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brother of the fatuous Piero, became the first of the Medici Popes (Leo X - Leone Decimo) at the age of 38 on 11
March 1513. Prior to this his life had been a complete roller coaster. Brought up in Medici luxury alongside
Michelangelo (who was included in the Medici household by Lorenzo), older brother Piero and cousin Giulio (who
was adopted by Lorenzo after his father (who was Lorenzo's brother) was killed in the Pazzi Conspiracy in 1478),
he had access to the incomes of several wealthy monasteries, including Badia a Passignano, and was made a
Cardinal at the age of 13. All this came to an abrupt end in 1494 when, in the wake of Lorenzo's death, the
incompetent surrender of his brother Piero the Fatuous to the French, and the ensuing Savanorola stirred turbulence,
he had to sneak out of Florence dressed as a Franciscan Friar, and then live in hiding with his cousin for the next
decade, latterly being protected by the Habsburg Emperor Maximilian (who ironically was to be a major cause of
the collapse of the Bruges branch of the Medici Bank) and then by the dreadful Cesare Borgia and his father Pope
Alessandro VI (1431 - 1492 - 1503 (72)) in Rome. ... Pope Clement VII Giulio de'Medici, 1478 - 1523 - 1534 (56)
Illegitimate son of Lorenzo's (Pazzi murdered) brother Giuliano, adopted son of Lorenzo, and companion in exile to
Lorenzo's son Giovanni (Leo X), who was three years his senior, Giulio de'Medici became Pope Clement VII
(Clemente Settimo). He was good looking, intellectually sophisticated, a talented musician and a political disaster.
In reality he also faced the legacy of the corrupt practices of his cousin Leo X, and the impossible task of operating
in the emergent nation state Europe dominated by Charles V, Francis I, and Henry VIII (whom he
excommunicated), and threatened by Suleiman the Magnificent, plus Martin Luther dealing the protestants into the
game as well - see Insight Page. He lost England, and was humiliated by having to flee in disguise from Rome
when it was barbarically sacked by Charles V's rabble army after Clement mistakenly got too close to flashy Francis
I of France.
{Occult Infiltration of the Roman Catholic Church} The Revised Roman
Empire - 'Occult' power: the politics of witchcraft and superstition in
Renaissance Florence - In Florence, how did one family--the Medici-secure
their power after over a century of struggle, and how did they
come to construct a myth of their own legitimacy? (Book)
Lawrence's interpretation, however narrow and flawed, does highlight an indisputable element of Grazzini's tale of
Dr. Manente: its cruelty and "monstrosity," traits that, I will argue, provide insight into the social structures of the
mid-sixteenth century, particularly those that rely upon coersion and force. In Florence, how did one family--the
Medici--secure their power after over a century of struggle, and how did they come to construct a myth of their own
legitimacy? ... It is important to remember that, from 1494--when the friar himself gained widespread support and
offered a major threat to the rule of the Medici family--until long after his execution in 1498, Savonarola
bequeathed a powerful religious and political vision that was not dependent on his leadership for survival--a fact
that fascinated the political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli. Savonarola's followers--called the Piagnoni first by their
enemies and later, proudly, by themselves--remained politically active after his execution, through the Republic that
lasted until 1513, when the first Medici pope, Leo X, used the considerable influence of this position to help his
family and their allies to return to Florence, and again after the sack of Rome in 1527, which occurred during the
pontificate of another Medici, Clement VII. The Piagnoni continued to be active even after the Medici, first
Alessandro and then Cosimo I, openly turned Florence onto the path of absolutism [unlimited, centralized authority
and absolute sovereignty] by accepting the [nobility] title of Duke. ... Lorenzo's manipulation of the Church comes
into play in the next phase of the beffa. ... At this point, Grazzini emphasizes not only that many friars and priests
were ignorant, but, more importantly, that the kind of people Lorenzo elevated to positions of power in the
Florentine church hierarchy were either superstitious [occult] or corrupt, criticisms that Savonarola also often made
of the Medici.
{Occult Infiltration of the Roman Catholic Church} The Revised Roman
Empire - Christian and Rosicrucian Kabbalah [esoteric (hidden)
http://www.basicchristian.org/blog_History_Study_Complete.rss[1/16/2012 7:38:03 AM]