overcame the opposition of the French king<ref>British History Online. Quote: "The King of France declared himself openly against the election of the Cardinal de Medicis." ([http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol2/pp591-596 19 November 1523 entry])</ref> and finally succeeded in being elected Pope Clement VII in the next [[Papal conclave, 1523|conclave]] (19 November 1523).<ref name=":2" />{{rp|29}}

Pope Clement VII brought to the papal throne a high reputation for political ability and possessed in fact all the accomplishments of a wily diplomat. But his contemporaries considered him worldly and indifferent to the perceived dangers of the [[Protestant Reformation]].

At his accession, Clement VII sent the [[Archbishop of Capua]], [[Nikolaus von Schönberg]], to the kings of [[Early modern France|France]], [[Habsburg Spain|Spain]], and [[Kingdom of England|England]], in order to bring the [[Italian War of 1521–1526|Italian War]] to an end. An early report from the [[Protonotary apostolic|Protonotary]] [[Marino Caracciolo]]<ref>Giorgio Viviano Marchesi Buonaccorsi, ''Antichità ed excellenza del Protonotariato Apostolico Partecipante'' (Faenza: Benedetti 1751), pp. 297–299. Caracciolo was a Neapolitan, of the family of the Counts of Galera; he became a Cardinal on 21 May 1535.</ref> to the Emperor records: "As the Turks threaten to conquer Christian states, it seems to him that it is his first duty as Pope to bring about a general peace of all Christian princes, and he begs him (the Emperor), as the firstborn son of the Church, to aid him in this pious work."<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol2/pp591-596 Caracciolo to Charles V (30 November 1523), in: 'Spain: November 1523', in ''Calendar of State Papers'', Spain, Volume 2, 1509–1525, ed. G A Bergenroth (London, 1866), pp. 591–596. British History Online] [accessed 28 March 2016]</ref> But the pope's attempt failed.

===Continental and Medici politics===
[[File:Giuliano Bugiardini - Ritratto di papa Clemente VII.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Clement VII by [[Giuliano Bugiardini]] (c. 1532)]]
[[Francis I of France]]'s conquest of Milan in 1524, during his [[Italian campaign of 1524–1525]], prompted the Pope to quit the [[Holy Roman Empire|Imperial]]–Spanish side and to ally himself with other Italian princes, including the [[Republic of Venice]], and France through a treaty of January 1525. This treaty granted the definitive acquisition of [[Parma]] and [[Piacenza]] for the [[Papal States]], the rule of Medici over Florence and the free passage of the French troops to [[Naples]]. This policy in itself was sound and patriotic, but Clement VII's zeal soon cooled; by his want of foresight and unseasonable economy, he laid himself open to an attack from the turbulent Roman barons, which obliged him to invoke the mediation of the emperor, Charles V.{{cn|date=October 2024}} One month later, Francis I was crushed and imprisoned in the [[Battle of Pavia]], and Clement VII went deeper in his former engagements with Charles V, signing an alliance with the [[Charles de Lannoy|viceroy of Naples]].

But deeply concerned about Imperial arrogance, he was to pick up with France again when Francis I was freed after the [[Treaty of Madrid (1526)]]: the Pope entered into the [[League of Cognac]] together with France, Venice, and [[Francesco II Sforza]] of [[Duchy of Milan|Milan]]. Clement VII issued an invective against Charles V, who in reply defined him a "wolf" instead of a "shepherd", menacing the summoning of a council about the [[Lutheran]] question.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Like his cousin Pope Leo X, Clement was considered too generous to his Medici relatives, draining the Vatican treasuries. This included the assignment of positions all the way up to Cardinal, lands, titles, and money. These actions prompted reform measures after Clement's death to help prevent such excessive nepotism.<ref name="Tomas">{{cite book | last=Tomas | first=Natalie R. | title=The Medici Women: Gender and Power in Renaissance Florence | publisher=Ashgate | location=Aldershot | year=2003 | isbn=978-0754607779 | pages=126–127}}</ref>

===Evangelization===
In his 1529 bull ''[[Intra Arcana]]'' Clement VII gave a grant of permissions and privileges to Charles V and the [[Spanish Empire]], which included the power of [[Jus patronatus|patronage]] within their colonies in the Americas.<ref name="Stogre">{{cite book|last=Stogre|first=Michael|title=That the world may believe: The development of papal social thought on aboriginal rights|year=1992|publisher=Éditions Paulines|isbn=978-2-89039-549-7|location=[[Sherbrooke]]|page=116}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Pope Paul III and the American Indians|jstor = 1508245|journal = The Harvard Theological Review|date = 1937-04-01|pages = 76–77|volume = 30|issue = 2|first = Lewis|last = Hanke|doi=10.1017/s0017816000022161| s2cid=162725228 }}</ref>

===Sack of Rome===
{{Main|Sack of Rome (1527)}}

{{more citations needed section|date=March 2016}}
The Pope's wavering politics also caused the rise of the Imperial party inside the [[Roman Curia|Curia]]: Cardinal [[Pompeo Colonna]]'s soldiers pillaged [[Vatican Hill]] and gained control of the whole of Rome in his name. The humiliated Pope promised therefore to bring the [[Papal States]] to the Imperial side again. But soon after, Colonna left the siege and went to Naples, not keeping his promises and dismissing the Cardinal from his charge.{{contradictory inline|date=March 2016}} From this point on, Clement VII could do nothing but follow the fate of the French party to the end.{{ambiguous|date=March 2016}}

Soon he found himself alone in Italy too, as [[Alfonso I d'Este]], duke of Ferrara, had supplied artillery to the Imperial army, causing the League Army to keep a distance behind the horde of [[Landsknecht]]s led by [[Charles III, Duke of Bourbon]] and [[Georg von Frundsberg]], allowing them to reach Rome without harm.{{dubious|date=March 2016}}

[[File:Castel Sant'Angelo bild.jpg|thumb|Castel Sant'Angelo]]
Charles of Bourbon died while mounting a ladder during the short siege and his starving troops, unpaid and left without a guide, felt free to ravage Rome from 6 May 1527. The many incidents of murder, rape, and vandalism that followed ended the splendours of [[Italian Renaissance|Renaissance Rome]] forever. Clement VII, who had displayed no more resolution in his military than in his political conduct, was shortly afterwards (6 June) obliged to surrender himself together with the [[Castel Sant'Angelo]], where he had taken refuge. He agreed to pay a ransom of 400,000 [[ducat]]s in exchange for his life; conditions included the cession of [[Parma]], [[Piacenza]], [[Civitavecchia]], and [[Modena]] to the Holy Roman Empire. (Only the last could be occupied in fact.) At the same time, Venice took advantage of his situation to capture [[Cervia]] and [[Ravenna]] while [[Sigismondo Malatesta]] returned to [[Rimini]].

Clement was kept as a prisoner in Castel Sant'Angelo for six months. After having bought off some Imperial officers, he escaped disguised as a peddler and took shelter in [[Orvieto]] and then in [[Viterbo]]. He came back to a depopulated and devastated Rome only in October 1528.

Meanwhile, in Florence, Republican enemies of the Medici took advantage of the chaos to again expel the Pope's family from the city.

In June 1529 the warring parties signed the [[Peace of Barcelona]]. The Papal States regained some cities and Charles V agreed to restore the Medici to power in Florence. In 1530, after an eleven-month [[Siege of Florence (1529–1530)|siege]], the Tuscan city capitulated and Clement VII installed his illegitimate nephew [[Alessandro de' Medici|Alessandro]] as duke. Subsequently, the Pope followed a policy of subservience to the emperor, endeavouring on the one hand to induce him to act with severity against the Lutherans in Germany and on the other to avoid his demands for a general council.

====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}}

====Ancona====
In 1532, Clement VII took possession of [[Ancona]], which definitively lost its freedom and became part of the [[Papal States]], ending hundreds of years when the [[Republic of Ancona]] was an important maritime power.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

===English Reformation===
[[File:Charles V enthroned over his defeated enemies Giulio Clovio mid 16th century.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|[[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], enthroned over his defeated enemies (from left): [[Suleiman the Magnificent]], Pope Clement VII, [[Francis I of France]], the [[William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg|Duke of Cleves]], the [[John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony|Elector of Saxony]], and the [[Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse|Landgrave of Hesse]]. [[Giulio Clovio]], mid-16th century]]
By the late 1520s, King [[Henry VIII]] wanted to have his marriage to Charles's aunt [[Catherine of Aragon]] [[Declaration of nullity|annulled]]. The couple's sons died in infancy, threatening the future of the [[House of Tudor]], although Henry did have a daughter, [[Mary I of England|Mary Tudor]]. Henry claimed that this lack of a male heir was because his marriage was "blighted in the eyes of God".<ref name="Phillips">{{cite book|last=Phillips|first=Roderick|title=Untying the Knot: A Short History of Divorce|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-42370-0|location=[[Cambridge]]; [[New York City|New York]]; [[Melbourne]]|page=20|date=28 June 1991}}</ref> Catherine had been his [[Arthur, Prince of Wales|brother]]'s widow, but the marriage had been childless, so the marriage was not against Old Testament law, which forbids such unions only if the brother had children.<ref name="Leviticus 20:21">See: {{Bibleverse|Leviticus|20:21|wyc}} and exception {{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|25:5|Wyc}}</ref> Moreover, [[Pope Julius II]] had given a [[Dispensation (Catholic canon law)|dispensation]] to allow the wedding.<ref name="Lacey">{{cite book|last=Lacey|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Lacey|title=The Life and Times of Henry VIII|date=1972|publisher=[[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]]|isbn=978-0-297-83163-1|editor=Antonia Fraser|editor-link=Antonia Fraser|location=[[London]]|page=17}}</ref> Henry now argued that this had been wrong and that his marriage had never been valid. In 1527 Henry asked Clement to annul the marriage, but the Pope, possibly acting under pressure from Catherine's nephew, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, whose effective prisoner he was, refused. According to Catholic teaching, a validly contracted marriage is indivisible until death, and thus the pope cannot annul a marriage on the basis of an [[Impediment (Catholic canon law)|impediment]] previously dispensed.<ref name="Scarisbrick2011">{{cite book|author=J. J. Scarisbrick|title=Henry VIII|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oSuFAwAAQBAJ|edition=reprint of 1968|date= 2011|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|isbn=978-0-300-18395-5|pages=163–197|chapter=Chapter 7: The Canon Law of the Divorce}}</ref> Many people close to Henry wished simply to ignore Clement, but in October 1530 a meeting of clergy and lawyers advised that the [[Parliament of England]] could not empower the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] to act against the Pope's prohibition. In Parliament, Bishop [[John Fisher]] was the Pope's champion.
[[File:Lead-alloy papal bulla issued under Clement VII (FindID 869584).jpg|thumb|Lead [[Bulla (seal)|bulla]] of Clement VII, found in [[Hertfordshire]], England]]
Henry subsequently underwent a marriage ceremony with [[Anne Boleyn]], in either late 1532 or early 1533.<ref name="Ives">For the dates and details of Henry VIII's controversial second marriage, see {{cite book|last=Ives|first=Eric William|author-link=Eric Ives|title=The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn: 'The Most Happy'|publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]]|isbn=978-0-631-23479-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lifedeathofanneb00ives/page/160 160–171]|location=[[Malden, Massachusetts]]; [[Oxford]]; [[Carlton, Victoria]]|date=20 August 2004|url=https://archive.org/details/lifedeathofanneb00ives/page/160}}</ref> The marriage was made easier by the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury [[William Warham]], a stalwart friend of the Pope, after which Henry persuaded Clement to appoint [[Thomas Cranmer]], a friend of the Boleyn family, as his successor. The Pope granted the [[papal bull]]s necessary for Cranmer's promotion to Canterbury, and also demanded that Cranmer take the customary oath of allegiance to the pope before his consecration. Laws made under Henry already declared that bishops would be consecrated even without papal approval. Cranmer was consecrated, while declaring beforehand that he did not agree with the oath he would take.<ref>Thomas Cranmer: Churchman and Scholar. By Paul Ayris and David Selwyn. Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 1 January 1999 (pp. 119–121)</ref> Cranmer was prepared to grant the annulment<ref>Cranmer, in a letter, describes it as a ''divorce'', but it was clearly not a dissolution of a marriage in the modern sense but the annulment of a marriage which was said to be defective on the grounds of affinity—Catherine was his deceased brother's widow. In his decree, Cranmer uses the words, "...dictum matrimonium..., ut praemittitur, contractum et consummatum, nullum et omnino invalidum fuisse et esse..." {{cite book|author=Gilbert Burnet|title=The History of the Reformation of the Church of England ... in Six Volumes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-u83AQAAMAAJ|volume=I, Part II|year=1825|publisher=W. Baynes and Son|location=London|language=la|page=153}}</ref> of the marriage to Catherine as Henry required. The Pope responded to the marriage by [[Excommunication (Catholic Church)|excommunicating]] both Henry and Cranmer from the Catholic Church.

Consequently, in England, in the same year, the [[Act Concerning Ecclesiastical Appointments and Absolute Restraint of Annates|Act of Conditional Restraint of Annates]] transferred the taxes on ecclesiastical income from the Pope to the Crown. The [[Act Concerning Peter's Pence and Dispensations|Peter's Pence Act]] outlawed the annual payment by landowners of [[Peter's Pence|one penny]] to the Pope. This act also reiterated that England had "no superior under God, but only your [[Grace (style)|Grace]]" and that Henry's "imperial crown" had been diminished by the Pope's "unreasonable and uncharitable usurpations and exactions".<ref name="Lehmberg">{{cite book|last=Lehmberg|first=Stanford E.|author-link=Stanford Lehmberg|title=The Reformation Parliament 1529–1536|url=https://archive.org/details/reformationparli0000lehm|url-access=registration|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-07655-5|location=London and New York|year=1970}}</ref> Ultimately, in 1534, Henry led the English Parliament to pass the [[Acts of Supremacy#First Act of Supremacy 1534|Act of Supremacy]] that established the independent [[Church of England]] and broke from the Catholic Church.

===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"/>

==Death==
On 10 December 1533, Clement returned to Rome with a fever and complaining of stomach problems. Strathern writes of how he had been ill for months: "[he] was aging rapidly...his liver was failing and his skin turned yellow; he also lost the sight of one eye and became partially blind in the other."<ref name="Strathern"/> He was so ill at the beginning of August 1534 that Cardinal [[Agostino Trivulzio]] wrote to King Francis that the Pope's doctors feared for his life.<ref>Giuseppe Molini, ''Documenti di storia italiana'' Vol. II (Firenze 1837), p. 379, no. 398 (10 August 1534).</ref>

On 23 September 1534, Clement wrote a long letter of farewell to Emperor Charles.<ref>Gregorovius, Volume VIII, pp. 697-699.</ref> He also affirmed, just days before his death, that [[Michelangelo]] should paint ''[[The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)|The Last Judgment]]'' above the altar in the [[Sistine Chapel]].<ref name="newadvent.org" /> Clement VII died just two days later, on 25 September 1534,{{sfn|Reynolds|2016|p=161}} having lived 56 years and four months, reigning for 10 years, 10 months, and 7 days. His body was interred in [[Saint Peter's Basilica]], and later transferred to a tomb in [[Santa Maria sopra Minerva]] in Rome,{{sfn|Visceglia|2006|p=181}} which was designed by [[Baccio Bandinelli]].{{sfn|Hersey|1993|p=56}}

Clement's biographer [[Emmanuel Rodocanachi]] writes that "in accordance with the custom of those times, people attributed his death to poison"—specifically, poisoning by [[death cap mushroom]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/list/7-of-the-worlds-most-poisonous-mushrooms|title=7 of the World's Most Poisonous Mushrooms|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref><ref name="wasson">{{cite journal |last=Wasson |first=Robert Gordon |title=The death of Claudius, or mushrooms for murderers |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/31872#page/133/mode/1up |journal=Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University |volume=23 |issue=3 |page=110|year=1972 |issn=0006-8098 |s2cid=87008723 |doi=10.5962/p.168556 |doi-access=free}}, who completely rejects the theory of poison.</ref> Clement's symptoms and the length of his illness do not, however, support the hypothesis that he had been poisoned with death cap mushroom.<ref name="wasson" />

==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" />
{{Clear}}

==See also==
*[[Republic of Florence]]
*[[Italian Wars]]
*[[Medici family]]
*[[List of popes from the Medici family]]
*[[Cardinals created by Clement VII]]
*[[Tour Grimaldi]] 
{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=Cosimo de' [[Pazzi]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Archbishop of Florence]]|years=1513–1523}} 
{{s-aft|after=Cardinal [[Nicolò Ridolfi]]}}
{{s-bef|before=Cardinal [[Guillaume Briçonnet (Cardinal)|Guillaume Briçonnet]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Archbishop of Narbonne]]|years=1515–1523}} 
{{s-aft|after=Cardinal [[Jean de Lorraine]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Giovanni Francesco de Orsini|Giovanni Battista Orsini]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Bitonto|Apostolic Administrator of Bitonto]]|years=8 February&nbsp;– November 1517}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Giacomo Orsini (bishop)|Giacomo Orsini]]}}
{{s-bef|before=Cardinal [[Achille Grassi]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Bologna]]<ref>Medici does not appear as Bishop either in F. Ughelli, ''Italia sacra'' II (ed. N. Colet) (Venice 1717), p. 37; or in Pius Gams, ''Series episcoporum'' (1873), p. 676. Considering the time span, some eight weeks, it is more likely that he was Administrator. On 3 March, the day that Medici resigned, Cardinal Grassis (who had been Bishop of Bologna) was named Administrator of Bologna. 
</ref>|years=8 January&nbsp;– 3 March 1518}} 
{{s-aft|after=Cardinal [[Lorenzo Campeggi]]<ref>on 2 December 1523: Gulik-Eubel, p. 136.</ref>}}
{{s-bef|before=Cardinal [[Niccolò Fieschi]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Archbishop of Embrun|Apostolic Administrator of Embrun]]|years=5–30 July 1518}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[François de Tournon]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Girolamo Ghinucci]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Ascoli Piceno|Apostolic Administrator of Ascoli Piceno]]|years=30 July&nbsp;– 3 September 1518}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Filos Roverella]]}}
{{s-bef|before=Cardinal [[Ippolito d'Este]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Eger]]|years=1520–1523}} 
{{s-aft|after=[[Pál Várdai]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Silvestro de' Gigli]]}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Worcester|Apostolic Administrator of Worcester]]|years=1521–1522}} 
{{s-aft|after=Cardinal [[Girolamo Ghinucci]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Adrian VI|Adrian VI]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=19 November 1523 – 25 September 1534}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Paul III|Paul III]]}}
{{s-end}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |title=High Renaissance Art in St. Peter's and the Vatican: An Interpretive Guide |first=George L. |last=Hersey |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |year=1993}} 
*{{cite book |title=The Pontificate of Clement VII: History, Politics, Culture |chapter=The Papal Court in Exile: Clement VII in Orvieto, 1527–28 |first=Anne |last=Reynolds |editor-first1=Kenneth |editor-last1=Gouwens |editor-first2=Sheryl E. |editor-last2=Reiss |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |year=2016 |pages=143–164}}
*{{cite book |title=Cultural Exchange in Early Modern Europe |editor-first1=Heinz |editor-last1=Schilling |editor-first2=István György |editor-last2=Tóth |chapter=A comparative historiographic reflection on sovereignty in early modern Europe: interregnum rites and papal funerals |first=Maria Antonietta |last=Visceglia |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |pages=162–190}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Cellini|first=Benvenuto|editor=John Addington Symonds, tr. |title=The Life of Benvenuto Cellini|url=https://archive.org/details/lifebenvenutoce03cellgoog|edition=fifth|year=1902|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|location=New York}}
* {{cite book|last=Gar|first=Tommaso|editor=Eugenio Alberi|title=Le relazioni degli ambasciatori veneti al Senato|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pDdOs7ZyFy8C&pg=PA434|volume=Series 2, Volume III, Secolo XVI, Vol. 1|year=1846|publisher=Società editrice fiorentina|location=Firenze|language=it}}
* {{cite book|last=Roscoe|first=William|editor=Thomas Roscoe|title=The life and pontificate of Leo the tenth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rLIHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA557|edition=4th|volume=I|year=1846|publisher=Henry G. Bohn|location=London }}
* {{cite book|last=Roscoe|first=William|editor=Thomas Roscoe|title=The Life and Pontificate of Leo the Tenth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T2dX_fS_UiMC&pg=PA524|edition=reprint of 4th edition (1846)|volume=II|year=1900|publisher=G. Bell & sons}}
* {{cite book|last=De Leva|first=Giuseppe|title=Storia documentata di Carlo V in correlazione all'Italia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UkEAAAAAcAAJ|volume=II|year=1866|publisher=Naratovich|location=Venezia}}
* {{cite book|last=Creighton |first=Mandell|title=A History of the Papacy, during the period of the Reformation: The German revolt, 1517–1527|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v3ghAQAAMAAJ|volume=V|year=1894|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Company|location=London}}
* {{cite book|last=Artaud de Montor|first=Alexis|title=The Lives and Times of the Popes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uGXyjMWbpDEC|volume=V|year=1911|publisher=The Catholic Publication Society of America|location=New York}}
* {{cite journal|last=Wilkie|first=William E.|title=The Cardinal Protectors of England: Rome and the Tudors Before the Reformation|journal=Church History|volume=44|issue=2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cardinalprotecto0000wilk/page/257 257–258]|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-20332-6|doi=10.2307/3165218|location=New York and London|date=26 July 1974|jstor=3165218|s2cid=162231515|url=https://archive.org/details/cardinalprotecto0000wilk/page/257}}
* Rodocanachi, Emmanuel. ''Histoire de Rome. Les pontificats d'Adrien VI et de Clément VII''. Paris : Hachette, 1933.
* {{cite book|last=Chastel|first=André |title=The Sack of Rome, 1527|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rGZoQgAACAAJ|year=1983|publisher=Princeton U.P.|location=Princeton|isbn=978-0-691-09947-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Hook|first=Judith|title=The Sack of Rome: 1527|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VpR4QgAACAAJ|edition=2nd|year=2004|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4039-1769-0}}
* {{cite book|last1=Gouwens|first1=Kenneth|author2=Sheryl E. Reiss|title=The Pontificate of Clement VII: History, Politics, Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pDAZw-VtQBcC|year=2005|publisher=Ashgate|location=Aldershot UK; Burlington VT USA|isbn=978-0-7546-0680-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Wallace|first=William E.|title=Clement VII and Michelangelo: An Anatomy of Patronage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_MVkQwAACAAJ|year=2005|publisher=Ashgate|location=Aldershot UK}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Clemens VII}}
{{Wikisource author}}
* {{cite CE1913 |first=Herbert |last=Thurston|wstitle=Pope Clement VII |volume=4 |short=x}}
* {{cite EB1911|first=Walter Alison |last=Phillips|author-link=Walter Alison Phillips|wstitle=Clement/Clement VII (Pope) |display=Clement s.v. Clement VII. |volume=6 |pages=485&ndash;486 |short=x}}
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/ Catholic Hierarchy], [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bdemg.html Popes Clement VII]
* [https://cardinals.fiu.edu/cardinals.htm Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church], [https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios1513.htm#Medici Cardinal Medici]
*[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/medici.html His son Alessandro de Medici]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070501150447/http://www.paradoxplace.com/Perspectives/Italian%20Images/Montages/Firenze/Medici%20Popes.htm Paradoxplace Medici Popes' Page]
* Adriano Prosperi, "[http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/clemente-vii_(Enciclopedia-dei-Papi)/ Clemente VII]," ''Enciclopedia dei Papi'' (2000) [in Italian]
*[https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04024a.htm Pope Clement VII in Catholic Encyclopedia]
*[https://www.italianartsociety.org/2015/09/pope-clement-vii-a-key-player-in-the-historical-and-artistic-events-of-the-high-renaissance-died-on-25-september-1534-in-rome/ Pope Clement VII - a key player in the historical and artistic events of the high renaissance]

{{Popes}}
{{Catholicism}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}
{{Medici}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clement 07}}
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:Renaissance Papacy]]
[[Category:1478 births]]
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[[Category:Italian Renaissance people]]
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[[Category:Deaths from foodborne illnesses]]
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[[Category:Bishops of Bologna]]
[[Category:Burials at Santa Maria sopra Minerva]]
[[Category:16th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops]]
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[[Category:Bishops of Eger]]
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