CLEMENT
25
CLEMENT
he was made cardinal, and he had the rrrdit of
being the prime mover of the papal policy during the
whole of Leo's pontificate. He was one of the most
favoured candidates in the protracted conclave which
resulted in the election of Adrian VI ; neither did the
Cardinal de' Medici, in spite of his close connexion
with the luxurious regime of Leo X, altogether lose
influence imder his austere successor, (liulio, in the
words of a modern historian, was "learned, clever,
respectable and industrious, though he had little en-
terprise and less decision (Armstrong, Charles V.,
I, 166). .-yter Adrian's death (14 September, .1523)
the Cardinal de' Medici was eventually chosen pope,
18 November, 1523, and his election was hailed at
Rome with enthusiastic rejoicing. But the temper of
the Roman peojile was only one element in the com-
plex problem which Clement VII had to face. The
whole political and religious situation was one of ex-
treme delicacy, and it may be doubted if there was
one man in ten thousand who would have succeeded
by natural tact and human prudence in guiding the
Bark of Peter through such tempestuous waters.
Clement was certainly not such a man. He had un-
fortunately been brought up in all the bad traditions of
Italian diplomacy, and over and above this a certain
fatal irresolution of character seemed to impel him,
when any decision had been arrived at, to hark back
upon the course agreed on and to try to make terms
with the other side.
The early years of his pontificate were occupied with the negotiations which culminated in the League of Cognac. When Clement was crowned, Francis I and the Emperor Charles V were at war. Charles had supported Clement's candidature and hoped much from his friendship with the Medici, but barely a year had elapsed after his election before the new po|_)e coiickKleti a secret treaty with France. The pitched battle which was fought between Francis and the imperial commanders at Pavia in February, 1525, ending in the defeat and captivity of the French king, put into Charles' hands the means of avenging him- self. Still he used his victory with moderation. The terms of the Treaty of Madrid ( 14 January, 1526) were not really extravagant, but Francis seems to have signed with the deliberate intention of breaking his promises, though confirmed by the most solemn of oaths. That Clement, instead of accepting Charles' overtures, should have made himself a party to the French king's perfidy and should have organized a league with France, Venice, and Florence, signed at Cognac, 22 May, 1526, must certainly have been re- garded by the emperor as almost unpardonable prov- ocation. No doubt Clement was moved by genuine patriotism in his distrust of imperial influence in Italy and especially by anxiety for his native Florence, ivloreover, he chafed imder dictation which seemed to him to threaten the freedom of the Church. But though he probably feared that the bonds might be drawn tighter, it is hard to see that he had at that time any serious ground of complaint. We cannot be much s\irprised at what followed. Charles' en- voys, obtaining no satisfaction from the pope, allied themselves with the disaff'ected Colonna who had been raiding the papal territory. These last pretended reconciliation until the papal commanders were lulled into a sense of security. Then the Colonna made a sudden attack upon Rome and shut up Clement in the Castle of Sant' Angelo while their followers phmdered the Vatican (20 September, 1526). C'harles dis- avowed the action of the Colonna but took advantage of the situation created by their success. A period of vacillation followed. At one time Clement concluded a truce with the emperor, at another he turned again despairingly to the League, at another, under the en- couragement of a slight success, he broke off negotia- tions with the imperial representatives and resume<l active hostilities, and then again, still later, he signed
a truce with Charles for eight months, promising the
immediate payment of an indenmity of 60,000 ducats.
In the mean time the German mercenaries in the
north of Italy were fast being reduced to the last ex-
tremities for lack of provisions and pay. On hearing
of the indenmity of 60,000 ducats they threatened
mutiny, and the imperial commissioners extracted
from the pope the payment of 100,000 ducats instead
of the sum first agreed upon. But the sacrifice was
ineffectual. It seems probable that the Lands-
knechte, a very large proportion of whom were Lutli-
erans, had really got completely out of hand, and that
they practically forced the Constable Bourbon, now
in supreme command, to lead them against Rome.
On the 5th of May they reached the walls, which,
owing to the pope's confidence in the truce he had con-
cluded, were almost undefended. Clement had barely
time to take refuge in the Castle of Sant' Angelo, and
for eight days the "Sack of Rome" continued amid
horrors almost unexampled in the history of war.
"The Lutherans",
says an impartial authority, " re- joiced to burn and to defile what all the world had adored. Churches were desecrated, women, even the religious, violated, ambassadors pil- laged, cardinals put to ransom, ecclesiastical dig- nitaries and cere- monies made a mockerj', and the soldiers fought among themselves for the spoil" Clement VII— Sebastiano del Piombo (L e a t h e S in (Pinacoteca, Parma)
' ' C a m I3 . Mod.
Ilistorj'", II, 55). It seems probable that Charles V was really not implicated in the horrors which then took place. Still he had no objection against the pope bearing the full consequences of his shifty diplo- macy, and he allowed him to remain a virtual prisoner in the Castle of Sant' Angelo for more than seven months. Clement's pliability had already given offence to the other members of the League, and his appeals were not responded to very warmly. Be- sides this, he wao sorely in need of the imperial sup- port both to make head against the Lutherans in Ger- many and to reinstate the Medici in the government of Florence from which they had been driven out. The conil)ined effect of these various considerations and of the failure of the French attempts upon Naples was to throw Clement into the rmpi-ror's arms. After a sojourn in Orvieto and Viterbo, ( 'lenient returned to Rome, and there, before the end of July, 1529, terms favourable to the Holy See were definitely arranged with Charles. The seal was set upon the compact by the meeting of the emperor and the pope at Bologna, where, on 24 February, 1530, Charles was solemnly cromied. By whatever motives the pontiff was swayed, this settlement certainly had the effect of restoring to Italy a much-needed peace.
Meanwhile events, the momentous consequence of which were not then fully foreseen, had been taking place in England. Henry VIII, tired of Queen Cath- erine, by whom he had no heir to the throne, but only one surviving daughter, Mary, and pa.ssionately enamoured of Anne Boleyn, had made known to AVolsey in May, 1527, that he wished to be divorced. He pretended that his conscience was uneasy at the marriage contracted uniler papal dispensation with his brother's widow. As his first act was to solicit
