Pope Clement VII

Pope Clement VII
Bishop of Rome
Portrait by Sebastiano del Piombo, c. 1531
Papacy began	19 November 1523
Papacy ended	25 September 1534
Predecessor	Adrian VI
Successor	Paul III
Orders
Ordination	19 December 1517
Consecration	21 December 1517
Created Cardinal	23 September 1513 by Leo X
Rank	Cardinal-Priest of S. Clemente (26 June 1517) and S. Lorenzo in Damaso (6 July 1517)
Personal details
Birth name	Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici
Born	26 May 1478 Florence, Republic of Florence
Died	25 September 1534 (1534-10-06) (aged 56) Rome, Papal States
Buried	Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome
Parents	Giuliano de' Medici Fioretta Gorini
Motto	Candor illæsus (unharmed candor)
Coat of arms

Pope Clement VII (Italian: Papa Clemente VII; Latin: Clemens VII) (26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534), born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, was Pope from 19 November 1523 to his death in 1534. The Sack of Rome and English Reformation occurred during his papacy.

Giulio de' Medici was born in Florence one month after the assassination of his father, Giuliano de' Medici, following the Pazzi Conspiracy. Although his parents had not had a formal marriage, they had been formally betrothed per sponsalia de presenti , and therefore canon law recognized that Giulio was born legitimate. Despite this accommodation for an important and powerful family, Giulio was considered illegitimate by his contemporaries. He was the nephew of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who educated him in his youth. Giulio's mother, Fioretta Gorini, also died leaving him an orphan.

Giulio was enrolled in the Knights Hospitaller and made Grand Prior of Capua. On the death of Archbishop Cosimo de' Pazzi, Giulio was named Archbishop of Florence on 9 May 1513, a post he held until his own election as pope on 19 November 1523.

On 23 September 1513, he was created a cardinal by Leo X, and on 29 September was appointed Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria in Domnica, which had been vacated by the election of his cousin the Pope. On 26 June 1517 he was created Cardinal Priest of S. Clemente, and shortly thereafter, on 6 July 1517 he moved to San Lorenzo in Damaso. He was ordained a priest on 19 December 1517, and consecrated bishop two days later. Cardinal de' Medici soon became a powerful figure in Rome. Upon his cousin's accession to the papacy, Giulio became his principal minister and confidant, especially in the maintenance of the Medici interest at Florence as archbishop of that city. In 1517 he conducted his first diocesan Synod in Florence.