The pontificate of Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici) is usually regarded as amongst the most disastrous in history, and the pontiff characterized as timid, vacillating, and avaricious. It was during his years as pope (1523-34) that England broke away from the Catholic Church, and relations with the Holy Roman Emperor deteriorated to such a degree that in 1527 an Imperial army sacked Rome and imprisoned the pontiff. Given these spectacular political and military failures, it is perhaps unsurprising that Clement has often elicited the scorn of historians, rather than balanced and dispassionate analysis. This interdisciplinary volume, the first on the subject, constitutes a major step forward in our understanding of Clement VII's pontificate. Looking beyond Clement's well-known failures, and anachronistic comparisons with more 'successful' popes, it provides a fascinating insight into one of the most pivotal periods of papal and European history. Drawing on long-neglected sources, as rich as they are abundant, the contributors address a wide variety of important aspects of Clement's pontificate, re-assessing his character, familial and personal relations, political strategies, and cultural patronage, as well as exploring broader issues including the impact of the Sack of Rome, and religious renewal and reform in the pre-Tridentine period. Taken together, the essays collected here provide the most expansive and nuanced portrayal yet offered of Clement as pope, patron, and politician. In reconsidering the politics and emphasizing the cultural vitality of the period, the collection provides fresh and much-needed revision to our understanding of Clement VII's pontificate and its critical impact on the history of the papacy and Renaissance Europe.

Presents information on Italian Pope Clement VII (1478-1534), provided online by Kevin Knight as part of the "Catholic Encyclopedia" resource. States that Pope Clement VII was born Giulio de'Medici and as Pope refused to sanction the divorce of Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon.

Published in 1908, this vintage text by Herbert Millingchamp Vaughan (1870-1948), provides a fascinating insight into the realm of the Medici Popes in Italy. Featuring the original illustrations, this edition is a must-have for any historian or enthusiast for Renaissance history. Contents include: Pedigree of the Senior Branch of the House of Medici; 1 Childhood and Youth in Florence; 2 Misfortune and Exile; 3 Rise to Power Under Julius II; 4 Return of the Medici to Florence; 5 Leo Decimus Pontifex Maximus; 6 Medicean Ambition; 7 The Court of Leo X; 8 Leo’s Hunting; 9 Leo X and Raphael; 10 Conspiracy of the Cardinals; 11 Death and Character of Leo X; 12 Clemens Septimus Pontifex Maximus; 13 The Sack of Rome; 14 Last Years of Clement VII; 15 The Later Medici Popes; Appendix. We are republishing this early work in a high quality, modern and affordable edition, complete with a specially written concise biography.

The stories of seven popes who ruled at seven different critical periods in the 600 years leading into the Reformation.

As a 'biography' of the fourteenth-century illustrated Bible of Clement VII, an opposition pope in Avignon from 1378-94, this social history traces the Bible's production in Naples (c. 1330) through its changing ownership and meaning in Avignon (c. 1340-1405) to its presentation as a gift to Alfonso, King of Aragon (c. 1424). The author's novel approach, based on solid art historical and anthropological methodologies, allows her to assess the object's evolving significance and the use of such a Bible to enhance the power and prestige of its princely and papal owners. Through archival sources, the author pinpoints the physical location and privileged treatment of the Clement Bible over a century. The author considers how the Bible's contexts in the collection of a bishop, several popes, and a king demonstrate the value of the Bible as an exchange commodity. The Bible was undoubtedly valued for the aesthetic quality of its 200+ luxurious images. Additionally, the author argues that its iconography, especially Jerusalem and visionary scenes, augments its worth as a reflection of contemporary political and religious issues. Its images offered biblical precedents, its style represented associations with certain artists and regions in Italy, and its past provided links to important collections. Fleck's examination of the art production around the Bible in Naples and Avignon further illuminates the manuscript's role as a reflection of the court cultures in those cities. Adding to recent art historical scholarship focusing on the taste and signature styles in late medieval and Renaissance courts, this study provides new information about workshop practices and techniques. In these two court cities, the author analyzes styles associated with different artists, different patrons, and even with different rooms of the rulers' palaces, offering new findings relevant to current scholarship, not only in art history but also in court and collection studies.