In 1527, 34,000 Imperial troops mutinied and forced their commander, Charles III, Duke of Bourbon and Constable of France, to lead them towards Rome.
The army of the Holy Roman Emperor defeated the French army in Italy, but funds were not available to pay the soldiers.
The imperial troops were 14,000 Germans, 6,000 Spanish, and an imprecise number of Italian infantry, and also some cavalry
Numerous bandits, along with the League’s deserters, joined the army during its march.
Madrid The Royal Armoury was largely created by the Emperor Charles V (1500-1558) and his son Philip II.
Martin Luther himself was not in favor of it, though some who considered themselves followers of Luther’s Protestant movement ,viewed the Papal capital as a target for religious reasons, and shared with the soldiers a desire for the sack and pillage of a city, which appeared to be an easy mark.
- Martin Luther
The Duke left Arezzo on 20 April 1527, taking advantage of the chaos among the Venetians and their allies, after a revolt which had broken out in Florence against the Medici.
- Charles V:, Holy Roman Emperor
In this way, the largely undisciplined troops sacked Acquapendente and San Lorenzo alle Grotte, and occupied Viterbo and Ronciglione, reaching the walls of Rome on the 5th of May.
- Charles V with two pages
Pope Clement VII had given his support to the Kingdom of France in an attempt to alter the balance of power in their region of Europe, and free the Papacy from dependency, i.e. a growing weakness to “Imperial domination” by the Holy Roman Empire (and the Hapsburg dynasty).
The Sack of Rome, on 6 May 1527, was a military event carried out in Rome (then part of the Papal States) by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
It marked a crucial imperial victory, in the conflict between Charles and the League of Cognac (1526–1529)—the alliance of France, Milan, Venice, Florence and the Papacy.
Pope Clement VII,prior to being overthrown, housed his young orphaned niece Catherine di Medici, in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, where she lived in state.
The Florentine people called her duchessina (“the little duchess”), in deference to her unrecognized claim to the Duchy of Urbino.
In 1527, the Florentines ousted the Medici rulers and proclaimed the Republic of Florence, headed by a faction opposed to the regime of Clement’s representative, Cardinal Silvio Passerini.
It was then , young Catherine Medici, was taken hostage and she was imprisoned, in 1527, at only 8 years old.
At the time, Italy was plunged in a bitter war that saw the imperial Spanish army of Charles V pitted against the French and their ally, the Pope.
Clement had no choice but to crown Charles, Holy Roman Emperor in return for his help in retaking the city.
The Florentine Republic sided with the French, but when the Spanish gained victory, both the French and the Pope signed treaties with Charles V, and left Florence to its own devices.
In a dramatic twist of allegiance, the Pope sent an army to bolster the Spanish forces.
He schemed the defeat of the Florentine Republic, in order to install his nephew, Alessandro de’ Medici, as ruler of the city.
Michelangelo owed his career to the Medici, one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Europe, but by 1529 he joined ranks with other Florentines, who had grown weary of their rule, hoping for a more democratic system of governance.
He even designed the Medici chapel as the family burial place, but when relations turned sour, the artist became, Director of Fortifications for the Republic ,which ousted the Medicis from Florence in the late 1520’s.
Defying the formidable family, and the Pope (Clement VII, who was a Medici), which was more than a little, counter-intuitive for the artist, whose livelihood depended on them.
But defy he did, working to help fortify the city walls against Medici-friendly forces, led by the Pope himself.
In October 1529, Charles’s troops laidsiege to Florence for 10 months, from October 1529 to August 1530.
As the siege dragged on, voices called for the young Catherine Medici,to be killed and exposed naked and chained to the city walls.
Some even suggested , she be handed over to the troops, to be used for their sexual gratification.
Clement summoned Catherine from her beloved convent to join him in Rome, where he greeted her with open arms and tears in his eyes.
Then he set about the business of finding her a husband.
Fifty-four-year-old Michelangelo, who was already recognized, not only as one of the foremost artists of the time, but also as a specialist of fortifications, was nominated general governor and procurator of the fortifications of Florence, which he set out to strengthen and improve.
In 1530, all hell broke loose in Florence, to escape the wrath of the Pope, Michelangelo was forced into hiding in a secret room, under the Medici Chapel .
For his part, the Pope alleged Michelangelo, was acting like the king of France, himself.
The Florentine army was heavily defeated in August 1530, at Gavinana, the beleaguered Florentines knew the days of the Republic were counted.
The city surrendered soon after, on 12 August 1530.
After ten months of struggle the Pope and his family won, and the republican sympathizers were swiftly punished.
Medici
This would have included Michelangelo, had he not retreated for those 1-3 months, in his subterranean hideaway to wait it out.
The triumphal return of the Medici rulers to Florence, spelled disaster for those who had supported the Republic.
- Lorraine & Medici Coats-of Arms, 18th century, at Museo dell’Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence
Michelangelo’s own fame, made him a marked man.
With the help of a friend, perhaps the prior of the Medici Chapels, Michelangelo hid in an underground chamber beneath the new sacristy of the Basilica of San Lorenzo—a place he knew well, having worked there both as an architect and as a sculptor.
- Monica Bietti, the current director of the Medici Chapels museum, examines the sketches on the chamber walls while holding a book of Michelangelo’s work.
He hoped to escape from the vengeance of the Medici by hiding right under their noses.
It is thought, Michelangelo spent a month to 3 months secluded in that chamber, with only a tiny window as a link to the outside world.
The days must have seemed endless, to a man of his energy, and boredom must have struck him hard.
Perhaps he even suffered hunger, but undoubtedly, he must have lived those days in constant fear of the fate that awaited him should he be discovered.
With nothing but time, fear in his heart and a little charcoal on his hands, he covered the bare walls with some prisoner graffiti.
In his moments of despair, Michelangelo gave voice to his thoughts by sketching on the walls with a piece of charcoal.
“I hid in a tiny cell,” he wrote, “entombed like the dead Medici above, though hiding from a live one. To forget my fears, I fill the walls with drawings.”
The sketches include: thoughts about the David, who had become the unofficial symbol of the Florentine Republic, and a convolution of bodies which resemble, the Last Judgment, later frescoed on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel.
A haggard, hunched figure scribbling on parchment, with a quill could be a self-portrait, reflecting the artist’s state of mind, during those lonely, miserable days.
Of particular interest, is the study of a hand with the finger poised outwards, which is reminiscent of God extending his hand to Adam, on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, as well as, the sketch of a man’s knees which probably served as a blueprint for the sculpture of Duke Giuliano de’ Medici’s memorial statue, which Michelangelo would later sculpt, it now stands in the hall, above the same chamber.
Perhaps Michelangelo was recalling an earlier Pope Jullius, whom he had to protect himself from in 1512, while working on the Sistine Chapel.
The project fueled Michelangelo’s imagination, and the original plan for 12 apostles morphed into more than 300 figures, on the ceiling of the sacred space.
(The work later had to be completely removed soon after, due to an infectious fungus in the plaster, then recreated.)
Michelangelo fired all of his assistants, whom he deemed inept, and completed the 65-foot ceiling alone, spending endless hours on his back, guarding the project jealously, until completion.
Pope Julius was outraged at the slow pace of progress and asked when Michelangelo would finally complete it , he replied, “when I can”.
Fiercely angered, Pope Julius threatened , ” Do you want me to have you thrown off this scaffolding?”
After he left the chapel, Michelangelo had the scaffolding dismantled.
After the rebellion in Florence, Pope Clement VII wasrestored to power, eventually he wrote a letter of pardon for Michelangelo and ordered him to continue working on the chapel at San Lorenzo.
The pope needed the services of the foremost sculptor in Italy, to boost the prestige of the Medici dynasty.
The Medici sentence on Michelangelo, was eventually lifted by Pope Clement VII, himself a member of the Medici family, so the artist could continue work on the chapel and tombs for the Medici princes.
He left Florence in 1534, without finishing the job.
Emperor Charles V was greatly embarrassed by the fact, he had been powerless to stop his troops striking against Pope Clement VII and imprisoning him.
Some may argue, Charles V was partially responsible for the Sack of Rome, since he expressed his desire for a private audience with Pope Clement and his men took action into their own hands.
Clement spent the rest of his life trying to steer clear of conflict with the emperor, avoiding decisions which could displease Charles V, making the Pope powerless.
Without any qualms and without conditions, Clement agreed to cede the worldly and political possessions of the bishopric of Utrecht, to the Hapsburgs.
Fear of another sacking, coupled with the Pope’s virtual imprisonment, compelled the Pope not to grant England’s King Henry VIII an annulment to his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, the Emperor’s aunt.
In doing so, the Pope pacified Charles V, and, incidentally, sparked the English Reformation.
Henry VIII, was king of England, by only one generation.
To secure his throne, he felt the need for a male heir.
However, Mary was the only child of Henry VIII by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to survive to adulthood.
Throughout Mary’s childhood, Henry negotiated potential future marriages for her.
When she was only 2 years old, she was promised to Francis, the infant son of King Francis I of France, but the contract was repudiated after three years.
In 1522, at the age of 6, she was instead contracted to marry her 22-year-old first cousin, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
However, the engagement was broken off within a few years by Charles with Henry’s agreement.
Meanwhile, the marriage of Mary’s parents was in jeopardy.
Disappointed at the lack of a male heir, and eager to remarry, Henry attempted to have his marriage to Catherine of Argon annulled, but Pope Clement VII refused his request.
Henry claimed, citing biblical passages (Leviticus 20:21), that his marriage to Catherine was unclean because she was the widow of his brother Arthur (Mary’s uncle).
Catherine claimed, her marriage to Arthur was never consummated and so was not a valid marriage.Her first marriage had been annulled by a previous pope, Julius II, on that basis.
Clement may also have been reluctant to act, because he was influenced by Charles V, Catherine’s nephew and Mary’s former betrothed, troops had surrounded and occupied Rome in the War of the League of Cognac
Henry VIII’s split from Catherine of Aragon led to his breakaway from the Catholic Church and the establishment of the Church of England.
The letter is considered a ‘priceless document of great historical significance.’
The event marked the end of the Roman Renaissance, damaged the Papacy’s prestige, and freed the Emperor’s hands to act against the Reformation in Germany and against the rebellious German princes allied with Luther.
The population of Rome dropped from some 55,000 before the attack, to 10,000.
An estimated 6,000 to 12,000 people were murdered.
Many Imperial soldiers also died in the following months (they remained in the city until February 1528) from diseases, caused by the large number of unburied dead bodies in the city.
The pillage only ended when, after 8 months, the food ran out, there was no one left to ransom and plague appeared.
In commemoration of the Sack and the Guard’s bravery, recruits to the Swiss Guard are sworn in on May 6,every year.
The secret chamber under the Medici Chapels is not accessible to the public, but Michelangelo’s sketches can be viewed on touchscreen monitors, in three locations:
Bargello National Museum, Accademia Gallery and the Sagrestia Nuova in the San Lorenzo complex.
Experts in Florence are restoring drawings Michelangelo drew on the walls of a cell-like room, in which the artist hid, while the Medici family wanted him dead.
But Michelangelo’s crowning glory in this field, came when he was made chief architect of St. Peter’s Basilica in 1546.
Queen Elizabeth I (September 7,claimed the throne in 1558, at the age of 25 and held it until her death, 44 years later.
It was expected Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir; she never did.
She was eventually succeeded, by her first cousin twice removed, James VI of Scotland.
She had earlier been responsible for the imprisonment and execution of James’s mother, Mary, Queen of Scots.
On August 18, 1572, Catherine de Medici’s daughter, Margaret of France was married to the Huguenot Henry of Navarre , and a large part of the Huguenot nobility came to Paris for the wedding.
An attempt on Admiral Coligny’s life, 4 days later, failed; he was only wounded.
To placate the angry Huguenots, the government agreed to investigate the assassination attempt.
- Louvre, Paris
Fearing discovery of her complicity, Catherine de Medici met secretly with a group of nobles at the Tuileries Palace ,to plot the complete extermination of the Huguenot leaders, who were still in Paris for the wedding festivities.
Charles was persuaded to approve of the scheme, and on the night of August 23, members of the Paris municipality were called to the Louvre and given their orders.
Shortly before dawn on August 24 the bell of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois began to toll, and the massacre began.
One of the first victims was Coligny, who was killed under the supervision of Henry de Guise .
Even within the Louvre, Navarre’s attendants were slaughtered, though Navarre and Henry I de Bourbon, 2nd prince de Condé, were spared.
The homes and shops of Huguenots were pillaged and their occupants brutally murdered; many bodies were thrown into the Seine.
Bloodshed continued in Paris, even after a royal order of August 25 to stop the killing, and it spread to the provinces.
Huguenots in Rouen, Lyon, Bourges, Orléans, and Bordeaux were among the victims.
The news of the massacre was welcomed by Philip II of Spain, and Pope Gregory XIII had a medal struck to celebrate the event.
- Philip II’
Protestant nations were horrified.
To explain the massacre, Charles V assumed responsibility, by claiming there had been a Huguenot plot against the crown.
Instead of crippling the Huguenot party, as Catherine had hoped it would do, the massacre revived hatred between Catholics and Huguenots and helped provoke a renewal of hostilities.
Thenceforth the Huguenots abandoned John Calvin’s principle of obedience to the civil magistrate—that is, to the royal authority—and adopted the view that rebellion and tyrannicide were justifiable under certain circumstances.
After the execution of Mary Queen of Scots her only son, and a great-great-grandson of Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland, James I, became King of England ,positioning him to eventually accede to all three thrones.
James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death in 1625.
The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union.
James (right) depicted aged 17 beside his mother Mary (left),
