Clement VII of the Holy Roman Empire

“ According to Clement VII's own declarations, the English were convinced that he was only hindered by regard for the Emperor from coming to a decision which was essential to them. His vacillation is very intelligible, very natural: but it did not correspond to the idea of the dignity with which he was clothed. ”

“ He came to Rome (February, 1524) , and accompanied by a servant and an interpreter, rode on a white horse to the Vatican, and requested an interview with Cardinal Giulio, in the presence of other cardinals. Pope Clement also gave him audience, and accepted his credentials.
Clement VII (1523–1534) , one of the most excellent popes, an illegitimate scion of the Florentine Medicis, was sensible and kind, and earnestly desired to see Italy freed from the barbarians, that is, the Germans. But he reigned at a time when Europe had lost its balance. ”

“ The swing of the pendulum so often noticed in politics was particularly marked in the elections to the papacy of the sixteenth century. In almost every instance the new pope was an opponent, and in some sort a contrast, to his predecessor. In no case was this more true than in the election of 1523. Deciding that if Adrian's methods were necessary to save the church the medicine was worse than the disease, the cardinals lost no time in raising another Medici to the throne. Like all of his race, Clement VII was a patron of art and literature, and tolerant of abuses. ”

“ And it is not to be doubted that if the said pope had lived out his natural life he would have sold the emperor well, and made him pay dear for that imprisonment, in order to aggrandize his niece and the kingdom to which she was joined. But Clement VII. died young, and all this profit came to nought.
So now our queen, having lost her mother, Magdelaine de Boulogne, and Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino, her father, in early life, was married by her good uncle the pope to France, whither she was brought by sea to Marseille in great triumph ”

“ The latter appear to be the most active and loquacious, and every fact and word in the original lives of Gregory XI. and Clement VII. are supported in the Notes of their editor Baluze.]
67 (return)
[ The ordinal numbers of the popes seems to decide the question against Clement VII. and Benedict XIII., who are boldly stigmatized as antipopes by the Italians, while the French are content with authorities and reasons to plead the cause of doubt and toleration, (Baluz. in Præfat.) It is singular, or rather it is not singular, that saints, visions and miracles should be common to both parties.] ”

“ No sovereign stood higher in the favor of Rome than Henry, whose alliance had ever been ready in its distress and who was even now prompt with aid in money. But Clement's consent to his wish meant a break with the Emperor, Catharine's nephew; and the exhaustion of France, the weakness of the league in which the lesser Italian states strove to maintain their independence against Charles after the battle of Pavia, left the Pope at the Emperor's mercy. ”

“ Such conceptions may remain ineradicable in the minds of individuals, without hindering the general progress of the age. It certainly makes on us a singular impression, when we meet them at a time when human nature in its deepest essence and in all its characteristic expressions was not only known by exact observation, but represented by an immortal poetry and art. It sounds almost ludicrous when an otherwise competent observer considers Clement VII. to be of a melancholy temperament, but defers his judgment to that of the physicians, who declare the pope of a sanguine-choleric nature ”

“ His successor Adrian was a man of good intentions but limited purview; the great issues at stake were beyond his grasp, and his attempts at disciplinary reforms were made nugatory by the stolid immobility of the hierarchy. After a brief reign he was succeeded by Clement VII., a man of considerable talent and inconsiderable ability: a man shifty and fearful, not fitted to cope with the stubborn wills of the reigning princes and their ministers, or with the moral and intellectual forces which were threatening the supremacy of the historic Church. ”

“ They did not long survive their work: Margaret of Austria died on the 1st of December, 1530, and Louise of Savoy on the 22d of September, 1531. All the great political actors seemed hurrying away from the stage, as if the drama were approaching its end. Pope Clement VII. died on the 26th of September, 1534. He was a man of sense and moderation; he tried to restore to Italy her independence, but he forgot that a moderate policy is, above all, that which requires most energy and perseverance. ”

“ The Emperor Charles V and Pope {219} Clement VII became open enemies. The pontiff, fearing the increasing power of Charles, had formed an alliance with Francis I, king of France, against him. This so incensed Charles that he abolished the authority of the pope in Spain, made war upon him in Italy, captured the cities of Rome, besieged the pontiff in his castle of St. ”

“ It certainly implied no independence of Rome, for negotiations were still being carried on with the papal court. But it told Clement plainly that in any strife that might come between himself and Henry the clergy were in the King's hand, and that he must look for no aid from them in any struggle with the Crown. The warning was backed by an address to the Pope from the lords and some of the commons who assembled after a fresh prorogation of the houses in the spring.
"The cause of his majesty," the peers were made to say, "is the cause of each of ourselves." ”

“ Running behind, and crossing the back streets of the Borgo, is the covered passage intended for the escape of the popes to the castle. It was used by Alexander VI. when invaded by Charles VIII. in 1494, and twice by Clement VII. (Giulio di Medici) , who fled, in 1527, from Moncada, viceroy of Naples, and in May, 1527, during the terrible sack of Rome by the troops of the Constable de Bourbon.
"Pendant que l'on se battait, Clement VII. était en prières devant l'autel de sa chapelle au Vatican, détail singulier chez un homme qui avait commencé sa carrière par être militaire. ”

“ From his despatches during this period it appears that his diplomacy was chiefly directed to securing for Wolsey an enlargement of his powers as legate, in which he was partially successful. On the death of Adrian VI (14 Sept. 1523) he exerted himself actively in promoting the candidature of Giulio de' Medici, who ultimately succeeded to the papacy as Clement VII. On 24 May 1524 he was commissioned, jointly with Clerk and Pace, to treat for a peace or truce with France by the mediation of the pope. ”

“ During this period Clement was mainly occupied in urging Charles to arrest the progress of the Reformation in Germany and in efforts to elude the emperor’s demand for a general council, which Clement feared lest the question of the mode of his election and his legitimacy should be raised. It was due to his dependence on Charles V., rather than to any conscientious scruples, that Clement evaded Henry VIII.’s demand for the nullification of his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, and so brought about the breach between England and Rome. ”

“ He who observes faith with none cannot expect that faith will be observed with him. He who takes the sword must accept what the sword brings. And although an honourable motive, the desire to liberate Italy, and a natural motive, the desire to preserve the real independence of Florence and the papal power, may have partly influenced his actions, it is impossible to acquit Clement of a desire for personal and pontifical aggrandisement, while in the use of means for the accomplishment of these ends he showed neither rectitude, nor practical wisdom. ”

“ The Victory of Pavia.
Charles had hoped much from the election of Clement VII. But he forgot that he had to deal with a Medici.Charles disappointed in his hopes of support from Clement VII. The aim of Clement was to further the interests of the Papal States, and of his House in Florence, whither he had sent as governor Alessandro, the young son of his cousin Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, under the tutelage of the Cardinal of Cortona. To attain these ends he, like Leo. X., hoped to balance the powers of Francis and Charles. ”

“ It is your duty to provide by common accord against unprecedented wants. Assemble the pious men of all nations, and let a free council deduce from the Word of God a scheme of doctrine such as may be received by every people." [326]
A thunderbolt would not have so greatly startled Clement VII. The offspring of an illegitimate union, and having obtained the Papacy by means far from honourable, and squandered the treasures of the Church in an unjust war, this Pontiff had a thousand personal motives for dreading an assembly of Christendom. ”

“ Clement the Seventh may be regarded as the founder of the most monstrous empire which has ever existed, exciting the flames of persecution against all those who refused to acknowledge him as supreme head of the church. ”

“ Go to! instead of killing him, I give him life and liberty: and in my will I’ll have it written that none shall demand of him the heavy debt for his expenses here which he would elsewise have to pay.” This the Pope heard, and took it very ill indeed.
Note 1. Fra Benedetto da Foiano had incurred the wrath of Pope Clement VII. by preaching against the Medici in Florence. He was sent to Rome and imprisoned in a noisome dungeon of S. Angelo in the year 1530, where Clement made him perish miserably by diminishing his food and water daily till he died. See Varchi’s 'Storia Fiorentina,' lib. xii. ”

“ In vain had the Marquis Pisani, envoy of the politicians' party, endeavoured to soften the heart of Clement towards Henry. The pope lived in mortal fear of Spain, and the Duke of Sessa, Philip's ambassador to the holy see, denouncing all these attempts on the part of the heretic, and his friends, and urging that it was much better for Rome that the pernicious kingdom of France should be dismembered and subdivided, assured his holiness that Rome should be starved, occupied, annihilated, if such abominable schemes should be for an instant favoured. ”

“ In Rome there ensued, during the pontificate of Clement, the revolutions of the visionary Cola di Rienzo (q.v.) who restored the old republic, though not for long. By his purchase of Avignon, and the creation of numerous French cardinals, the pope consolidated the close connexion of the Roman Church with France: but the interests of that Church suffered severely through the riches and patronage which Clement lavished on his relatives, and through the princely luxury of his court. His generosity—which degenerated into prodigality—compelled him to open fresh sources of revenue ”

“ No pope has been the subject of more diverse judgments than Clement XIV. Zealous defenders credit him with all virtues, and bless him as the instrument divinely ordained to restore the peace of the Church; virulent detractors charge him with ingratitude, cowardice and double-dealing. The truth is at neither extreme. Clement’s was a deeply religious and poetical nature, animated by a lofty and refined spirit. ”

“ He was, however, well educated, and early distinguished himself by his talents and the elevation of his sentiments. The glory of ancient Rome excited his enthusiasm, and he soon came to be regarded by the people as destined to rescue them from the despotism of the aristocracy that ruled the city.
The pope, Clement VI., had removed the papal see from Rome to Avignon, in France, leaving the people under the sway of certain noble families, who exercised every species of brutal and insolent tyranny towards their inferiors. ”

“ May we not conclude also that the sublime prayer and doxology of Eph. iii. 14–21 is a quotation from the Apostle’s own eucharistic τάξις for the whole state of Christ’s Church militant?
Might not the same be more constantly used in our days as an intercession for the whole flock of the one Shepherd?
II.
(Fulfil His constitution, p. 489.)
The Pauline Norm being borne in mind, we shall best comprehend this Clementine liturgy, as to its primitive claims, by taking the testimony of Justin, writing in Rome to the Antonines a. d.160. ”

“ Clement's accession had at once brought about a political change in favour of France. The Pope's policy wavered long between the King and the Emperor; weak towards both of them, undecided, and on occasion faithless enough. On January 5, 1525, he himself announced to the Emperor the conclusion of his treaty with Francis I. The Battle of Pavia, the greatest military event of the sixteenth century (February 24, 1525) , made Charles V master of Italy and Francis I his prisoner. ”

“ Adrian VI. was a solitary ascetic, who kept all rules of the Church, rose to prayers at all hours of the night, and astonished Rome by never eating a dinner that cost a ducat. And this after Leo the Magnificent! Clement VII., in whose time there were many troubles for Rome, succeeded this ascetic hierarch. Although a Medici, he had none of Leo's superb extravagance. He was cold and irresolute, slow and illiberal; he lived economically; it astonished Rome to be ruled by a Medici who never hunted, and who kept neither buffoons nor musicians. Rome loved him not. ”

“ The Roman Church has had a message for all humanity in every age ever since Saint Clement penned his famous epistle to the Corinthians, or Saint Victor caused the Christian world to meet in special councils for the solution of a universal difficulty. It is no mere coincidence that, at the opening of the last century of this mystical and wonderful cycle of two thousand years, the Bishop of Rome should again address the world in tones whose moderation and sympathy recall the temper and the arguments of Saint Clement, his far-away predecessor and disciple of Saint Peter. ”