Clement VII

   1) (1478–1534)

   Pope.

   Clement VII was born Giulio de’ Medici and he was a cousin of Pope Leo x. He was appointed Archbishop of Florence and made a Cardinal in 1513 and he was highly influential during his cousin’s Pontificate. In 1523 he himself was elected Pope. He was faced with the problem of Martin luther’s teachings spreading through Germany and King Henry VIII of England’s desire for a divorce from his wife Catherine of Aragon. Under these difficult circumstances he vacillated between supporting the policies of Francis I of France and those of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles v. In 1527 he was actually taken by the Emperor’s troops and held in captivity. Clement VII is primarily remembered for his cultural activities; he was the patron of Cellini, Michelangelo and Raphael.

   H.M. Vaughan, The Medici Popes, Leo X and Clement VII (1908).

   2) (d. 1394)

   Antipope.

   Clement was born Robert of Geneva. He was consecrated Archbishop of Cambrai in 1368 and was elected Pope by the French Cardinals in 1378. While Urban VI had been elected in Rome and had the support of the Holy Roman Empire, England, Hungary, much of Italy and Scandinavia, Clement VII had his headquarters in Avignon and was supported by France, Naples, Savoy, Scotland, Spain and Sicily. The Great Western Schism, as this regrettable episode was known, lasted until 1417.

   J.H. Smith, The Great Schism 1378 (1970).