The Pontificate of Clement VII: History, Politics, Culture

Description

First published 2005 by Ashgate Publishing. 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. Series Editor's Preface xi List of Abbreviations xiii List of Illustrations xvii List of Contributors xxi Acknowledgments xxv INTRODUCTION 1. Clement and Calamity: The Case for Re-evaluation / Kenneth Gouwens 3 PART ONE: HISTORY, POLITICS, AND HUMANISM Character, Politics, and Family 2. Guicciardini, Giovio, and the Character of Clement VII / T. C. Price Zimmermann 19 3. The "Disastrous" Pontificate of Clement VII: Disastrous for Giulio de'Medici? / Barbara McClung Mailman 29 4. All in the Family: The Medici Women and Pope Clement VII / Natalie Tomas 41 5. The Conspirary of 1522 against Cardinal Giulio de' Medici: Machiavelli and "gli esempli delli antiqui" / Patricia J. Osmond 55 The Sack of Rome and its Aftermath 6. Clement VII and Francesco Maria Della Rovere, Duke of Urbino / Cecil H. Clough 75 7. Clement VII and the Sack of Rome as Represented in the "Ephemerides Historicae" of Cornelius de Fine / Ivana Ait 109 8. Rome During the Sack: Chronicles and Testimonies from an Occupied City / Anna Esposito and Manuel Vaquero Piñeiro 125 9. The Papal Court in Exile: Clement VII in Orvieto, 1527-28 / Anne Reynolds 143 Resynthesis 10. The Place of Clement VII and Clementine Rome in Renaissance History / Charles L. Stinger 165 PART TWO: PATRONAGE, CULTURAL PRODUCTION, AND REFORM Clement VII as Patron 11. Clement VII and Michelangelo: An Anatomy of Patronage / William E. Wallace 189 12. Michelangelo and the Clementine Architectural Style / Caroline Elam 199 13. Clement VII and the Golden Age of the Papal Choir / Richard Sherr 227 Artists, Musicians, and Literati in Clementine Rome 14. Competition, Collaboration, and Specialization in the Roman Art World, 1520-27 / Linda Wolk-Simon 253 15. Papal Tastes and Musical Genres: Francesco da Milano "II Divino" (1497-1543) and the Clementine Aesthetic / Victor Anand Coelho 277 16. Seeking Patronage under the Medici Popes: A Tale of Two Humanists / Julia Haig Gaisser 293 Antiquity Revived and "Renovatio" in Religion and Art 17. Augustan Mediterranean Iconography and Renaissance Hieroglyphics at the Court of Clement VII: Sebastiano del Piombo's Portrait of Andrea Doria / George L Gorse 313 18. Adrian VI, Clement VII, and Art / Sheryl E. Reiss 339 19. Humanism and Confession in Northern Europe in the Age of Clement VII / W. David Myers 363 20. Experiments in Art and Reform in Italy in the Early Sixteenth Century / Alexander Nagel 385 Index 411