Santa Maria sopra Minerva
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Overview
Originally, back in 50 BCE, Pompey built a temple here to the pagan Goddess Minerva. There were already a number of temples to Minerva all over town but folks seemed to really like her so another temple was built on this site. After all, a town can never have too many temples! She was a virgin goddess, which meant she was strong and her own person. She was the goddess of poetry, medicine, dyeing, commerce, weaving, crafts, magic and mostly wisdom. How could you not be wise if you knew how to do all those things? Plus, the fact that she sprang from her father’s brain instead of being born like the rest of us, must have made her extra smart! By the way, as you’re humming your way through the church, or listening to the choir melodically singing in the front chapel, remember that Minerva is also the inventor of music!
The Building:
The building we are standing in today, follows the same design as that of the ancient Basilica Ulpia, located in Trajan’s Forum, which you would have seen when you walked the Mostly Roman and Early Christian tour. Basilica Ulpia is the building that set the design standards for all subsequent basilicas, having a great central nave and columns separating the side aisles from the nave.
The current church was designed by two Dominican Friars. Although a Friar may be an architect, a Friar is not a Monk. They are both religious orders, but a Friar does more community society-based work than a Monk. Friars are members of society who serve a wide geographic area. Monks prefer to be devoted while living in segregation in a cloister-like setting. This is a Friar-based church.
Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi were the pair of Friars, brought in from Florence, who designed the building. They also designed Santa Maria Novella, a beautiful Gothic structure located in Florence. Watch the interior video to see a comparison of the two buildings.
Galileo
The Dominican Friars were the group who, along with the Jesuits, started the counter-reformation, and were involved with the Inquisition. The Friars have a monastery attached to this church, which is on the left as you face the apse. The doors are usually locked, and you can’t get through to it. It was in this adjoining monastery that Galileo was summoned by the Inquisition to withdraw his theory that the earth revolves around the sun. I think Galileo had a difficult time dealing with the whole thing, but the Catholic Church seems to have had a more difficult time admitting they were wrong as it took them 359 years to change their collective minds. Perhaps they should have associated themselves a little more closely with Minerva since she was so smart.
The Inquisition started in the mid 1500s. It was created by the Catholic Church to prosecute people who were accused of committing crimes relating to:
Galileo landed in the Heresy category and was found to be vehemently suspected of heresy as the church believed that the earth was the centre of all and the majority of astronomical objects, including the sun, revolved around it. The church believed this to be true because it states in the bible that the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved. Another paragraph reads; the Lord set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. Galileo argued that his theory did not contradict the bible, but his interpretation of the text was also seen to be a problem with the church. He recanted his theory but finished his sentence with “And yet it moves.”
Not believing that the earth revolves around the sun may sound absurd to us in the 21st century, but 400 years ago they didn’t have the technology to provide steadfast data and very few people had the courage to publicly state their beliefs if their beliefs were not aligned with the Church. The Church was very powerful and presenting misaligned theories, or the gossip of presenting misaligned theories was too risky, as Galileo soon found out. He was banned from publishing any more theories or written material and he was imprisoned for a while. He died while under house arrest.
The Building:
The building we are standing in today, follows the same design as that of the ancient Basilica Ulpia, located in Trajan’s Forum, which you would have seen when you walked the Mostly Roman and Early Christian tour. Basilica Ulpia is the building that set the design standards for all subsequent basilicas, having a great central nave and columns separating the side aisles from the nave.
The current church was designed by two Dominican Friars. Although a Friar may be an architect, a Friar is not a Monk. They are both religious orders, but a Friar does more community society-based work than a Monk. Friars are members of society who serve a wide geographic area. Monks prefer to be devoted while living in segregation in a cloister-like setting. This is a Friar-based church.
Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi were the pair of Friars, brought in from Florence, who designed the building. They also designed Santa Maria Novella, a beautiful Gothic structure located in Florence. Watch the interior video to see a comparison of the two buildings.
- The building was started in 1280.
- The aisles were complete in the 1300s.
- The façade was started in 1453 and personally funded by Count Francesco Orsini; by the look of it, he didn’t have a lot of money!
- The façade was completed in 1725 when the Pope kicked-in some cash.
Galileo
The Dominican Friars were the group who, along with the Jesuits, started the counter-reformation, and were involved with the Inquisition. The Friars have a monastery attached to this church, which is on the left as you face the apse. The doors are usually locked, and you can’t get through to it. It was in this adjoining monastery that Galileo was summoned by the Inquisition to withdraw his theory that the earth revolves around the sun. I think Galileo had a difficult time dealing with the whole thing, but the Catholic Church seems to have had a more difficult time admitting they were wrong as it took them 359 years to change their collective minds. Perhaps they should have associated themselves a little more closely with Minerva since she was so smart.
The Inquisition started in the mid 1500s. It was created by the Catholic Church to prosecute people who were accused of committing crimes relating to:
- Heresy
- Sorcery or witchcraft
- Protestantism
- And other things...
Galileo landed in the Heresy category and was found to be vehemently suspected of heresy as the church believed that the earth was the centre of all and the majority of astronomical objects, including the sun, revolved around it. The church believed this to be true because it states in the bible that the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved. Another paragraph reads; the Lord set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. Galileo argued that his theory did not contradict the bible, but his interpretation of the text was also seen to be a problem with the church. He recanted his theory but finished his sentence with “And yet it moves.”
Not believing that the earth revolves around the sun may sound absurd to us in the 21st century, but 400 years ago they didn’t have the technology to provide steadfast data and very few people had the courage to publicly state their beliefs if their beliefs were not aligned with the Church. The Church was very powerful and presenting misaligned theories, or the gossip of presenting misaligned theories was too risky, as Galileo soon found out. He was banned from publishing any more theories or written material and he was imprisoned for a while. He died while under house arrest.
Interior
Although the interior of this church is quite beautiful, there are many other aspects and tidbits of information that make this church a fun place to visit so be sure to wander through the entire church.
Why is it Gothic?
Construction started in 1280, but the interior wasn’t completed until 1453, when Cardinal Juan Torquemada, whose tomb is in this church, suggested that the nave be completed by topping it with vaults. This reduced the overall height of the building.
Even before the nave was completed, the church was being used. In 1431, the sacristy was used for a papal conclave when Pope Eugene IV was elected. Another conclave took place in 1447 when Pope Nicholas V was elected. Conclaves weren’t being held at the Sistine Chapel, as it wasn’t built yet; construction on it started in 1473.
The interior, like most Roman churches, has seen several additions throughout its life. It was “Baroqued” for a while, but in between 1848 and 1855 the Baroque features were removed.
The stained-glass windows were added in the 19th century and the organ was added in 1909.
Why is it Gothic?
- It has pointed arches.
- The pointed, vaulted ceilings are definitely a Gothic invention.
- The blue ceiling with golden stars is a popular Gothic feature so the viewer understands that heaven is above.
- Although this church is not as tall as most Gothic churches, it still maintains a grand design which sweeps upward and tries to make a person feel small.
- The nave is taller than it is wide.
- Amazing colour is abundant, which you would never find in a Renaissance church.
- A cluster of three Lancet windows is set in the apse. Very few windows are throughout the rest of the building, which is an Italian version of Gothic. Fewer windows in an Italian church kept the building cooler.
- The Latin Cross floor plan is regular and symmetrical.
- It is full of clustered columns.
Construction started in 1280, but the interior wasn’t completed until 1453, when Cardinal Juan Torquemada, whose tomb is in this church, suggested that the nave be completed by topping it with vaults. This reduced the overall height of the building.
Even before the nave was completed, the church was being used. In 1431, the sacristy was used for a papal conclave when Pope Eugene IV was elected. Another conclave took place in 1447 when Pope Nicholas V was elected. Conclaves weren’t being held at the Sistine Chapel, as it wasn’t built yet; construction on it started in 1473.
The interior, like most Roman churches, has seen several additions throughout its life. It was “Baroqued” for a while, but in between 1848 and 1855 the Baroque features were removed.
The stained-glass windows were added in the 19th century and the organ was added in 1909.
Michelangelo
If you are not near the apse at the front of the church, go there now. Face the apse and to your left to look for the statue of Christ.
A woman named Marta Porcari, is responsible for this statue being placed in this church. She was a wealthy Roman patrician who had left funds in her will for the creation of a new family chapel to be built in the church.
Michelangelo was contracted by one of her heirs to carve a life-sized nude figure of Christ with a cross in his hand. Michelangelo agreed and started to work on the piece in 1514. As he was carving, a black vein from deep within the marble, appeared in the face of Christ. Not happy with the black streak of marble, and since he had not yet received any payment for his work, he abandoned the sculpture in Rome and went home to Florence in 1516.
Not yet having the sculpture from him and wanting to complete the will of Marta, her heir, Metello Vari, contacted Michelangelo again requesting that he complete the signed contract. This time Michelangelo was paid upfront for the work, so he went to Carrara and selected a new marble block. It was delivered to Florence in 1519, and he started to work on the second version. Metello was eager for the statue, so even though it was unfinished, it was transported to Rome in March in 1520, and completed by Michelangelo’s pupil and assistant Pietro Urbano.
Apparently, Pietro, being a pupil and not a master had a little trouble with parts of the sculpture. It was said that Pietro had spoiled the marble wherever he touched it. Michaelangelo was horrified that one of his sculptures was less than perfect. He called in Federigo Frizzi, a Florentine sculptor, to fix-it-up.
The statue was installed in its present location in 1521, where it was widely accepted and admired by the Romans. Michelangelo gave the first, unfinished statue, the one with the black marble vein to Metello, the heir, as a gift in 1522. Metello kept it in the garden of his house and had it finished by Bernini. In 1607, probably after the death of Metello, the statue was listed for sale and disappeared for almost 400 years. It was discovered in 2000 by Irene Baldriga, a PhD graduate from the University of La Sapienza, in the church of San Vincenzo in the town of Bassano Romano, which is around the geographic “kneecap” of Italy.
Kneecaps play an interesting role with these two statues since the original currently resides near the kneecap of Italy, and the second, located here, in the church of sopra Minerva, has over the years been recognised as having beautiful kneecaps. Be sure to look at them while you are there. Sebastiano del Piombo, an Italian High Renaissance painter, declared that the “Knees alone were worthy of more than the whole Rome.”
Let’s talk about the nudity of Christ. In both statues, Christ was nude with his private parts exposed for all to see. Although Michelangelo painted and sculpted mostly nudes, which by the way, is a most difficult achievement, the idea for the nudity in this statue was not Michelangelo’s. Nudity was requested by Metello to show that Christ is uncorrupted by lust and stands for eternity showing that his resurrected body shows complete control and triumph over death and sin.
The Baroque era folks didn’t buy the control of lust theory and had the private parts covered with a blob of bronze.
What I find interesting about the placement of this statue in this church, is that for eternity, Christ gets to look at frescoes by Filippino Lippi in the Carafa chapel forever! How great is that?
A woman named Marta Porcari, is responsible for this statue being placed in this church. She was a wealthy Roman patrician who had left funds in her will for the creation of a new family chapel to be built in the church.
Michelangelo was contracted by one of her heirs to carve a life-sized nude figure of Christ with a cross in his hand. Michelangelo agreed and started to work on the piece in 1514. As he was carving, a black vein from deep within the marble, appeared in the face of Christ. Not happy with the black streak of marble, and since he had not yet received any payment for his work, he abandoned the sculpture in Rome and went home to Florence in 1516.
Not yet having the sculpture from him and wanting to complete the will of Marta, her heir, Metello Vari, contacted Michelangelo again requesting that he complete the signed contract. This time Michelangelo was paid upfront for the work, so he went to Carrara and selected a new marble block. It was delivered to Florence in 1519, and he started to work on the second version. Metello was eager for the statue, so even though it was unfinished, it was transported to Rome in March in 1520, and completed by Michelangelo’s pupil and assistant Pietro Urbano.
Apparently, Pietro, being a pupil and not a master had a little trouble with parts of the sculpture. It was said that Pietro had spoiled the marble wherever he touched it. Michaelangelo was horrified that one of his sculptures was less than perfect. He called in Federigo Frizzi, a Florentine sculptor, to fix-it-up.
The statue was installed in its present location in 1521, where it was widely accepted and admired by the Romans. Michelangelo gave the first, unfinished statue, the one with the black marble vein to Metello, the heir, as a gift in 1522. Metello kept it in the garden of his house and had it finished by Bernini. In 1607, probably after the death of Metello, the statue was listed for sale and disappeared for almost 400 years. It was discovered in 2000 by Irene Baldriga, a PhD graduate from the University of La Sapienza, in the church of San Vincenzo in the town of Bassano Romano, which is around the geographic “kneecap” of Italy.
Kneecaps play an interesting role with these two statues since the original currently resides near the kneecap of Italy, and the second, located here, in the church of sopra Minerva, has over the years been recognised as having beautiful kneecaps. Be sure to look at them while you are there. Sebastiano del Piombo, an Italian High Renaissance painter, declared that the “Knees alone were worthy of more than the whole Rome.”
Let’s talk about the nudity of Christ. In both statues, Christ was nude with his private parts exposed for all to see. Although Michelangelo painted and sculpted mostly nudes, which by the way, is a most difficult achievement, the idea for the nudity in this statue was not Michelangelo’s. Nudity was requested by Metello to show that Christ is uncorrupted by lust and stands for eternity showing that his resurrected body shows complete control and triumph over death and sin.
The Baroque era folks didn’t buy the control of lust theory and had the private parts covered with a blob of bronze.
What I find interesting about the placement of this statue in this church, is that for eternity, Christ gets to look at frescoes by Filippino Lippi in the Carafa chapel forever! How great is that?
Fra Angelico
- Fra Angelico was an Italian Renaissance painter whose real name was Guido di Pietro. When he joined the Dominican Friars he changed his name to Fra Giovanni.
- He became known as Fra Angelico after his death when he was praised as the Angelic Painter.
- In 1436, he moved into the Friary of San Marco in Florence where Cosimo de’ Medici would go when he wanted to escape from the stress of Florence. Medici funded the renovations of the monastery and Fra Angelico painted it.
- In the cells of all the monks he painted his most famous meditational frescoes.
- He painted throughout Fiesole, Florence, Orvieto and Rome.
- It is said by Vasari, that the saints painted by Fra Angelico come nearer to the truth than the figures done by any other artist.
Catherine of Siena
Catherine of Siena is mostly buried here. Her body is in Rome, but her head went to Siena in a bag and never looked back.
She was born the 24th child of Giacomo Benincasa, in Siena, on March 25, 1347. At the age of seven she started to have visions of Christ. These visions continued through her teenage years. She decided to follow Christ, keep her virginity, and to become a nun. Her parents wanted to marry her off since she was in her early teens and that was the appropriate age for a young woman to marry. She didn’t want to get married, so she cut off her hair, scalded herself, took the vow of chastity and became a nun as she had planned all along. She prayed all the time. She scourged herself three times a day and slept on a board. Shortly after becoming a nun, she had a vision of Christ placing a ring of marriage on her finger, but it wasn’t a gold ring like most folks wore, instead it was made from the foreskin of baby Jesus (I am not making this up). Fortunately, she was the only one who could actually see the ring on her finger.
She became a mystic and had a group of disciples. In 1370, she started to help the sick in hospitals in Florence. Her deeds of mercy, along with her reputation as a worker of miracles caused many people to call on her for help. She got heavily involved in Church politics and played a major role in bringing the Pope back to Rome. She worked hard to establish peace between city governors and the papacy. At the age of 33, she died, in a room, just down the road from Santa Maria sopra Minerva and the powers that be, moved the room and attached it to this church. You may visit it while you are in the church.
Catherine was a very important, strong, determined woman who had a major impact on the Papacy and the Catholic Church. Because she was so important, after Catherine died the people of Siena wanted her body back in town. They decided to steal it but thought the Roman guards at the gates of the city of Rome, would catch them as they carried a body out through the gates. So, they decided to steal only her head. They scooped it up, placed it in a paper bag and walked toward the city gates. As they approached the gates, they prayed for their lives as they knew the bag would be inspected. The guards stopped them and asked for the bag. Miraculously, just before the guards unfolded the bag, the head had changed itself into hundreds of rose petals. The guards closed the bag and let them pass. By the time they arrived in Siena the rose petals had changed back into Catherine’s head. The head, which looks like it could use a few rose petals around it, is currently on display in the Church of San Dominco in Siena, her home church.
She was born the 24th child of Giacomo Benincasa, in Siena, on March 25, 1347. At the age of seven she started to have visions of Christ. These visions continued through her teenage years. She decided to follow Christ, keep her virginity, and to become a nun. Her parents wanted to marry her off since she was in her early teens and that was the appropriate age for a young woman to marry. She didn’t want to get married, so she cut off her hair, scalded herself, took the vow of chastity and became a nun as she had planned all along. She prayed all the time. She scourged herself three times a day and slept on a board. Shortly after becoming a nun, she had a vision of Christ placing a ring of marriage on her finger, but it wasn’t a gold ring like most folks wore, instead it was made from the foreskin of baby Jesus (I am not making this up). Fortunately, she was the only one who could actually see the ring on her finger.
She became a mystic and had a group of disciples. In 1370, she started to help the sick in hospitals in Florence. Her deeds of mercy, along with her reputation as a worker of miracles caused many people to call on her for help. She got heavily involved in Church politics and played a major role in bringing the Pope back to Rome. She worked hard to establish peace between city governors and the papacy. At the age of 33, she died, in a room, just down the road from Santa Maria sopra Minerva and the powers that be, moved the room and attached it to this church. You may visit it while you are in the church.
Catherine was a very important, strong, determined woman who had a major impact on the Papacy and the Catholic Church. Because she was so important, after Catherine died the people of Siena wanted her body back in town. They decided to steal it but thought the Roman guards at the gates of the city of Rome, would catch them as they carried a body out through the gates. So, they decided to steal only her head. They scooped it up, placed it in a paper bag and walked toward the city gates. As they approached the gates, they prayed for their lives as they knew the bag would be inspected. The guards stopped them and asked for the bag. Miraculously, just before the guards unfolded the bag, the head had changed itself into hundreds of rose petals. The guards closed the bag and let them pass. By the time they arrived in Siena the rose petals had changed back into Catherine’s head. The head, which looks like it could use a few rose petals around it, is currently on display in the Church of San Dominco in Siena, her home church.
The Elephant and Obelisk
- The elephant was designed by Bernini and was probably carved by Bernini's assistant Ercole Ferrata.
- The Latin inscription at one side of the pedestal reads: "Let any beholder of the carved images of the wisdom of Egypt on the obelisk carried by the elephant, the strongest of beasts, realize that it takes a robust mind to carry solid wisdom."
- The statue turned out to be the last commission Pope Alexander VII would ask of Bernini, as the pope died in May 1667.
- The red granite obelisk was discovered in1665 during excavations near the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
- It had probably been brought to Rome in the first century AD for the temple to the Egyptian goddess Isis that was located on the site.
- The obelisk was originally erected by Pharaoh Apries of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, about 580 BC, in his capital Sais.
- The obelisk is 5.47 meters tall and is the smallest of the 13 ancient obelisks present in Rome nowadays.
- Together with pedestal and elephant, the statue stands 12.69 meters tall.
The obelisk is considered to be one of a pair, the other is in Urbino. ~wikipedia~
The Popes
Pope Clement
To date there have been roughly 266 Popes. I say roughly because I don’t know if the anti-pope in the Great Schism counts as a real pope. Then there is the fact that some people count St. Peter as the first pope and others don’t, and then there is Linus who a lot of people just ignore.
Nonetheless, each Pope is entombed somewhere, and this church presents two Medici Popes to us in the apse behind the high altar. Leo X is on the left and cousin Clement VII is on the right. Let me present to you my interpretation of Leo.
The Medicis, were the wealthiest banking family in Europe who maintained their position for about 300 years. They resided in and ruled the Republic of Florence. They were involved in the wool trade, European-wide banking, mining of alum, politics, adultery, the church, scandal, murder, assassination, war and fine arts. The Medici’s funded great artists and thinkers such as: Donatello, Fra Angelico, Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Masaccio, Leonardo, Galileo, and others. They basically inspired and funded the birth of the Italian Renaissance and for that we are grateful! Four Medici’s became Popes, two were Queens of France and Dukes of Florence.
Leo X, was born Giovanni de’ Medici, on December 11, 1475. He was the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. By custom, the second son was destined for religious life. At the age of seven Giovanni’s hair was cut in the tonsure style. His cousin, Giulano who was also chosen by Lorenzo to be suited for the church, moved into Lorenzo’s palace after he was orphaned. At about the same time, Lorenzo, semi-adopted Michelangelo and had him move into the family palace as well. The boys all grew up together. Giovanni studied theology and canon law at Pisa. He became a cardinal deacon by the age of 13 and a cardinal priest at 17.
At some point the Florentines revolted against the power of the Medici family and Giovanni and Giulano were expelled from Florence. Florentines destroyed all city-exposed traces of the Medici’s. Giovanni and Giulano wandered for 9 years and ended up on the doorstep of Pope Julius II in Rome. Julius also came from a wealthy family and understood how devastating it must be for the poor Medici boys, from a wealthy family, to be overthrown. So, to help them out, he rustled up an army for Giovanni and Giulano so they could take-back Florence. The people of Florence had flourished and were quite happy and peaceful while the Medicis were gone. But they heard the rumour that the Medici’s were coming back so they put together a meager army of men and sat in wait. The cousins, in the meantime, along with a thousand Roman soldiers, marched towards Florence and overtook Prato, a small town north of Florence. They slaughtered everyone in the town. The people of Florence heard the news of the slaughter and surrendered before anyone in Florence was killed. Giovanni Medici was back in charge.
In the meantime, Pope Julius II, the pope who gave Giovanni the army, died. Giovanni went to Rome for the conclave vote. He was not yet a full-fledged priest but since he was senior cardinal he cast the deciding vote in the conclave of 1513, and by his vote was elected Pope. Some reference material states he was elected because the cardinals desired a peace-loving Pope to follow the terror of Julius II. (They considered Giovanni, the man who just slaughtered thousands in Prato, to be a peaceful man.) Other reference material states that he was elected because he could afford to pay the other cardinals 1,500 ducats each if he won and also pay a handsome sum to his competitor Raffaele Riario. Whatever story or combination of stories is true, he won the seat. Since he wasn’t a priest yet, he had to be ordained as a priest because you can’t be the Pope if you’re not a priest. He was ordained a priest on March 15, 1513, and was made Pope two days later.
A lot of politics, deals and wars happened while he was Pope. He started to appoint his relatives to important offices and positions whether they were qualified for the position or not. This practice was known as nepotism. One of these positions was awarded to his boyhood murdering-cousin Giulano.
Leo X was a big money borrower and a big spender. He threw wild parities with lavish sixty-four course meals almost every day. Because he used Church funds to finance his entertainment, the papacy quickly ran out of money and was greatly in debt to banks across Europe. To raise funds, Leo developed the practice of granting of indulgences. This meant that if a person gave money to the church, they would be given a receipt that allowed their sins to be forgiven and extra time out of purgatory after they were dead. It was also possible to buy an indulgence for people who were already dead. The more money you gave to the church, the longer you would stay out of purgatory. Leo raised a lot of money this way as representatives of the church made their way across the country to sell indulgences. Some of the funds raised by the selling of indulgences were used to finance the construction of a lot of beautiful churches throughout Italy.
In the meantime, Leo provided a lot of church funds to support art, literature, and education while continuing to spend church money and throw wild parties, at which he ate a lot of food. He grew to be a rather large man in spirit and body mass. He spent so much money and was so viciously tortuous that several cardinals plotted to poison him. They were tired of his ways and wanted him dead. Leo found out about the plot and had the ring-leader cardinal strangled, several others were thrown into prison, and he fired the rest of them. He appointed 31 new cardinals, some of whom paid a substantial amounts of money for their new position.
The selling of indulgences continued and started to spread into Germany. It was there that a fellow named Martin Luther stepped forward in opposition. We met Martin Luther earlier in this walking tour at Santa Maria del Popolo. It took a year or so for Leo to hear about Luther’s opposition at which point the Pope sent written notice to Germany condemning Luther’s teaching and excommunicating him from the Catholic Church. Being excommunicated meant that Luther was condemned to hell. Luther burned the letter in public while he continued to gather supporters.
The unrest continued, lots of things happened throughout Europe and Pope Leo finally died. The cardinals, whom Leo had appointed, wanted cousin Giulano to be the next Pope. Others didn’t want the papacy seen as becoming an inherited position, so after lengthy debate Pope Adrian VI was elected. He lasted about a year then died because of the heat, which was probably a combination of political heat and the Italian temperature.
The next conclave vote went to Giulano largely because the Colonna family supported the Medici candidate, which gave him the majority vote. Giulano became Pope Clement VII, who is also entombed here in Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
This part is a little bit confusing as there were various allegiances which lead to a lot of unrest between France and Italy. Charles V of France had a lot of German supporters, who also supported Luther’s call for reform of the Church. It ended up though, that Charles was broke and couldn’t pay his German soldiers. The soldiers quickly mutinied and headed for Rome. On May 6, 1527, they killed everyone they could and burned Rome to the ground. This is known as the Sack of Rome. The Sack of Rome ended the Roman Renaissance era. Clement, fearing for his life, ran through the tunnels to Castel Sant’ Angelo and was basically imprisoned there for six months. In his spare time, he grew a beard, which was a violation of canon law that requires priests to be clean shaven, and he melted down all his Pope gold jewelry, had it sewn into the seams of some peasant clothes and escaped dressed as a peddler with his gold swinging in his hems around him. He escaped to Orvieto.
In the meantime, over in England, Henry VIII wanted his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. Since Henry was a member of the Catholic Church, he had to ask permission from the Pope. Pope Clement refused. Henry went ahead with the annulment anyway. Clement was angry and excommunicated Henry. Henry’s answer to being excommunicated was to declare himself to be head of his newly formed, just-in-time Church of England.
Clement continued to support the arts, especially Raphael and Michelangelo. But in 1534, he ate a dish of poison mushrooms for dinner. No one really knows if this was an accident or not. Fortunately for us, he funded further work at the Vatican including Michelangelo’s Last Judgment just before dinner.
Nonetheless, each Pope is entombed somewhere, and this church presents two Medici Popes to us in the apse behind the high altar. Leo X is on the left and cousin Clement VII is on the right. Let me present to you my interpretation of Leo.
The Medicis, were the wealthiest banking family in Europe who maintained their position for about 300 years. They resided in and ruled the Republic of Florence. They were involved in the wool trade, European-wide banking, mining of alum, politics, adultery, the church, scandal, murder, assassination, war and fine arts. The Medici’s funded great artists and thinkers such as: Donatello, Fra Angelico, Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Masaccio, Leonardo, Galileo, and others. They basically inspired and funded the birth of the Italian Renaissance and for that we are grateful! Four Medici’s became Popes, two were Queens of France and Dukes of Florence.
Leo X, was born Giovanni de’ Medici, on December 11, 1475. He was the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. By custom, the second son was destined for religious life. At the age of seven Giovanni’s hair was cut in the tonsure style. His cousin, Giulano who was also chosen by Lorenzo to be suited for the church, moved into Lorenzo’s palace after he was orphaned. At about the same time, Lorenzo, semi-adopted Michelangelo and had him move into the family palace as well. The boys all grew up together. Giovanni studied theology and canon law at Pisa. He became a cardinal deacon by the age of 13 and a cardinal priest at 17.
At some point the Florentines revolted against the power of the Medici family and Giovanni and Giulano were expelled from Florence. Florentines destroyed all city-exposed traces of the Medici’s. Giovanni and Giulano wandered for 9 years and ended up on the doorstep of Pope Julius II in Rome. Julius also came from a wealthy family and understood how devastating it must be for the poor Medici boys, from a wealthy family, to be overthrown. So, to help them out, he rustled up an army for Giovanni and Giulano so they could take-back Florence. The people of Florence had flourished and were quite happy and peaceful while the Medicis were gone. But they heard the rumour that the Medici’s were coming back so they put together a meager army of men and sat in wait. The cousins, in the meantime, along with a thousand Roman soldiers, marched towards Florence and overtook Prato, a small town north of Florence. They slaughtered everyone in the town. The people of Florence heard the news of the slaughter and surrendered before anyone in Florence was killed. Giovanni Medici was back in charge.
In the meantime, Pope Julius II, the pope who gave Giovanni the army, died. Giovanni went to Rome for the conclave vote. He was not yet a full-fledged priest but since he was senior cardinal he cast the deciding vote in the conclave of 1513, and by his vote was elected Pope. Some reference material states he was elected because the cardinals desired a peace-loving Pope to follow the terror of Julius II. (They considered Giovanni, the man who just slaughtered thousands in Prato, to be a peaceful man.) Other reference material states that he was elected because he could afford to pay the other cardinals 1,500 ducats each if he won and also pay a handsome sum to his competitor Raffaele Riario. Whatever story or combination of stories is true, he won the seat. Since he wasn’t a priest yet, he had to be ordained as a priest because you can’t be the Pope if you’re not a priest. He was ordained a priest on March 15, 1513, and was made Pope two days later.
A lot of politics, deals and wars happened while he was Pope. He started to appoint his relatives to important offices and positions whether they were qualified for the position or not. This practice was known as nepotism. One of these positions was awarded to his boyhood murdering-cousin Giulano.
Leo X was a big money borrower and a big spender. He threw wild parities with lavish sixty-four course meals almost every day. Because he used Church funds to finance his entertainment, the papacy quickly ran out of money and was greatly in debt to banks across Europe. To raise funds, Leo developed the practice of granting of indulgences. This meant that if a person gave money to the church, they would be given a receipt that allowed their sins to be forgiven and extra time out of purgatory after they were dead. It was also possible to buy an indulgence for people who were already dead. The more money you gave to the church, the longer you would stay out of purgatory. Leo raised a lot of money this way as representatives of the church made their way across the country to sell indulgences. Some of the funds raised by the selling of indulgences were used to finance the construction of a lot of beautiful churches throughout Italy.
In the meantime, Leo provided a lot of church funds to support art, literature, and education while continuing to spend church money and throw wild parties, at which he ate a lot of food. He grew to be a rather large man in spirit and body mass. He spent so much money and was so viciously tortuous that several cardinals plotted to poison him. They were tired of his ways and wanted him dead. Leo found out about the plot and had the ring-leader cardinal strangled, several others were thrown into prison, and he fired the rest of them. He appointed 31 new cardinals, some of whom paid a substantial amounts of money for their new position.
The selling of indulgences continued and started to spread into Germany. It was there that a fellow named Martin Luther stepped forward in opposition. We met Martin Luther earlier in this walking tour at Santa Maria del Popolo. It took a year or so for Leo to hear about Luther’s opposition at which point the Pope sent written notice to Germany condemning Luther’s teaching and excommunicating him from the Catholic Church. Being excommunicated meant that Luther was condemned to hell. Luther burned the letter in public while he continued to gather supporters.
The unrest continued, lots of things happened throughout Europe and Pope Leo finally died. The cardinals, whom Leo had appointed, wanted cousin Giulano to be the next Pope. Others didn’t want the papacy seen as becoming an inherited position, so after lengthy debate Pope Adrian VI was elected. He lasted about a year then died because of the heat, which was probably a combination of political heat and the Italian temperature.
The next conclave vote went to Giulano largely because the Colonna family supported the Medici candidate, which gave him the majority vote. Giulano became Pope Clement VII, who is also entombed here in Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
This part is a little bit confusing as there were various allegiances which lead to a lot of unrest between France and Italy. Charles V of France had a lot of German supporters, who also supported Luther’s call for reform of the Church. It ended up though, that Charles was broke and couldn’t pay his German soldiers. The soldiers quickly mutinied and headed for Rome. On May 6, 1527, they killed everyone they could and burned Rome to the ground. This is known as the Sack of Rome. The Sack of Rome ended the Roman Renaissance era. Clement, fearing for his life, ran through the tunnels to Castel Sant’ Angelo and was basically imprisoned there for six months. In his spare time, he grew a beard, which was a violation of canon law that requires priests to be clean shaven, and he melted down all his Pope gold jewelry, had it sewn into the seams of some peasant clothes and escaped dressed as a peddler with his gold swinging in his hems around him. He escaped to Orvieto.
In the meantime, over in England, Henry VIII wanted his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. Since Henry was a member of the Catholic Church, he had to ask permission from the Pope. Pope Clement refused. Henry went ahead with the annulment anyway. Clement was angry and excommunicated Henry. Henry’s answer to being excommunicated was to declare himself to be head of his newly formed, just-in-time Church of England.
Clement continued to support the arts, especially Raphael and Michelangelo. But in 1534, he ate a dish of poison mushrooms for dinner. No one really knows if this was an accident or not. Fortunately for us, he funded further work at the Vatican including Michelangelo’s Last Judgment just before dinner.
Personal Note
The first time I stepped inside this church was clearly because I was an eager tourist in Rome and wanted to see everything possible. Karen Huiberts, travel partner and the Editor of the Walkabout Tour Apps, and I were wandering behind the Pantheon with crowds of other tourists, when we noticed the unassuming rather plain, beige-coloured façade on this small church nestled behind a rather elaborate elephant. Neither of us had any idea about the church but since we had entered every other open door we had seen in Rome, we inquisitively glanced at each other with the Do ya wanna go in look, and quickly scooted under the elephant’s trunk toward the open door.
The pace at which we entered the building abruptly left us as we stopped stood-still-in-our-tracks, completely engulfed in a golden star filled sky of Gothic wonder. The contrast of this building to everything else we had seen so far in Rome, completely and pleasantly shocked us!
We wandered over to a large chunk of bristol board that was pinned to a post just inside the entrance way. It was a home-made, cut-and-glued, floor-plan diagram with construction-paper arrows that pointed to tiny, colourful, ink-jet printed photographs of items located throughout the building. This was an amazing diagram as it presented everything that was located in the church. It was then, that we realised where we actually were and remembered that Mary Redekop had specifically told us to find this church.
Before we left Canada, Mary had sent us off to Italy with a handful of her course-lecture notes, so Karen dug through her knapsack until she found them. With Mary’s course notes in hand, we covered the interior of this church inch by inch, carefully studying everything.
The time in this church with Mary’s notes is what inspired us to follow-up with Mary to see if she would be interested in developing some sort of electronic, portable information so that others could experience the joy of her knowledge.
Now, each time I travel to Rome with a new traveling companion, I can take them inside this church with Mary’s videos and audio files. It’s mind boggling!
Deb :)
The pace at which we entered the building abruptly left us as we stopped stood-still-in-our-tracks, completely engulfed in a golden star filled sky of Gothic wonder. The contrast of this building to everything else we had seen so far in Rome, completely and pleasantly shocked us!
We wandered over to a large chunk of bristol board that was pinned to a post just inside the entrance way. It was a home-made, cut-and-glued, floor-plan diagram with construction-paper arrows that pointed to tiny, colourful, ink-jet printed photographs of items located throughout the building. This was an amazing diagram as it presented everything that was located in the church. It was then, that we realised where we actually were and remembered that Mary Redekop had specifically told us to find this church.
Before we left Canada, Mary had sent us off to Italy with a handful of her course-lecture notes, so Karen dug through her knapsack until she found them. With Mary’s course notes in hand, we covered the interior of this church inch by inch, carefully studying everything.
The time in this church with Mary’s notes is what inspired us to follow-up with Mary to see if she would be interested in developing some sort of electronic, portable information so that others could experience the joy of her knowledge.
Now, each time I travel to Rome with a new traveling companion, I can take them inside this church with Mary’s videos and audio files. It’s mind boggling!
Deb :)