DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42863#0260
232 ELECTION OF CLEMENT VII.
which Florence sent to join the papal forces. In
spite of this formidable league, Francis I. was bent
on recovering Milan, and early in September a strong
force under Bonnivet crossed the Alps, and, after
taking Novara and Vigevano, laid siege to Milan.
On the 14th of September 1523, the very day
when the French crossed the Ticino, the Pope died,
heart-broken at the failure of his efforts to reform the
Church, and to unite the powers of Christendom in
a crusade against the Turks. “ Here lies Adrian VI.,
who thought nothing more unfortunate in his life
than that he became Pope,” was, Paolo Giovio tells
us, the inscription which he wished to have placed on
his grave. The Conclave met on the 1st of October,
and after a prolonged sitting of fifty days, Cardinal dei
Medici was elected Pope, with the title of Clement
VII. The Imperialists were exultant. Bembo pro-
phesied that the new Pope would prove the best and
wisest ruler which the Church had ever known, and
all Rome rejoiced at the choice of a Medici, who
would hold a splendid court and bring back the
golden days of Leo X. The Gonzagas were over-
joyed to see a friend of their house once more in the
Chair of St. Peter, and Castiglione, who was on in-
timate terms with the new Pontiff, was immediately
sent to congratulate him on his election.
That summer Isabella and her family were once
more thrown into mourning by the death of her
brother-in-law Giovanni Gonzaga and his wife Laura
Bentivoglio, who both died in the same week, the one
in the last days of August, the other on the 4th of Sep-
tember. Giovanni had always shown himself the most
loyal of subjects to his brother and nephew, and his
house in the BorgoPradella had been the scene of many
which Florence sent to join the papal forces. In
spite of this formidable league, Francis I. was bent
on recovering Milan, and early in September a strong
force under Bonnivet crossed the Alps, and, after
taking Novara and Vigevano, laid siege to Milan.
On the 14th of September 1523, the very day
when the French crossed the Ticino, the Pope died,
heart-broken at the failure of his efforts to reform the
Church, and to unite the powers of Christendom in
a crusade against the Turks. “ Here lies Adrian VI.,
who thought nothing more unfortunate in his life
than that he became Pope,” was, Paolo Giovio tells
us, the inscription which he wished to have placed on
his grave. The Conclave met on the 1st of October,
and after a prolonged sitting of fifty days, Cardinal dei
Medici was elected Pope, with the title of Clement
VII. The Imperialists were exultant. Bembo pro-
phesied that the new Pope would prove the best and
wisest ruler which the Church had ever known, and
all Rome rejoiced at the choice of a Medici, who
would hold a splendid court and bring back the
golden days of Leo X. The Gonzagas were over-
joyed to see a friend of their house once more in the
Chair of St. Peter, and Castiglione, who was on in-
timate terms with the new Pontiff, was immediately
sent to congratulate him on his election.
That summer Isabella and her family were once
more thrown into mourning by the death of her
brother-in-law Giovanni Gonzaga and his wife Laura
Bentivoglio, who both died in the same week, the one
in the last days of August, the other on the 4th of Sep-
tember. Giovanni had always shown himself the most
loyal of subjects to his brother and nephew, and his
house in the BorgoPradella had been the scene of many