Which Pope is that?
How to identify them by their symbols on buildings and a short history of each pope ... plus an exploration of symbols, shields and madonella around Rome.
The Renaissance Popes: 1417 to 1534
Credited as the great builders of the Rome we see today, here is how to recognise their symbols on the monuments and architecture of Rome.
The Renaissance Papacy was a period of papal history between the Western Schism and the Protestant Reformation. From the election of Pope Martin V of the Council of Constance in 1417 to the Reformation, Western Christianity was largely free from schism as well as significant disputed papal claimants. Although many important divisions over the direction of the religion, these were resolved through the then-settled procedures of the papal conclave.
The popes of this period were a reflection of the College of Cardinals that elected them. The College was dominated by cardinal-nephew (relatives of the popes that elevated them), crown-cardinal (representatives of the Catholic monarchies of Europe) and members of the powerful Italian families. There were two popes each from the House of Borgia, House of della Rovere and House of Medici during this period. The wealthy popes and cardinals increasingly patronised Renaissance art and architecture, (re)building the landmarks of Rome from the ground up.
The Papal States began to resemble a modern nation-state during this period and the papacy took an increasingly active role in European wars and diplomacy. Popes were more frequently called upon to arbitrate disputes between competing colonial powers than to resolve complicated theological disputes. This period cemented the idea of papal supremacy. None of these popes have been canonized as a saint, or even regarded as Blessed or Venerable.
Pope Martin V (1417–1431) - from the Colonna family. Symbol: single column with crown.
The son of Agapito Colonna and Caterina Conti, born Oddone Colonna between January 26 and February 20, 1369. He belonged to one of the oldest and most distinguished families of Rome. His brother Giordano became Prince of Salerno and Duke of Venosa, while his sister Paola was Lady of Piombino between 1441 and 1445.
In 1409 he took part in the Council of Pisa, and was one of the supporters of Antipope Alexander V. Later he confirmed his allegiance to Alexander's successor, John XXIII, by whom his family obtained several privileges, while Oddone obtained for himself the vicariate of Todi, Orvieto, Perugia and Umbria. He was excommunicated for this in 1411 by Pope Gregory XII, whom he eventually succeeded on 14 Nov. 1417. Oddone was with John XXIII's entourage at the Council of Constance and followed him in his escape at Schaffhausen on 21 March 1415. Later he returned to Constance and took part in the process leading to the deposition of John XXIII.
After his confirmation as Pope, Martin left Constance in May 1418, but travelled slowly through Italy and lingered at Florence. His authority in Rome was represented by his brother Giordano. The Pope at the time ruled only Rome (when not rebellious) and its environs: Braccio held Umbria, Bologna as an independent commune, while much of Romagna and the Marche was held by local "vicars", who were in fact petty hereditary lords.
After a long stay in Florence, Martin was able to enter Rome in September 1420. He at once set to work, establishing order and restoring the dilapidated churches, palaces, bridges, and other public structures. For this reconstruction he engaged some famous masters of the Tuscan school and thus laid the foundation for the Roman Renaissance.
Pope Eugene IV (1431–1447)
Gabriele Condulmer was born in Venice to a rich merchant family. He entered a community of Canons Regular of San Giorgio in Alga in his native city. At the age of twenty-four he was appointed by his maternal uncle, Pope Gregory XII, as Bishop of Siena. In Siena, the political leaders objected to a bishop who was not only 24, but also a foreigner. Therefore, he resigned the appointment, becoming instead his uncle's papal treasurer, protonotary and Cardinal Priest of the Basilica of San Clemente.
Condulmer was quickly elected to succeed Martin V in the papal conclave of 1431. He was crowned as Eugene IV at St. Peter's Basilica on 11 March 1431. By a written agreement made before his election he pledged to distribute to the cardinals one-half of all the revenues of the Church and promised to consult with them on all questions of importance, both spiritual and temporal. He is described as tall, thin, with a winning countenance, although many of his troubles were owing to his own want of tact, which alienated parties from him. Upon assuming the papal chair, Eugene IV took violent measures against the numerous Colonna relatives of his predecessor Martin V, who had rewarded them with castles and lands. This at once involved him in a serious contest with the powerful house of Colonna that nominally supported the local rights of Rome against the interests of the Papacy. A truce was soon arranged.
Although his pontificate had been so stormy and unhappy that he is said to have regretted on his deathbed that he ever left his monastery, Eugene IV's victory over the Council of Basel and his efforts on behalf of church unity nevertheless contributed greatly to the breakdown of the conciliar movement and restored the papacy to a semblance of the dominant position it had held before the Western Schism (1378–1417). This victory had been gained, however, by making concessions to the princes of Europe. Thereafter, the papacy had to depend more for its revenues on the Papal States.
Eugene IV was dignified in demeanour, but inexperienced and vacillating in action and excitable in temper. Bitter in his hatred of heresy, he nevertheless displayed great kindness to the poor. He laboured to reform the monastic orders, especially the Franciscans, and was never guilty of nepotism. Although austere in his private life, he was a sincere friend of art and learning, and in 1431 he re-established the university at Rome. He also consecrated Florence Cathedral on 25 March 1436. Eugene died in Rome on 23 February 1447 and was buried at Saint Peter's by the tomb of Pope Eugene III. Later his tomb was transferred to San Salvatore in Lauro, a parish church on the other bank of the Tiber River.
Pope Nicholas V (1447–1455)
Born Tommaso Parentucelli, he was Pope from 6 March 1447 until his death in 1455. Pope Eugene made him a cardinal in 1446 after successful trips to Italy and Germany, and when Eugene died the next year, Parentucelli was elected in his place. He took his name Nicholas in memory of his obligations to Niccolò Albergati.
The Pontificate of Nicholas saw the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks and decrees which effectively sanctioned slavery. By the Concordat of Vienna he secured the recognition of papal rights over bishoprics and benefices. He also brought about the submission of the last of the antipopes, Felix V, and the dissolution of the Synod of Basle. A key figure in the Roman Renaissance, Nicholas sought to make Rome the home of literature and art. He strengthened fortifications, restored aqueducts, and rebuilt many churches. The glories of the Leonine City, the Vatican, and the Basilica of St. Peter must be considered part of his legacy.
In 1450, Nicholas held a Jubilee at Rome and the offerings of the numerous pilgrims who thronged to Rome gave him the means of furthering the cause of culture in Italy, which he had so much at heart. In March 1452 he crowned Frederick III as Holy Roman Emperor in St. Peter's, in what was the last imperial coronation held in Rome. Within the city of Rome, Nicholas introduced the fresh spirit of the Renaissance. His plans were of embellishing the city with new monuments worthy of the capital of the Christian world.
His first care was practical, to reinforce the city's fortifications, cleaning and even paving some main streets and restoring the water supply. In the Middle Ages Romans depended for water on wells and cisterns and the poor dipped their water from the yellow Tiber. The Aqua Virgo aqueduct, originally constructed by Agrippa, was restored by Nicholas and emptied into a simple basin that Leon Battista Alberti designed, the predecessor of the Trevi Fountain.
But the works on which Nicholas especially set his heart were the rebuilding of the Vatican, the Borgo district and St Peter's Basilica, where the reborn glories of the papacy were to be focused. He got as far as pulling down part of the ancient basilica, made some alterations to the Lateran Palace and laid up 2,522 cartloads of marble from the dilapidated Colosseum for use in the later constructions.
Pope Callixtus III (1455–1458) Family: Borgia Symbol: Bull
Born Alfons de Borjia, was Pope from 8 April 1455 to his death in 1458. He was responsible for the retrial of Joan of Arc that saw her vindicated. A member of the powerful Borgia family, Callixtus III was the uncle of Pope Alexander VI, whom he appointed to the College of Cardinals.
Borjia was raised to the papal chair on 8 April 1455 at an advanced age as a "compromise candidate" in the papal conclave of 1455. He took the pontifical name of "Callixtus III". He was crowned as pope on 20 April 1455 by the Cardinal Protodeacon Prospero Colonna.
He is viewed by historians as being an extremely pious person and a firm believer in the authority of the Holy See. He canceled an extensive building program under way in Rome and the money used to fund the crusades against the Turks. Callixtus III 'excommunicated' the 1456 appearance of Halley's Comet, believing it to be an ill omen for the Christian defenders of Belgrade from the besieging armies of the Ottoman Empire.
Pope Pius II (1458–1464) Family: Piccolomini Symbol: 5 crescents
Born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini, he was Pope from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464. He was born at Corsignano in the Sienese territory of a noble but impoverished family. His longest and most enduring work is the story of his life, the Commentaries, which is the only autobiography ever written by a reigning pope.
Pope Pius II inaugurated an unusual urban project, perhaps the first city planning exercise in modern Europe. He refurbished his home town of Corsignano (province of Siena, Tuscany) and renamed it Pienza, after himself. A cathedral and palaces were built in the best style of the day to decorate the city.
Pope Paul II (1464–1471) Family: Barbo
Born Pietro Barbo, was Pope from 30 August 1464 to his death in 1471. His adoption of the spiritual career, after having been trained as a merchant, was prompted by his uncle's election as pope. He gained popularity through his generosity, boasting that if elected pope he would buy each cardinal a villa to escape the summer heat. He was described as "a collector of statuary, jewelery, and (it was said) handsome youths" who enjoyed dressing up in sumptuous ecclesiastical finery.
Almost from his coronation, Paul withdrew and became inaccessible: audiences were only granted at night and even good friends waited a fortnight to see him. Paul was known to display the Sword of State and Sword of Justice in contemporary renditions of his arms to remind Paul's opposition and detractors of his supreme power to make law and deal in death.
He wore rouge in public. He wanted to take the name Formosus II ("handsome"), but was persuaded not to. He had a papal tiara made for his own use studded with "diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, topaz, large pearls and every kind of precious gem". He built the Palazzo San Marco (now the Palazzo Venezia in the center of Rome) and lived there even as pope, amassing a great collection of art and antiquities.
Although Paul II was a committed opponent of humanist learning, he oversaw and approved the introduction of printing into the Papal States. The result was that books and other documents became far more numerous and less expensive to procure than the previous handwritten manuscripts. Printing put the materials needed for an advanced education into the hands of more people than ever before, including an increasing number of laypeople.
He was the best in providing for popular amusements. In 1466 he permitted the horse-race that was a feature of Carnival to be run along the main street, the Via Lata, which now became known from this annual event as the Via del Corso. This event revealed deep Anti-Semitism, as the Pope forced Jews to run naked in the streets for the amusement of non-Jews. He has also been attributed with the practice of requiring Jews to visibly identify themselves by wearing yellow handkerchiefs in public, a process used later in Holocaust times.
Pope Sixtus IV (1471–1484) Family: della Rovere Symbol: Oak tree
Born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 9 August 1471 to his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included building the Sistine Chapel and the creation of the Vatican Archives. A patron of the arts, the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpieces of the city's new artistic age. Sixtus aided the Spanish Inquisition, though he fought to prevent abuses therein. He was famed for his nepotism.
Upon being elected pope Della Rovere adopted the name Sixtus – a name that had not been used since the 5th century. One of his first acts was to declare a renewed crusade against the Ottoman Turks. Some fruitless attempts were made towards unification with the Greek Church. For the remainder of his pontificate, Sixtus turned to temporal issues and dynastic considerations, seeking to strengthen his position by surrounding himself with relatives and friends. Sixtus was a "lover of boys and sodomites" - awarding benefices and bishoprics in return for sexual favours, and nominating a number of young men as cardinals; some of whom were celebrated for their good looks.
However, all agree as a civic patron Sixtus should be admired. The dedicatory inscription in the fresco by Melozzo da Forlì in the Vatican Palace records: "You gave your city temples, streets, squares, fortifications, bridges and restored the Acqua Vergine as far as the Trevi...". In addition to restoring the aqueduct that provided Rome an alternative to the river water that had made the city famously unhealthy, he restored or rebuilt over 30 of Rome's dilapidated churches, among them San Vitale (1475) and Santa Maria del Popolo, and added seven new ones. The Sistine Chapel was sponsored by Sixtus IV, as was the Ponte Sisto, the Sistine Bridge – the first new bridge across the Tiber since antiquity – and the building of Via Sistina (later named Borgo Sant'Angelo), a road leading from Castel Sant'Angelo to Saint Peter. All this was done to facilitate the integration of the Vatican Hill and Borgo with the heart of old Rome. This was part of a broader scheme of urbanization carried out under Sixtus IV, who swept the long-established markets from the Campidoglio in 1477 and decreed in a bull of 1480 the widening of streets and the first post-Roman paving, the removal of porticoes and other post-classical impediments to free public passage.
Pope Innocent VIII (1484–1492). Family: Cibo
Born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was Pope from 29 August 1484 to his death in 1492. Born into a prominent Genoese family he entered the church and was made bishop in 1467 before being elevated to the rank of cardinal by Pope Sixtus IV. He was elected Pope in 1484 as compromise candidate after a stormy conclave which was riven with faction, while gangs rioted in the streets.
In 1484, Innocent VIII issued a papal bull which supported investigations against magicians and witches.
"It has recently come to our ears, not without great pain to us, that in some parts of upper Germany ... many persons of both sexes, heedless of their own salvation and forsaking the catholic faith, give themselves over to devils male and female, and by their incantations, charms, and conjurings, and by other abominable superstitions and sortileges, offences, crimes, and misdeeds, ruin and cause to perish the offspring of women, the foal of animals, the products of the earth, the grapes of vines, and the fruits of trees, as well as men and women, cattle and flocks and herds and animals of every kind, vineyards also and orchards, meadows, pastures, harvests, grains and other fruits of the earth." He also appointed Tomas de Torquemada as Grand Inquisitor of Spain in 1487.
In July 1492 Innocent fell into a fever. He was said to have been given the world's first blood transfusion by his Jewish physician Giacomo di San Genesio, who had him drink the blood of three 10-year-old boys. The boys subsequently died. The evidence for this story, however, is unreliable and may have been motivated by anti-semitism. Innocent VIII died himself on the 25th of July.
A mysterious inscription on his tomb in St. Peter's states: “Nel tempo del suo Pontificato, la gloria della scoperta di un nuovo mondo” ("During his Pontificate, the glory of the discovery of a new world."). The fact is that he died seven days before the departure of Christopher Columbus for his supposedly first voyage over the Atlantic, raising speculations that Columbus actually traveled before the known date and re-discovered the Americas for the Europeans before the supposed date of October 12, 1492.
Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503) . Family: Borja
Born Rodrigo de Borja, near Valencia, Spain, he was Pope from 11 August 1492 until his death. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, partly because he acknowledged fathering several children by his mistresses. Therefore his Italianised surname, Borgia, became a byword for libertinism and nepotism, which are traditionally considered as characterizing his pontificate. However, two of Alexander's successors, the also controversial pontiffs Sixtus V and Urban VIII, described him as one of the most outstanding popes since Saint Peter.
Contemporary accounts suggest that Rodrigo was "handsome, with a very cheerful countenance and genial bearing. He was gifted with the quality of being a smooth talker and of choice eloquence. Beautiful women were attracted to him and excited by him in quite a remarkable way, more strongly than how 'iron is drawn to a magnet'." Rodrigo Borgia was also an intelligent man with an appreciation for the arts and sciences and an immense amount of respect for the Church. He was capable and cautious, considered a "political priest" by some. He was a gifted speaker and great at conversation. Additionally, he was "so familiar with Holy Writ, that his speeches were fairly sparkling with well-chosen texts of the Sacred Books".
Of Alexander's many mistresses the one for whom passion lasted longest was Vannozza dei Cattanei, wife of three successive husbands. She had four children whom he openly acknowledged as his own, including the infamous Lucrezia. For a period of time, before legitimizing his children after becoming Pope, Rodrigo pretended that his four children with Vannozza were his niece and nephews and that they were fathered by Vannozza's husbands.
On the death of Pope Innocent VIII on 25 July 1492, the three likely candidates for the Papacy were the sixty-one-year-old Borgia, seen as an independent candidate, Ascanio Sforza for the Milanese, and Giuliano della Rovere seen as a pro-French candidate. It was rumoured but not substantiated that Borgia succeeded in buying the largest number of votes and Sforza, in particular, was bribed with four mule-loads of silver. Lorenzo de' Medici (later Pope Leo X) is said to have warned after the election, "Now we are in the power of a wolf, the most rapacious perhaps that this world has ever seen. And if we do not flee, he will inevitably devour us all."
In contrast to the preceding pontificate, Pope Alexander VI adhered initially to strict administration of justice and orderly government. Before long, though, he began endowing his relatives at the church's expense.
It is often alleged but there is no evidence that the Borgias resorted to poisoning, judicial murder, or extortion to fund their schemes and the defense of the Papal States. The only contemporary accusations of poisoning were from some of the servants of the Borgias, extracted under torture by Alexander's bitter enemy and successor, Julius II. In Italy at the time, the Spanish were looked down upon. Thus, the prominent Italian families looked down on the Borgia family, and they resented their power, which they sought for themselves. It is argued that the crimes attributed to the Borgias were exaggerated by contemporaries because they were outsiders expanding their holdings at the expense of the Italians, that they were Spaniards when it was felt that Spain had too much control on the Italian peninsula, and that after the death of Alexander the family lost its influence and therefore any incentive for anyone to defend them.
Pope Pius III (1503) Family: Piccolomini
Born Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, was Pope from 22 September 1503 to his death on 18 October 1503. He had one of the shortest pontificates in papal history.
Pope Alexander VI had died and in 1503, amid the disturbances consequent upon his death, it took the combined pressures of all the ambassadors to induce Cesare Borgia to withdraw from Rome so that an unpressured conclave might take place. Cardinal Piccolomini was elected on 22 September 1503 and he named himself "Pius III" after his uncle Pius II. This selection can be seen as a compromise between factions, Borgia and della Rovere, picking a frail cardinal with long experience in the Roman Curia over the kin of either Sixtus IV or Alexander VI.
Piccolomini had not been ordained nor consecrated so on 30 September 1503 he received ordination. Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere consecrated him on 1 October 1503 in the Vatican and his coronation took place on 8 October 1503. Cardinal Protodeacon Raffaello Sansoni Riario performed the coronation and several of the features of the celebration had to be omitted due to his frail health.
On 13 October he was on his deathbed with gout and after a brief pontificate of 26 days he died on 18 October 1503.
Pope Julius II (1503–1513) Family: della Rovere . Symbol: Oak tree
Nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" and "The Warrior Pope", born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from
1 November 1503 to his death in 1513. His papacy was marked by an active foreign policy, ambitious building projects, and patronage for the arts. He commissioned the destruction and rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica, plus Michelangelo's decoration of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. In addition to an active military policy, he personally led troops into battle on at least two occasions.
Della Rovere then succeeded by dexterous diplomacy in winning the support of Cesare Borgia, whom he tricked by his promises of money and continued papal backing for Borgia policies, and was elected as Pope Julius II by the unanimous vote of the cardinals. This was almost certainly by means of bribery with money, but also with promises. Indeed, his election only took a few hours, and the only two votes he did not receive were his own and the one of his main opponent.
From the beginning, Julius II set out to defeat the various powers that challenged his temporal authority. In a series of complicated strategies he first succeeded in rendering it impossible for the Borgias to retain their power. Indeed, on the day of his election, he declared "I will not live in the same rooms as the Borgias lived. He [Alexander VI] desecrated the Holy Church as none before. His name and memory must be forgotten. It must be crossed out of every document and memorial. His reign must be obliterated. All paintings made of the Borgias or for them must be covered over with black crepe. All the tombs of the Borgias must be opened and their bodies sent back to where they belong—to Spain." The Borgias' apartments remained sealed until the 19th Century.
Julius II then used his influence to reconcile the two powerful Roman families of Orsini and Colonna, and, by decrees made in their interest, he also attached to himself the remainder of the Roman nobility.
In December 1503, Julius issued a dispensation allowing Henry VIII of England to marry Catherine of Aragon.
As part of the Renaissance programme of reestablishing the glory of antiquity for the Christian capital, Rome, Julius II took considerable effort to present himself as a sort of emperor-pope, capable of leading a Latin-Christian empire. On Palm Sunday, 1507, "Julius II entered Rome . . . both as a second Julius Caesar, heir to the majesty of Rome's imperial glory, and in the likeness of Christ, whose vicar the pope was, and who in that capacity governed the universal Roman Church." Julius, who modelled himself after his namesake Caesar, would personally lead his army across the Italian peninsula under the imperial war-cry, "Drive out the barbarians." Yet, despite the imperial rhetoric, the campaigns of Julius were highly local.
Despite Julius II's political and bellicose achievements, his chief title to honor is to be found in his patronage of art and literature. He did much to improve and beautify the city. In 1506 he laid the foundation stone of the new St. Peter's Basilica. However, he also demolished the old St. Peter's Basilica, which had stood for more than 1,100 years. He was a friend and patron of Bramante and Raphael, and a patron of Michelangelo. Several of Michelangelo's greatest works (including the painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel) were commissioned by Julius.
Pope Leo X (1513–1521). Family: Medici . Symbol: 5 balls
Born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, he was Pope from 9 March 1513 to his death in 1521. The second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, ruler of the Florentine Republic.
He is probably best remembered for granting indulgences for those who donated to reconstruct St. Peter's Basilica, which practice was challenged by Martin Luther's 95 Theses. He seems not to have taken seriously the array of demands for church reform that would quickly grow into the Protestant Reformation. His Papal Bull of 1520 simply condemned Luther on a number of areas and made ongoing engagement difficult.
He borrowed and spent heavily. A significant patron of the arts, upon election Leo is alleged to have said, "Since God has given us the papacy, let us enjoy it". Under his reign, progress was made on the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica and artists such as Raphael decorated the Vatican rooms. Leo also reorganised the Roman University, and promoted the study of literature, poetry and antiquities. He died in 1521 and is buried in Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome. He was the last pope not to have been in priestly orders at the time of his election to the papacy.
Leo had a musical and pleasant voice and was cheerful in temper. He was eloquent in speech and elegant in his manners and epistolary style. He enjoyed music and the theatre, art and poetry, the masterpieces of the ancients and the creations of his contemporaries, especially those seasoned with wit and learning. To the virtues of liberality, charity and clemency he added the Machiavellian qualities of deception and shrewdness, so highly esteemed by the princes of his time.
Even those who defend him against the more outlandish attacks on his character condemn him for his love of masquerades, buffoonery and low jests, his irresponsible frivolous pursuits, and his inordinate passion for fowling and hunting boar and other wild beasts. According to one biographer, he was "engrossed in idle and selfish amusements".
Leo indulged buffoons at his Court, but also tolerated cruel antics which made them the object of ridicule.
Leo X was also lavish in charity: retirement homes, hospitals, convents, discharged soldiers, pilgrims, poor students, exiles, the disabled and the sick, unfortunates of every description were generously remembered, and more than 6,000 ducats were annually distributed in alms.
Leo's lively interest in art and literature, to say nothing of his natural liberality, his alleged nepotism, his political ambitions and necessities, and his immoderate personal luxury, exhausted within two years the hard savings of Julius II, and precipitated a financial crisis from which he never emerged and which was a direct cause of most of what, from a papal point of view, were calamities of his pontificate.
He sold cardinals' hats. He sold membership in the "Knights of Peter". He borrowed large sums from bankers, curials, princes and Jews. These sums, together with the considerable amounts accruing from indulgences, jubilees, and special fees, vanished as quickly as they were received. Then the pope resorted to pawning palace furniture, table plate, jewels, even statues of the apostles. Several banking firms and many individual creditors were ruined by the death of Leo.
Pope Adrian VI (1522–1523) Family: Florensz
Born Adriaan Florensz, he was Pope from 9 January 1522 until his death on 14 September 1523. The only Dutchman to become pope, he was the last non-Italian pope until John Paul II, 456 years later.
Adrian came to the papacy in the midst of one of its greatest crises, threatened not only by Lutheranism to the north but also by the advance of the Ottoman Turks to the east. He refused to compromise with Lutheranism theologically, demanding Luther's condemnation as a heretic. However, he is noted for having attempted to reform the Catholic Church administratively in response to the Protestant Reformation. His efforts at reform, however, proved fruitless, as they were resisted by most of his Renaissance ecclesiastical contemporaries and he did not live long enough to see his efforts through to their conclusion.
He immediately entered upon the path of the reformer. His aim was "to extirpate inveterate abuses; to reform a court which thrived on corruption, and detested the very name of reform; to hold in leash young and warlike princes, ready to bound at each other's throats; to stem the rising torrent of revolt in Germany; to save Christendom from the Turks, who from Belgrade now threatened Hungary, and if Rhodes fell would be masters of the Mediterranean". These were herculean labours for one who was in his sixty-third year, had never seen Italy, and was sure to be despised by the Romans as a 'barbarian'.
His plan was to attack notorious abuses one by one; however, in his attempt to improve the system of indulgences he was hampered by his cardinals. He found reduction of the number of matrimonial dispensations to be impossible, as the income had been farmed out for years in advance by Pope Leo X.
On his death after one year and six months and 8 days days as Pope he was mocked by the people of Rome on the Pasquino, and the Romans, who had never taken a liking to a man they saw as a "barbarian", rejoiced at his death.
Pope Clement VII (1523–1534) Family: Medici
born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, was Pope from 19 November 1523 to his death in 1534.
By the late 1520s, King Henry VIII wanted to have his marriage to Charles's aunt Catherine of Aragon annulled. The couple's sons died in infancy, threatening the future of the Tudor dynasty, although Henry did have a daughter, Mary Tudor. Henry claimed that this lack of a male heir was because his marriage was "blighted in the eyes of God". Catherine had been his brother's widow, but the marriage had been childless, thus the marriage was not against Old Testament law, which forbids only such unions if the brother had children. Moreover, a special dispensation from Pope Julius II had been given to allow the wedding. Henry argued that this had been wrong and that his marriage had never been valid. In 1527 Henry asked Pope Clement to annul the marriage, but the Pope 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 a canonical impediment previously dispensed. Many people close to Henry wished simply to ignore the Pope; but in October 1530 a meeting of clergy and lawyers advised that the English Parliament could not empower the Archbishop of Canterbury to act against the Pope's prohibition. In Parliament, Bishop John Fisher was the Pope's champion.
Henry subsequently underwent a marriage ceremony with Anne Boleyn, in either late 1532 or early 1533. 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 bulls necessary for Cranmer’s promotion to Canterbury, and he 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. Cranmer was prepared to grant the annulment of the marriage to Catherine as Henry required. The Pope responded to the marriage by excommunicating both Henry and Cranmer from the Catholic Church.
Consequently, in England, in the same year, the Act of First Fruits and Tenths transferred the taxes on ecclesiastical income from the Pope to the English Crown. The Peter's Pence Act outlawed the annual payment by landowners of one penny to the Pope. This act also reiterated that England had "no superior under God, but only your Grace" and that Henry's "imperial crown" had been diminished by "the unreasonable and uncharitable usurpations and exactions" of the Pope. Ultimately Henry led the English Parliament to pass the Act of Supremacy (1534) that established the independent Church of England and breaking from the Catholic Church.
In 1527 The Pope's wavering politics caused the rise of the Imperial party inside the Curia. Known as the 'Sack of Rome', Cardinal Pompeo Colonna's soldiers pillaged Vatican Hill and gained control of the whole of Rome in his name.
Charles of Bourbon, who had led the Imperial army into Rome, died while mounting a ladder during the short siege of Rome and his starving troops, unpaid and left without a guide, felt free to ravage Rome. The many incidents of murder, rape, and vandalism that followed ended the splendours of Renaissance Rome forever. Clement VII, who had displayed no more resolution in his military than in his political conduct, was obliged to surrender himself together with the Castel Sant'Angelo, where he had taken refuge. He agreed to pay a ransom of 400,000 ducati in exchange for his life. 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.
As for the arts, Clement VII is remembered for having been the patron of Benvenuto Cellini. He also ordered, just a few days before his death, Michelangelo's painting of The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.