The Tudors, The Medici and the French Royal Family...
Highlighting historically significant connections between three historic dynasties.
To me, one of the most fascinating aspects of history is when different words collide. All to often, we look at the life of a historical figure, or a historical event as one entity, suspend in time. We often don’t remember that just as today, the past was also a very big a busy world. Although people in the past did not have the modern convinces (or some might say inconveniences) that provide the instant news and communication we have today, by no means were the people of the past uninformed. As a lover of history, nothing brings me back to this point faster than when I see worlds, families and cultures of the past collide.
Henry VIII, one of the most famous kings of all time, was made famous for breaking from the Catholic Church in pursuit of a divorce from his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. And, as the story goes, the Pope would not grant him a divorce from Katherine; so he decided to leave the Catholic Church. He formed the Church of England (while still keeping the Pope appointed title of “Defender of the Faith”) so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. Then he went on to marry four more times, and as we know, he "found" justifications to end two more of those four marriages.
In the general version of Henry’s story, we always briefly hear about “The Pope”, the villain in his narrative. But what is often not said is who that Pope actually was….See, that particular Pope, Clement VII, was actually a member of world famous Medici family (You know, the banking family from Florence that essentially started and sponsored the Renaissance.) Born Giulio di Giuliano de’ Medici, he was actually the illegitimate son of Giuliano de’ Medici the beloved brother of Lorenzo il Magnifico. Sadly just before his birth his father was brutally murdered during church by the Pazzi family in an event called the Pazzi Conspiracy (Several posts could be dedicated to this event, so I will not be sharing on that now). His Uncle Lorenzo narrowly escaped death and eventually raised Gulio with his own sons Piero, Giovanni and Giuliano. He had a natural inclination for the Church, and the short story is, he and his cousin Giovanni (who became Pope Leo X) went to Rome and began their careers in the church. Eventually Gulio became Pope Clement VII. While his papacy was filled with many unfortunate circumstances and events (again, this could be several posts on their own), one major event was King Henry VIII of England asking him for a divorce from his wife, Katherine of Aragon.
While Clement VII was under insurmountable pressure from Katherine’s nephew, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, there was also a clear reason for his refusal to Henry. Papal dispensation had already been granted FOR the marriage to take place years before. So aside from political pressures, there was no way for Clement to truly annul the marriage. And so, the result, as stated above was that Henry left the Catholic Church.
Moving slightly south and east, as the saga with Henry was wrapping up, Clement had events with another group of royals. This time it was performing the marriage between his cousin Catherine de Medici, (she was the great-granddaughter of Lorenzo il Magnifico, who was Pope Clement VIIs uncle) one of the most formidable Queens ever, to the future Henry II of France. Catherine went on to be a major player in European politics where she would have dealings with virtually every political player in Europe and in the interest of MBH, with Mary Queen of Scotts who was her daughter-in-law, and Henry VIIIs daughter, Elizabeth I. It was for Elizabeth I’s mother, Anne Boleyn that Henry left the church in the first place.
While this post does not move into the lives and legacy of these major historical figures, what I hope it does do is highlight how closely connected the world of the past was. We often learn about the history of one country or region alone, which gives us all a very singular view of a very big world. The Tudors and the Medici seem a world away for one another, but in reality, just a single one of their mutual dealings changed the world in such a massive way, that the impacts of it are still felt five hundred years later.
If you liked this post, here are a few others you might enjoy…
Five Famous Renaissance Men Who All Came From the Same Tuscan Town
If you are interested in the Medici family, there is a great show on Netflix (in the US) called Masters of Florence that illustrates the lives of Cosimo de Medici and Lorenzo il Magnifico.
Want more historical resources and finds like this? Join the chat where I share them every week!
Finally…
A look at whats to come. Next week we will be wrapping up our explorative series on Letters From a Prince which is a collection of letters from Edward VIII (during his time as Prince of Wales) that he wrote to his mistress, Freda Dudley Ward. Following that, we will be diving back into the Stuart Court to talk about Charles II and his not so legitimate descendants!
I appreciate your readership more than you know and I hope you enjoy Mostly British History.
Until Next Time,
McKenzie
This was helpful. I am Catholic and I didn’t even know who the Pope then actually was. Thank you!
And Charles V’s sister Eleanor became the second wife of Francis I of France, who may well have been more friendly than is standard, shall we say, with Mary Boleyn, Anne’s sister (who also had the same arrangement at a different point with Henry VIII).