Trudy Gold
Leo X and Clement VII: Medici Popes

Trudy Gold - Leo X and Clement VII: Medici Popes

- Trudy, I’m going to hand over to you. So welcome, everybody, and Trudy, over to you.

• Thank you very much. Thanks, Judi. And as ever, thank you for handling the technology for me. I’m such a dodo. Now, those of you who were with me yesterday, this is the family tree I put up because it’s very, very useful, and I’m putting it up again today because today, we are going to be looking at the two early Medici popes. As you already know, there are going to be four Medici popes. Now, if you go to the top of the family tree, that is the second generation. Cosimo di Giovanni Medici is the son of the founder of the dynasty. Then you have his son, Piero, and then the two most important of his children, of course, the extraordinary Lorenzo de’ Medici, who was very much the figure of the Renaissance and an extraordinary man, and his younger brother Giuliano. And the popes that I’m going to be talking about, if you go to Lorenzo’s family tree, his eldest son, Piero, of course, was the one who was meant to inherit. Then you have Giovanni, who became Pope Leo X. There were many other children, but I have put Lucrezia in, who was one of his daughters, who married Jacop Salviati. And it’s going to be interesting for you, those of you who watched the exhibition tonight, and I think we really all should, they had many children, including a daughter, Maria.

And Cosimo, who we’re going to be talking about in the exhibition, that is their son. And if you go back to Lorenzo’s brother Giuliano, the extraordinarily beautiful Giuliano, who lived only a short life, and he had an illegitimate child, Giulio, who, from the age of seven is going to be brought up by Lorenzo. So he’s going to be educated with Lorenzo’s children in really a humanistic court with the most incredible tutors in the Medici palace, and he will become Pope Clement VII. So you have these first cousins, Giovanni and Giulio, who are going to become pope. And popes at an incredible time of change, both in the world of ideas, the world of trade. I talked about mercantilism in Italy, which was divided up into so many principalities, with its various dukedoms all fighting with each other, against the backdrop of continuous wars between the French, the Habsburgs and the Turks, England also becoming more of an important country and would also soon be getting involved in all the controversy. So I think it’s useful just to have a look at that so you know where everybody fits into the picture. So tonight, when we look at the world of Cosimo I, he is the great-great-great-grandson of the founder of the dynasty. So can we start please, Julie, Judi? There you see, there you see Leo X, the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his wife, Clarice Orsini. Of course, the Orsini were another very important Italian family. And it was a dynastic marriage. Basically, these marriages are arranged really for strategic alliances.

Early on, his father decided he would be destined for an ecclesiastical career. As I told you yesterday, the Medici aimed to be the pope’s bankers. And depending on what pope was in favour or they were in favour with which pope, they kept that contract, and it was incredibly important to them. And, of course, Lorenzo, he makes the decision that he’s going to train one of his sons for the papacy. So he received the tonsure when he was seven years old and already was awarded very rich benefices. And this, of course, is going to play right into the hands of Protestantism. If you’ve listened to Professor Pima on Saturday, he started talking about the importance of the printing press. And I sort of talked about this yesterday, because it’s incredibly important in the spreading of knowledge. Now, this man, who is going to become pope, Christ’s vicar on Earth, we know that he was incredibly clever, but he was a hedonist. His father actually rebukes him when he’s very young. “Rise early in the morning,” he tells his son. “This will not only contribute to your health, but will enable you to arrange the business of the day.” And Lorenzo prevailed on the pope of the time. Can we see him please, Judi? Can we see the next pope? Go back, past Lorenzo, to the next pope. There you see the handsome. Yes, there you have Pope Innocent III, who was favourably disposed towards the Medici. He prevailed on him to name his son, later pope, deacon of Santa Maria. In 1488, he was 13 years old. He is already a deacon. And meanwhile, he receives his education at Lorenzo’s court. And remember, as I’ve just said to you, it’s an absolute court of the Renaissance. One of the main scholars who taught him was Pico della Mirandola, who was a philosopher. And his tractate, “The Oration on the Dignity of Man,” was one of the great manifesto of the Renaissance. He also was very interested in Christian Kabbalah. This is a period of great mysticism. It’s a fascinating period of history, this particular time. If you think about it, the fall of Constantinople, the huge clash between the Turks, which is a religious war, the opening up of the New World. Everything is beginning to change, and people are looking for answers. And we know that he was taught Greek, he studied Greek, he studied Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic.

Can we have a look at the picture of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola? Very important figure of the Renaissance. There you see him. Patrick will be cross-referring to some of these characters. And also, he studied with a Jewish scholar. Can we see him? Elia del Medigo. Yes. Now what was he involved in? He was under the protection, as was Pico della Mirandola, of Lorenzo. Lorenzo wanted to create this great humanistic learning. And Jewish scholars, with their knowledge of Hebrew, with their knowledge of Kabbalah, here you have pockets of toleration. And the Medici, at this stage, and I said this yesterday, were terribly, they were pragmatic rulers. And if Jews could be useful to them, there was absolutely no reason for them not to have good relations from them. And Lorenzo is going to protect these people. Once you’re under the protection of Lorenzo the Magnificent, you are safe. So the son, we know, the future pope, he’s a hedonist already. And if you read about some of the banquets that Lorenzo de’ Medici held, not only did he have the most incredible mansions, look, think who he was very close to, Botticelli.

Just think of the amazing artwork that Patrick will be talking about that comes through the patronage of the Medici. His dreams for the architecture of Florence. Michelangelo attended his school. So basically, Lorenzo is, in many ways, one of, I suppose, the architects of the Renaissance. This huge man who has a vision of great beauty and great culture. He was also very ruthless, remember, even within his own time. And don’t forget who Machiavelli wrote his book for. So you’ve got, this is the world you’re talking about. Anyway, another tutor was a man called Agnolo Poliziano. I’ve already mentioned him. And he translated Homer’s “Iliad.” So from 1489, as he is, after all, going to go, hopefully, for the papacy, he studies theology at Pisa. And in 1492, an absolute key year in history, he’s admitted to the Sacred College of Cardinals and he takes up residence in Rome. He is now 17 years old. Lorenzo dies in 1492. Lorenzo dies, but there are other huge events happening in the world. Don’t forget, it is the year of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain.

And that’s going to have an incredible impact on the Jews already in Italy. And not just on the Jewish world, but on the non-Jewish world. And it’s also, of course, the year that Columbus, under the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella, very much encouraged by Jewish financiers, who sets sail and, of course, bumps into America. He’s in Rome, but, of course, he has to go back to Florence because of the death of his brother. But he returns for the conclave on the death of Innocent VIII. He opposes the election of the next pope. Can we have a look at who that was? That’s Poliziano, but can we have a look at the man who became pope? There you go. There is Alexander Borgia, the father of nine children, the father of Cesare Borgia, who is, in many ways, the great prince of the Renaissance. The father, of course, of Lucrezia Borgia. And he is pope. And you can just imagine what Rome was like under his papacy. And I’d mentioned to you yesterday that he was very much reviled. He was a Spanish pope, and his enemies. He had a very lush court. He was incredibly hedonistic. Again, a great patron of the arts. But it becomes a centre of learning, but also a centre of excess. Banquets that would go on for three days, sexual dalliance. And it’s going to be very much exaggerated by his enemies. I’m using my words very, very, very carefully.

And in the end, he’s going to become so unpopular that his enemies say that he is, in fact, of Marrano, that background. Marrano is the pejorative word for converso. It used to be used by scholars. It’s not used anymore because it means swine, pig. And his son Cesare was, in fact, called the Jewish dog. Anyway. Something else is happening in Florence at the time, the agitation of the Dominican friar Savonarola. Can we have a look at him? Can we? Yeah. Now, in Florence, the great seat of the beauty of the Renaissance, this friar, who believes in a pure church, he wants the destruction of everything secular. Now, if you think of what the Medici had created in Florence, he wants to destroy that incredible secular culture. He denounces clerical corruption. Come on, look who’s pope at the time, Alexander Borgia. He denounces the luxury of the papacy. He denounces the luxury of Lorenzo de’ Medici’s family. And it makes things very, very, very difficult. He wants to go back to Christian values. He wants to help the poor. There was a plague in Florence. And he did good works, but he’s a total ideologue. He burns books, he ransacks mansions. And, in fact, for a period, the Medici are thrown out of Florence. In September 1494, the French invade Italy.

And this is when the Florentines rise up against the Medici and establish a popular republic. And what has happened to Giovanni at the time, he and his cousin Giulio, who later also becomes Pope Clement VII, they’re both very, very close to each other, they go travelling in Europe. They’re even arrested a couple of times. Giulio manages to escape. Piero, who still has the Medici fortune, if not in Florence, he has to bail him out a few times. But in May 1500, he returns to Rome, where he is received outwardly very cordially by Alexander Borgia. And I should also mention that the Borgia pope takes power in 1492. After the expulsion of the Jews, he actually invites 10,000 Jews into Rome. Ironically, the more secular, the more humanistic, the more likely they are to be positive towards the Jews. Because, remember, these are. Then what does the papacy mean? Is it just a religious appointment? Are they God’s representatives on Earth? That, after all, is the whole notion of the papal sovereignty. But something else, they’re also princes with their own territories, with their own lands. And Borgia and Medici, what they both want is, of course, to secure the family, you know, the family fortunes. So whilst he’s there, whilst he’s in Borgia’s Rome, he absolutely subsumes himself in art and literature. And after the death of Borgia, Julius II comes to the papal throne.

Julius II, another incredibly interesting character. Julius II, who was another great patron of the arts. della Rovere, another one of the important families. And his brother, back in Florence, his brother Piero has died, and that makes him head of the family. October 1511, Julius makes him papal legate of Polonia and Romania. And he is sent with the papal army against the French, who capture him. But a bloodless revolution had brought the Medici back to power. And Giovanni’s younger brother Giulio, Giuliano, was placed at the head of the republic, but it’s really, it’s Giovanni who is running the government. He is the clever one of the family. And finally, he is recalled to Rome on the death of Julius, and he becomes pope. The French cardinals, who, of course, hate the Medici, they are absent, and he is made pope as Leo X. He was created pope on the 9th of March, 1513. A week later, he was ordained as a priest and consecrated as a bishop, on the 17th of March. He is the last non-priest to be elected pope. Now, his brother Giuliano died in 1516. So from now on, all the pope’s ambitions for his family are going to be transferred to the duke of Urbino, of course, the father of Catherine de’ Medici, who I talked about yesterday. So he spends a fortune of the papal revenue in a war that makes his nephew the duke of Urbino. And what it does, it leads to all sorts of agony and all sorts of problems. There’s anarchy in the papal states, but he secured his family a dukedom. And also, he had to deal with the threat of Islam.

And this is something I’ll be doing many sessions on because if you think about it, it’s the Renaissance in Italy, it’s the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. Where are they going to go? They’re going to go to Italy, to both Ferrara, Rome, Florence, but they also go, to go into the Ottoman Empire, where they will be welcomed by the sultans. And Selim I, and I’ll be talking in a lot of depth about these characters, he was threatening Hungary. And the pope, therefore, thought that what he needs to do, how can he bring all the princes together in a joint venture against the Turks? So if the Holy Roman emperor, that’s the Habsburgs, and the French were to lead the army, England and Spain and Portugal would furnish the fleet. But in 1519, the Hungarians actually concluded a peace deal with Selim. But it’s the new sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, who I’ll be spending a lot of time on, renewed the war and captured Belgrade. That gives you an important notion of how close the armies of Islam were. During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, he is by far the most powerful prince in the world.

The pope, of course, sent money to the Hungarians. And Leo also tried to create peace between the Catholics and the Orthodox Christians. Whilst he is pope, he works very closely with his cousin Giulio. They are so close, they’re like brothers, and they are very much of a same mind. And, of course, it’s at this stage, though, in his reign that he comes up against the greatest threat to papal power. And that is somebody I alluded to yesterday, and that is the life and career of Martin Luther. So, Judi, if we could quickly see the pictures of Selim I. You’ll see these characters again. There’s Selim. Now let’s have a look at Suleiman the Magnificent. I’m going to concentrate on him a lot. I mentioned yesterday that he had an extraordinary concubine who later became his wife, Roxelana. A man of huge erudition, spoke many languages, a poet, a soldier, a brilliant soldier, a spiritual character, but a ruthless ruler. It seemed that all these threads would come together in these individuals. And now let’s have a look at Martin Luther. Martin Luther, whose dates. Can we push it over a little bit, Jude, so we can see the dates or? I can give them to you anyway. 1483 to 1546.

Now, this man sets the world on fire. He was a former Augustinian monk. He was a German professor of theology. And as I said yesterday, in 1517, he nails his 95 theses against the sale of indulgences. And, of course, the popes used indulgences as a way of creating their wonderful art. If you give money to St. Peter’s, what’s that going to go to? It’s going to the enrichment of the church and it buys you time out of purgatory. But, look, if you think about it, the pope wasn’t even a priest when he became pope. He’s really a Renaissance prince. We’ve lived through the reign of the Borgias. And this is a time of great political instability. It wasn’t just that Luther looked at corruption in the church, there were those who were prepared to follow him for pragmatic reasons. Why? Now, when I look at Spain with you, I’m going to be looking at the incredible career of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, who succeeded in brilliant dynastic marriages. And I also mentioned to you Charles V. Their grandson, Charles V, inherited much of the world. He inherited Spain and Portugal, the New World, which was in the gift of the pope. The pope drew a very bad line through a bad map of the New World, and gave half to Spain and the other half to Portugal, which really upset everyone else. But he also controlled the low countries and much of the German lands and parts of Italy. Now, there were many princes who wanted to break away from the power of the pope, and particularly the power of the Holy Roman emperor.

Now, many were converted to Luther because Luther had a creed that they believed, they wanted to purify the church. Ordinary folk flocked to him because what did he say? He said, “Look, basically, the Catholic Church has become incredibly corrupt. Look at the sale of indulgences.” You know, if you think about it, in English literature, Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” why were they all on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Sir Becket? Because that would buy them time out of purgatory. Why did people give 10% of their income to the church? To buy themselves out of purgatory. Now, according to Luther, many of these practises had become completely corrupt. And what on Earth was the pope like? So with the series of popes I’ve talked about, the della Rovere, the Borgia and now the Medici, these are not spiritual figures. These are Renaissance princes. But they have divine right, and more than anything else, they have the power of excommunication. And on May the 24th of 1518, Luther sends an explanation of his theses to the pope. He goes to Augsburg to meet the papal legate.

And on the 9th of November, Leo issues a papal bull requiring all Christians to believe in the pope’s power to grant indulgences. Luther would not retreat. This is the controversy that spreads like wildfire. And on the 15th of June, he’s condemned by 41 propositions extracted from his teachings. And on the 3rd of January, 1521, the pope excommunicates Luther. Luther can receive no grace. But meanwhile, Luther and the newly developing Protestantism protesting is spreading like wildfire. And it’s at this stage that the pope instructs Charles V, the Holy Roman emperor, the grandson of Isabella and Ferdinand, and also of the Habsburg, Maximilian Habsburg, to declare war on Protestantism. And the other point is that if you think about the pope, how did he get his money? He repeatedly used the rich northern benefices to reward members of the Roman curia. And this is the territory of Luther. There were a lot of princes who were very angry, and gradually, many of them converted to the new creed, some out of piety. In 1521, Henry VIII of England issues a pamphlet actually condemning Luther, saying. You know, he’s called Fidei Defensor, Defender of the Faith. Saying that basically, Luther was completely corrupt and evil. Now, Luther is fascinating on the Jews. I should mention, of course, and I hope I’ve explained this fully, that Luther was not the first of the “heretics,” quote, unquote, to go against the church.

What was brilliant about the Catholic Church is how it warded off heresy. Now, this is what Luther first wrote about the Jews. He says this. “If I’d been a Jew and had seen such idiots and blockheads ruling and teaching the Christian religion, I would rather have been a sow than a Christian, for they have dealt with the Jews as if they were dogs, and not human beings. They have done nothing for them, but have cursed them and seized their wealth. Wherever they converted them, they didn’t teach them either Christian law, but only subjected them to papistry and mockery. When these Jews saw that Judaism had such strong scriptural basis, and that Christianity, Catholicism, was pure nonsense, without biblical support, how could they quiet their hearts and become real, good Christians?” And then he goes on to say, “I hope that if the Jews are treated friendly and are instructed kindly through the Bible, many of them will become the real Christians and come back to the ancestral faith of the prophet and the patriarch.” So he believed that the pope and the Turk were the Antichrist. He had a very, very passionate or the strange personality. But he expected the Jews, once they understand his teaching, and more and more people could read and write, he then believed, well, everything’s going to be fine. And remember, this is happening in the papacy of Leo X. And then, but when they don’t convert, later on, he says this. “What then shall we Christians do with this damned, rejected race of Jews? Since they live amongst us and we know about their lying and blasphemy, we cannot tolerate them. We must not seek vengeance.”

But, he says, “Firstly, their synagogues or churches should be set on fire. Secondly, their homes should be broken down or destroyed. Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer books and Talmuds. Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden, under threat of death, to teach. Fifthly, passport and travelling privileges should be absolutely forbidden to the Jews. Sixthly, they ought to be stopped from usury. Seventh, let the young and strong Jews be given the flail, the axe, the hoe, the spade, the distaff, the spindle, and let them earn their bread by the sweat of their noses, as is enjoined upon Adam’s children. For it is not proper that they should want us cursed Goyyim to work in the sweat of our brow. We ought to drive the rascally lazy bones out of our system. To sum up, dear princes and nobles, you have Jews in your domains. If this advice of mine does not suit you, then find a better one so that you and we can be free of this insufferable, devilish burden, the Jews.” He wrote that in 1543. And this is one of the problems because in the main, Protestantism is going to be much more positive about the Jews. But unfortunately, with Lutheranism, it’s going to become a very, very dark picture. And Lutheranism, of course, is going to become the majority religion in Germany.

And I don’t have to tell you the consequences of that. So, but from the point of view of history, I’ve just given, you know, obviously, when I’m looking at Jewish history. This is an aside. I went to a meeting, actually, at the German Embassy of the anniversary of Luther’s, I think the anniversary of Luther’s birth. There was a special anniversary. And they were talking about how important he was in Christianity and to the various services. And not one person, I think I was the only Jew there, and not one person picked up on the other side of Luther. And I think I embarrassed them. But, anyway, it is problematic when you study Jewish history in the Christian world. But, anyway, Leo, let’s go back to Leo. So he’s faced with appalling problems. He’s faced with the threat of Christianity. He’s excommunicated Luther. The Christian world is falling apart. But he also, on the personal level, he creates 42 new cardinals, for which he gets a lot of money, including his cousin Giulio. So how do we sum up Leo X? He was very much a Medici prince. He was clever. He enjoyed music, art, ideas, theatre, poetry.

He enjoyed verse-making in Latin. Not only was he clever, remember the Medici education. He actually said, “Let us,” or he was purported to have said. Let’s be careful. I discussed this with you yesterday. Who writes the chronicles? “Let us enjoy the papacy since God has given it to us.” He was very pleasure-loving. But, on the other hand, he did pray, he did fast and he did go to confession before celebrating Mass, which is far more than can be said about Alexander Borgia. He was liberal, in many ways. He was very charitable. He was very, very shrewd, probably considered to be Machiavellian. Whether that’s bad or not, we’re going to listen to Phil Rubenstein on Machiavelli. His reputation, of course, was shredded in the 17th century in the Protestant world, and also in the Catholic world, for losing control of much of the Catholic Church. Now, this is David Hume. “Leo was too intelligent to believe in Catholic doctrine. Conceded he was one of the most illustrious princes that ever set on a papal throne. Humane, beneficent, generous, affable, the patron of every art, the friend of every virtue.” Now, this is the Venetian ambassador. The Venetian ambassadors are wonderful sources of knowledge of the time or gossip of the time. “The pope is good-natured, an extremely free-hearted man who avoids every difficult situation and above all, wants peace. He would not undertake a war himself unless his own personal interests or that of his family were involved.

He loves learning of canon law and literature and possesses remarkable knowledge. He is moreover a very excellent musician.” This is from Barbara Tuchman, one of my favourite authors, actually. “Leo X was a cultured, if religiously devout, hedonist.” And this is another comment from her. “His love of all forms of learning and art stem from his father’s court and education and his studies and travels. He loved Latin poetry, Greek tragedy and comedy, and stories from the New World.” You see, this is important. This is also what is coming into Europe. The tales of the Incas, the Aztecs, the gold of the New World. All the adventures of the conquistadors. This is serious. The world is opening up. The world, after all. If you think of the mediaeval mind and the world being flat, well, now there’s a new idea, the whole of the learning of Greece and Rome. And also, since the fall of Constantinople, more contact with Jewish scholars and with Arab scholars. She goes on to say, “He was hedonistic. He loved masquerades, boar hunting, and he kept a pet elephant, the gift of the king of Portugal.” As I’ve already said, he was an incredibly expensive pope. He spent a fortune on banquets. The Vatican becomes an absolute centre of luxury. But then it was under Julius II. It was also that under the Borgia. He didn’t get involved in wars unless he had to. For his family to make his nephew duke of Urbino. Also, don’t forget his patronage of the arts. Terribly important in terms of the beauty of the Renaissance. This is from Alexandre Dumas, pere. “Latin Christianity assumed a pagan Greco-Roman character, which, passing from art into manners, gave to this era a strange complexion. Crimes for the moment disappeared to give place to vices, but to charming vices and vices in good taste.”

And, of course, from a Jewish point of view, he showed a lot of favour towards the Jews. He actually allowed them to have a printing press in Rome, which led to the first printed edition of the Talmud. And, ironically, it was actually dedicated to him. The dedication was actually dropped because if you can imagine Jewish scholars, are they going to be happy buying incredibly expensive volumes dedicated to the pope? Now, like his predecessor, Alexander Borgia, he had a Jewish physician, rabbi Bonet de Lattes. Also Solomonis, who was constantly at the court. He was an advisor. He received a pension. And it’s not just the Jews of Rome who were recipients of his good favour. This is a bull of September the 8th, 1514. This is to the bishop of Carpentras, who had instituted the wearing of the Jew badge. This goes back to the Lateran Council of 1215, where Christian princes had to mark the Jews out. I’ll be talking about this when I talk about the Inquisition. So he sends a papal bull to the bishop of Carpentras, saying, “The rights of Jews should be respected.” And on November the 1st, 1519, he actually remitted the Jewish hearth and banking tax, and granted amnesty to Jews for all offences committed by them. And he confirmed all the privileges granted to them by Alexander Borgia. Jewish offenders could only be arraigned if there were reliable witnesses, only in court with qualified judges and should be only condemned if there was serious evidence. And he took a live, as I said, he had Jewish scholarship around him, he took a lively interest in it.

And now let me read you the verdict from the Catholic Encyclopaedia. “Unfortunate for the church, because Leo practised his family’s interests and his own love of the arts, and could not head off calls for reform.” So the Catholic Church is blaming him for not doing anything to stop the, to actually hold back the tide of the Protestant Reformation, which was partly about the purification of the church, but it’s partly, of course, about princes wanting to break away from the power of the Holy Roman Empire. Now, can we move on to his cousin? Now, this is Pope Clement VII. He was born posthumously. He was born a few months after his father’s death. Can we please see a picture of his father, Giuliano de’ Medici? There you see Giuliano. Adored by his brother and his family, and murdered when he, he was murdered very young in 1478 by the Pazzi. Shall we see the next picture, please? This is by Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo, of course, once the Medici are back in power, Leonardo is told to create these frescoes talking about the death of the great Medici, Giuliano. This is very much the picture of the Pazzi. Who were the Pazzi? They were a Florentine family. One of their ancestors had held the siege of Jerusalem. They saw themselves as aristocrats. They resented the Medici and tried to assassinate both Lorenzo and his brother. And only succeeded, of course, in assassinating Giuliano. They were never forgiven.

And there are, of course, many frescoes and portraits where they are hanged. And basically, for the murder of the brother, there is no mercy from Lorenzo de’ Medici. So let’s have a look now at a incredible story. Can we go on, please? Ah, Simonetta Vespucci, the most beautiful woman in Florence. She died horrifically young. Her dates are 1453 to 1476. Married to an important merchant. And those of you who love the byways of history will be interested to know that, in fact, she was a cousin, her husband’s cousin was a man called Amerigo Vespucci, who, of course, was. Now, what did he do? Amerigo Vespucci was, of course, an adventurer. He’s an adventurer. He’s also an explorer. And those of you who are on the other side of the pond from here, you might not know it, but America is named for her cousin, Amerigo Vespucci. So this incredibly gorgeous creature, was she the model for Botticelli? There were all sorts of stories, mainly put up by the art historian John Ruskin, that, in fact, she was the lover of Giuliano. There’s actually not much evidence. And Gombrich, the incredible Gombrich, said that this is absolutely bunk. But the point is, it’s a lovely tale that he was her lover. And certainly, he did have many mistresses. And by one of his mistresses. We’re not sure who his mother was, but most of the evidence seems to point that she was, in fact, the daughter of a professor.

And she died young. And he spent the first seven years of his life with an architect called Antonio da Sangallo the Elder. So the young boy, who is born before his father, who is born after his father’s death, he’s a posthumous child, when he was seven, he is taken to his Uncle Lorenzo and he is raised alongside the other children, Piero and, of course, Giuliano and Giulio. And there is a very close relationship between him and the man who became Leo X. So, and, of course, he also has the benefit of that incredibly tight, good education at the Palazzo Medici, along with Michelangelo, he was a very accomplished musician. He wanted the clergy, but because he was illegitimate, he couldn’t really enter, have a career. So his uncle helps him carve out a career as a soldier. He becomes one of the Knights of Rhodes, which is another one of those Catholic military orders. The headquarters were in Jerusalem until 1291, the fall of Jerusalem, and then in Rhodes and then in Malta. He also becomes the grand prior of Capua. Later on in the year, we will be looking at the various temple orders because they are fascinating. And when Lorenzo died, when Lorenzo the Magnificent died, and Giovanni de’ Medici assumed his duties as cardinal, he became more and more involved in church affairs. He studied, like his cousin, theology at the University of Pisa.

And he accompanied Giovanni to the conclave when Alexander became pope. When the Medici were expelled from Florence, as I said, when I looked at his cousin’s biography, they spent the next few years wandering Europe, and they returned to Italy to establish the family’s fortunes. And in 1512, he, with the assistance of Pope Julius II, the Medici take back Florence. When he was living near Rome, a servant, he probably had an illegitimate child. There’s a lot of stories about the Medici, and it’s when he was 35 that his cousin becomes pope. And that meant that his power, his responsibilities grew. And, again, this is the Venetian ambassador. “He was learned, clever, respectable, industrious.” Within three months, he becomes the archbishop of Florence. And three months later, he is declared legitimate. And the declaration was his parents had actually been betrothed, and therefore, they were, to all effect, they were, in fact, married. Thus, that allowed his cousin to make him a cardinal. And he becomes the cardinal deacon of Santa Maria. You know, this is one of the reasons, of course, where, theologically, the Protestant Reformation did so well, because this is really families giving out honours. This is, again, the new Venetian ambassador. This is Marco Minio. “The Cardinal Medici, who is not legitimate, has great power with the pope.

He’s a man of great competence and great authority. He resides with the pope and does nothing of importance without first consulting him. But he’s returning to Florence to govern the city.” In practise, the two of them ruled the papacy together. And he was in charge of internal relations in the Vatican. In January, this is quite interesting. He’s appointed. Henry VIII, remember Fidei Defensor, appointed him cardinal protector of England. And then France is the first, the king of France, enemy with England, appointed him cardinal protector of France. So real problems. Huge pressure. And basically, the foreign policy of the Medicis look after the family and freedom from Italy. He’s going to have to, remember, he’s a soldier. He led numerous armed conflicts to look after the papal states. He, himself, governed Florence between 1519 and 1523, after the death of its civic ruler, his nephew. And then, of course, when his cousin dies, he goes back to Rome. And this is what President John Adams said about him. “He was permitted almost autocratic control and did very much to place public interest upon a firm and practical basis. His administration was very successful and frugal.”

This is him when he runs Florence. “He reduced the business of the magistrates, elections, custom officials and the expenditure of public money in such a way that it produced a great and universal joy amongst the citizens.” In Florence, he managed the money well. And when Leo dies, Giulio was expected to succeed him. But there was huge papal in-fighting and a compromise candidate comes to the throne, Adrian VI. He was a Dutch candidate. And during his papacy, again, quote, unquote, “He set great store by Cardinal Medici’s opinions. All the other cardinals were kept at arm’s length.” And at this time, he splits his time between the Palazzo de’ Medici in Florence and Rome. He, again, like his cousin, he’s an incredibly generous patron of the arts, musicians. And following the death of Adrian, despite French opposition, he becomes pope. He becomes pope at a time of one of the most terrible periods, really, in history. Okay. He’s pope during the real force of the Protestant Reformation. And in 1530, he’s negotiated the marriage of his niece Catherine to Henry, second son of Francis I. Catherine de’ Medici, which I’ve already talked about. And we talked about that incredibly lavish banquet when he officiated in Marseilles.

He also arranged for Charles V, the Holy Roman emperor, for his daughter Margaret, to marry Duke Alessandro de’ Medici. So, again, looking after the family. And Paul Strathern said, “This marks perhaps the most significant turning point in the history of the Medici, their ascent into the true nobility. Without the guiding hand of Clement, the Medici would never have been able to achieve this.” And, of course, in the arts, think Michelangelo, think all the greatness. However, let’s talk about England first, and why did England break away? Go back to Spain. Who is Henry VIII married to? The daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, the aunt of Charles V, the Holy Roman emperor. A divorce is wanted. The only way a king can get a divorce is from the papacy. There is no way the Medici pope will give a divorce to Henry. So that is when Henry breaks away from Rome and creates the Church of England. His advisor, Cromwell, of course, was already a Protestant. So was Anne Boleyn, his mistress, who, of course, becomes his wife. And if you think about the children of Henry VIII, his son, who dies very young, is brought up as a Protestant. His daughter Mary, the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, is a Catholic. Elizabeth is a Protestant. And it’s not really solved in England until 1688, the Act of Succession, when no Catholic can rule in England. So, again, it gives you a notion of the power of the church and why kings broke away. Now, also, he faces another terrible situation.

The wars between the French and the Habsburg led to an unpaid mercenary army sacking Rome. The pope had to take refuge in the citadel Sant'Angelo and had to pay huge ransom and accede cities. And meanwhile in Florence, his family were expelled from the city. It’s a very, very low time. And it’s not until the peace of Barcelona that Charles V agrees to restore the Medici to Florence. Now, this is also the great period of the discovery of the New World, and also something else. A little aside into Jewish history. He was very impressed by messianic claims of two fascinating characters, Solomon Molcho and David Reuveni. Think about it, the expulsion from Spain. Is this the end of days? There is a belief in Judaism, which, in a way, was kind of taken on by Christianity, that in a period of great horror, the almighty will send a messianic figure. To the Jew, it’s a man. To the Christians, Jesus becomes God. But the point is the expulsion from Spain, the end of days, there are messianic claimants. And the pope was very interested in this. And something else. He also tried to help Spanish and Portuguese conversos, and he allowed the Ashkenazi Jews of Mantua to open their own synagogue. But when he goes to war against the Turks, he is, in fact, taxing the Jews. Also, there was the rabble-rouser called St. John of Capistrano, St. John, remember.

And he was a Franciscan friar and a Catholic priest. He came from a town in Italy called Capistrano. And he was very much, he was a soldier and he was very much an inquisitor. And he had led, when he was 70, he was involved in helping the Hungarians in a crusade against the Turks. He was very charismatic, he was very effective. He worked mainly in North and Central Europe and in Poland and Hungary. And he was so famous that churches were too small. And he once preached to a crowd of 120,000 people. He wrote tracts against heresy. He was violently anti-Jewish. He was known as the scourge of the Jews. And in 1527, the pope actually intervened against him in Naples, where he had persuaded the queen to burn the records of Jewish debts. And the pope restored the rights of the Jews. Now, so, of course, both the Medici popes are very, very controversial from a theological point of view. They seemed to be relatively pro-Jewish. As Renaissance princes, as clever men, they are fantastic, but they couldn’t hold back the tide of Protestantism. It’s not until later that we see the impact of the counter-Reformation. Well, more about that later. Q&A and Comments:

So I think let’s have a look at questions. I think I should stop there.

Q: “When you say America, do you mean the United States of America? We, in Canada, are in the Americas, too.”

A: Well, then are you named for Amerigo de’ Vespucci, I wonder?

Joan is saying, “The last day for the exhibition is on Monday.” Linda’s saying, “The programme of the rabbi was excellent.”

“I’m in Toronto. Canada has a smaller population than all the other countries except for Israel.” Oh, really? So you’re really going for it.

Q: “What is the title and author of Trudy, your daughter’s book?”

A: Good Lord, “Women Who Ruled,” and her name’s Claudia Gold. Oh, Mona’s putting it up.

Q: “Can you put the family tree back up for us to see?”

A: Maybe, Judi, at the end. Can we do that, Judi?

Q: “How many of these popes had mistresses and illegitimate children?”

A: Well, the majority of them. I mean, Alexander Borgia had nine children that we know about. He had a very, very close relationship with his mistress. Vannozza, what was her name? dei Cattanei. She was the mother of Cesare, and later on, he had a beautiful young mistress, Giulia Farnese. Yeah, they were Renaissances princes.

“The famous portrait is by Raphael.” And hopefully, we will see that in the exhibition. I’m not sure.

Q: Barbara’s saying, “The TV show ‘The Borgias’ is riveting. How accurate is it?”

A: Ooh. Are you asking me as someone who loves wallowing in that kind of programme? Or are you asking me as a historian? It’s not very accurate, but that’s not the point. “

Q: Was Columbus a converso,” asks Thelma?

A: We don’t know. Some people like to think so, but I would say not proven.

“I’m surprised how much was done by people who rarely lived more than 50 years.” Just think about life expectancy at that time, Arlene. Think about medicine at that time.

Q: “When did celibacy become part of the papacy?”

A: Ooh, I’ll have to check that for you.

Paul said, “It’s better to marry than to burn.” I can’t remember when it became an actual encyclical.

“Luther got married.” That was another reason Protestantism became more popular.

“I thought Catholic priests were supposed to be sexually abstinent. How come some of them had numerous children?” Oh, Peter, Peter, you are a sophisticated man.

Q: “Was Martin Luther influenced by aestheticism of Savonarola?”

A: They’re very similar. They’re quite similar personalities as well.

“The 95 theses were in 1517.” Goodness, did I say 1518? No, that’s when he went to Augsburg. Yes, of course, you’re right. And I’ll never forget, Arlene, I once had an essay submitted by an undergrad who said that Martin Luther nailed 95 theocrats to a church door in Wittenberg. Again, about celibacy. Will somebody look it up for me?

Q: “Was Luther not an anti-Semite?”

A: Well, I think I proved he was. Jackie says, “He was evidently not at first.” You see, the point about Luther is he believed that the Catholic Church was evil, the pope was the Antichrist. And once the Jews read him and understand, they will convert. When they didn’t, he turned violently. There was a Lutheran church that was in, it was called the, led by right Pastor Muller. About 500,000 belonged to it. And they were part of the Nazi Party.

Q: “The word Goyyim was used by Luther in 1543?”

A: Yes, Arlene, I was quoting.

Q: “How was Martin Luther excommunicated from the Catholic Church if he wasn’t a Catholic?”

A: He was a Catholic, that’s the point. Everybody was a Catholic unless you were a heretic. He’s excommunicated as a heretic. “

Q: And were there Jewish popes?”

A: There were two Jewish popes. There were two popes of Jewish origin earlier.

Q: “What has the fall of Constantinople to do with Leo X?”

A: It’s got a lot to do with it because, just think, the fall of Constantinople, of Christian Constantinople, the knowledge of Greece and Rome, all the scholars coming into Italy. And, of course, it really gave another lift to the Renaissance.

And Fay is saying, “There’s a series of the Medici on Netflix. It’s just called ‘The Medici.’” If you put Medici into, whatever you call it, you just come up with it.

Q: “Is there a connection between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire?”

A: Yes, Susan. Back in the 800s, the papacy was quite weak, and they turned to the strongest prince on the block, at the time, it was Charlemagne, and gave him the title Holy Roman emperor. And he was, therefore, defender of the church. And at this period, it was always a Habsburg.

Q: “Who was the artist of Simonetta Vespucci?”

A: If it is her, it was Botticelli.

Q: “Can we see the family tree?”

A: Yes, when I finish the questions, I promise.

• [Judi] I have it up on the screen, so you can-

• Oh, you have?

• See it now.

• Okay. They can’t see it because, can they see it? ‘Cause I’m looking at the question.

• [Judi] Yeah, they can 'cause I’m sharing my screen. It’s up on my screen.

• Thank you, darling.

Q: “Can I use proper names more often?”

A: Yes, I will.

“I think the painting of the Pazzi conspiracy.” It could well be so. I am not an art historian. In fact, I made a mistake yesterday. There were paintings of the Pazzi by Leonardo. That obviously wasn’t one. I’m speaking too fast again.

“Surely America named after Amerigo Vespucci was South America.” Well, probably, yes, but it’s now a term used for America.

Yes, I am aware of the Medici Archive Project. Yes, there’s a segment.

Very interesting, Janice. “Giulio and Giuliani and Giuliano.” I’m so bad at pronunciation.

“Lords of the Golden Horn,” Susan, was the book that I mentioned yesterday.

“It was said that Columbus’ maps were made by Jewish navigators.” Yes. Arlene is saying she thinks celibacy was enforced around 1000.

Oh, yes, and more from Yolandi. Oh, I love it. I don’t have to do any research. 1123 and 1139 was when the popes had to be celibate.

Sue Melmed, “Requirements imposed on clergy in 1123.” “Originally, Muhammad thought the Jews would join them, and when they didn’t, he treated them as enemies.”

Yes, Valerie, yeah. Jonathan, “Celibacy was brought in by St. Augustine.” Thank you, Jonathan. Yes, yes, John. “Savonarola was eventually burned at the stake when his enemies, including the church, were finally fed up with his .”

Yeah, can you imagine all that beautiful art that was destroyed? Ideology.

Q: “What is the exhibition about?”

A: Well, you’re going to see it, you’re going to see it at seven. Am I correct?

• [Judi] That’s correct, Trudy, yes.

• Okay, I think that’s it, isn’t it?

• [Judi] Yes, that looked like it was the last question. So. Yes, that was, from Denise.

• Okay. So have a rest and please come back at seven to see the exhibition. And Judi, thank you very much.

• [Judi] Always a pleasure, Trudy. And thank you to everybody who joined us again today, and we’ll see you in an hour.

• God bless.