Clement VII (pope)
1478 – 1534 Italian Pope (1523-1534)
Medici pope who saw Rome sacked and refused Henry VIII's divorce.
- Religion
- Catholic; Bishop of Rome
- Affiliations
- The papacy; House of Medici
Clement VII, another Medici, steered the papacy through disaster. His shifting alliances led Emperor Charles V's troops to sack Rome brutally in 1527, and the pope was besieged in the Castel Sant'Angelo. He refused to annul Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, aunt of Charles V, which pushed England to break with Rome. He commissioned Michelangelo's Last Judgment shortly before his death.
Connections
- rival of Henry VIII of England — Refused his annulment, prompting England's break from Rome.
In the timeline
- 1523 Giulio de' Medici elected Pope Clement VII central figure
- 1527 Sack of Rome during Clement VII's papacy central figure
- 1527 Sack of Rome and the Swiss Guard's last stand mentioned