Charles V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement VII in the San Petronio Basilica in Bologna on 24 February 1530. He was the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by a pope. The emperor was also crowned King of Italy on 22 February, also the last coronation of an Italian king by a pope.
Pope Clement VII de' Medici and Charles V agreed to the imperial coronation as a means to heal the political and religious conflicts that had divided the Italian and European world and to reach a "universal peace" in the Christian West that would ensure a more effective defence against Turkish aggression which had reached the gates of Vienna in 1529. Preparations for the meeting between the two sovereigns encountered difficulties and delays due to the Pope's skepticism of Charles V's proposals. One concern, among others, was the location of this meeting. Pope Clement VII preferred Rome but Charles V chose instead Bologna, given that many Romans blamed Charles for the Sack of Rome (1527), which was carried out by his mutinous troops. This moment of extreme conflict between Papacy and Empire lead to intense diplomatic activity during 1529, a rapprochement of the adversary parties formalised in the Treaty of Barcelona, which paved the way to their meeting in Bologna.
Nobility and laymen prepared during the last months of 1529 to host the Pope and the future Emperor with their very extensive retinues. The city became a sort of stage theatre of the world, where the crafts and artistic skills of the Bolognese were put to the test. It was a prestigious occasion that received positive reviews, although no one had predicted that the guests would stay as long as they did. Clement VII arrived in Bologna on October 20, 1529, crossing the lands of his state: official sources of the time wrote that the Pope was splendidly received, but not without reservations from the populace, due to the taxes he imposed to mount a crusade against the Turks. Charles V travelled by sea from Barcelona to Genoa and continued on to Piacenza, Reggio Emilia, Castelfranco Emilia and Borgo Panigale to reach Bologna the following November 5: "... upon his arrival the emperor had all the artillery unloaded, and on the square in front of the Palace of the Podestà a fountain was installed in the shape of a black eagle in the middle of two lions. The eagle poured red wine all day long, one of the lions poured white wine, and the other water. And it was a very gratifying thing to the Landsknechte, who nearby roasted a whole beef full of different animals with golden horns and feet. And from the pacala was thrown bread, cheese and meat...". [1] Pope Clement and Emperor Charles both lodged at the Palazzo Pubblico, today Palazzo d'Accursio, in adjoining rooms that allowed the sovereigns and their main representatives to meet frequently between the various events and ceremonies. On January 30, 1530, the date of the coronation was agreed for the following February 24 (the Emperor's birthday). The choice of place fell on the Basilica of San Petronio, the largest and most spacious religious building, deeply rooted in the tradition of the city of Bologna.
On February 22, two days before the imperial coronation, Charles V received the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Italy in the Chapel of the Legate, today the Farnese Chapel, in Palazzo d'Accursio: ". ..His Majesty rose from his chair, and went to see Our Lord and kissed his foot, and afterwards the sword, the world, the sceptre and the crown were brought before His Holiness, and his Majesty was always on his knees to the feet of Our Lord and His Holiness read certain prayers: first he took the naked sword, blessed it, and put it in the hands of His Majesty who put it back in the sheath, and Our Lord with his hands put his belt around her, and then His Majesty rose to his feet, and took it out of its sheath, and three times he brandished it, then put it back, and having done this, again His Majesty returned to the feet of Our Lord, and his sanctity put the crown of iron on his head, and then he took the world, and the sceptre, and he gave it to His Majesty as he continued to read prayers... And the ceremonies ended, Our Lord and His Majesty left the chapel ... and went hand in hand to their rooms" [2]
On the occasion of the coronation of February 24 - the Emperor's birthday - in San Petronio, to make the procession of the sovereigns and the powerful more visible, a bridgeway was erected that connected the rooms of the public palace in which Charles V and Clement VII stayed with the Saint Petronius Basilica:
"...for the multitude of the people who had come to see this coronation, Our Lord for not having any impediment in going there from the palace in San Petronio, where he was determined to be crowned, and still to make the apparatus more superb, he had a lumber bridge made, which was two hundred and fifty in length and nine feet wide, for which he could go from the Pope's palace to the main altar of San Petronio."; [3] in the church chapels and tribunes had been built in the likeness of St. Peter's in the Vatican, richly decorated; the city was fortified for security reasons; Piazza Maggiore and the doors were closed by Antonio de Leyva and his soldiers armed to protect Charles V. The Mass was long and solemn and the Emperor knelt before the Pope after having pronounced the ritual formulas, received the golden crown, in the presence of the representatives of all the Italian states and a considerable part of the peninsula's aristocracy: " ... the Pope gave the emperor the insignia of the emperor, gave him the golden sceptre all worked on top with which he religiously commanded the nations, the naked sword with which he persecuted the enemies of the name of Christ, the golden apple to signify the world he would reign with singular piety, virtue and constancy, and finally he put on his head the imperial crown, and knelt as he was, his foot set, and worshiped. not far from the Pope in a chair covered with gold brocade d'or, but slightly lower, and was called Roman Emperor. In the Piazza awaited Antonio de Leyva with a lot of cavalry and armed infantry, who, hearing shouting that the Emperor was crowned "Viva Carlo V Imperatore Invittissimo", had all the big bombards shot ". [4]
After the coronation, a procession on horse set off from Piazza Maggiore passing through Via Orefici and through the streets of the city. The two sovereigns rode under a single canopy followed by magnates, magistrates and lawyers with their respective banners, the governor of Bologna, four chaplains of the pope, ambassadors of various states, various princes, dukes, marquises and counts, the college of cardinals, various prelates and German and Spanish soldiers led by their general captain. Soon, however, the procession fell apart and while the Pope and his retinue returned to the Palazzo Pubblico, the Emperor with another canopy continued with his retinue for another ceremony, up to Basilica of San Domenico where " ... he was brought to the high altar and placed on the Faldstool. He removed the crown off his head and without a crown he prayed, and everyone received a kiss of peace". [5] Charles V, who had already shown his magnificence along the way by “seeding money”, named some Bolognese gentlemen and counts as knights and then returned to the Palazzo Pubblico with his court.
The papal tiara is a crown that was worn by popes of the Catholic Church from as early as the 8th century to the mid–20th century. It was last used by Pope Paul VI in 1963, and only at the beginning of his reign.
The Iron Crown is a reliquary votive crown, traditionally considered one of the oldest royal insignia of Christendom. It was made in the Middle Ages, consisting of a circlet of gold and jewels fitted around a central silver band, which tradition held to be made of iron beaten out of a nail of the True Cross. In the later Middle Ages, the crown came to be seen as a heritage from the Kingdom of the Lombards and was used as regalia for the coronation of some Holy Roman Emperors as kings of Italy. It is kept in the Duomo of Monza.
The Sack of Rome, then part of the Papal States, followed the capture of the city on 6 May 1527 by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor during the War of the League of Cognac. Despite not being ordered to storm the city, with Charles V intending to only use the threat of military action to make Pope Clement VII come to his terms, a largely unpaid Imperial army formed by 14,000 Germans, many of them Lutheran, 6,000 Spaniards and some Italian contingents occupied the scarcely defended Rome and began looting, slaying and holding citizens for ransom in excess without any restraint. Clement VII took refuge in Castel Sant'Angelo after the Swiss Guard were annihilated in a delaying rearguard action; he remained there until a ransom was paid to the pillagers.
GiacomoBarozzida Vignola, often simply called Vignola, was one of the great Italian architects of 16th century Mannerism. His two great masterpieces are the Villa Farnese at Caprarola and the Jesuits' Church of the Gesù in Rome. The three architects who spread the Italian Renaissance style throughout Western Europe are Vignola, Serlio and Palladio. He is often considered the most important architect in Rome in the Mannerist era.
Ippolito de' Medici was the only son of Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, born out-of-wedlock to his mistress Pacifica Brandano.
Properzia de' Rossi was a ground-breaking female Italian Renaissance sculptor, the only woman to receive a biography in Vasari's Lives of the Artists. According to Vasari, she taught herself to carve by working with peach-stones. At the end of her life, she was sought out by the Pope Clement VII, however, she died while he was on his way to meet her.
Amico Aspertini, also called Amerigo Aspertini, was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor whose complex, eccentric, and eclectic style anticipates Mannerism. He is considered one of the leading exponents of the Bolognese School of painting.
The Basilica of San Petronio is a minor basilica and church of the Archdiocese of Bologna located in Bologna, Emilia Romagna, northern Italy. It dominates Piazza Maggiore. The basilica is dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Saint Petronius, who was the bishop of Bologna in the fifth century. Construction began in 1390 and its main facade has remained unfinished since. The building was transferred from the city to the diocese in 1929; the basilica was finally consecrated in 1954. It has been the seat of the relics of Bologna's patron saint only since 2000; until then they were preserved in the Santo Stefano church of Bologna.
Pompeo Colonna was an Italian noble, condottiero, politician, and cardinal. At the culmination of his career he was Viceroy of the Kingdom of Naples (1530–1532) for the Emperor Charles V. Born in Rome, he was the son of Girolamo Colonna, whose father Antonio was second Prince of Salerno; and Vittoria Conti, of the Conti de Poli. His family belonged to the highest rank of nobility both of the City of Rome and of the Kingdom of Naples. Pompeo and his family were hereditary supporters of the Holy Roman Empire (Ghibbelines), and they spent their careers fighting their hereditary enemies, the Orsini family, and defending and expanding their family territories and interests. He played a significant, if sometimes disruptive, role in the Conclaves of 1521 and 1523 on behalf of the Imperial interest. His family commitments and his conclave activities brought Pompeo into conflict with the second Medici pope, Clement VII, whose election he vigorously opposed, and made him a leading figure in the attempted overthrow of Pope Clement and the Sack of Rome in 1527.
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Palazzo d'Accursio is a palace once formulated to house major administrative offices of the city of Bologna, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is located on the Piazza Maggiore, and is the city's Town Hall. The palace is also home to the Civic Art Collection, with paintings from the Middle Ages to the 19th century; the Museo Morandi, with the works by Giorgio Morandi; and the Biblioteca Salaborsa, the town libraries.
Francesco Pisani was an Italian Cardinal, born in Venice, the son of Alvise Pisani the noted banker, who was Procurator of S. Mark's, a member of the Council of Ten, and a Councilor of the Doge of Venice; and Cecilia Giustinian. He had a brother named Giovanni (Zuan), who also became Procurator of S. Marks' and was a Venetian diplomat; he was married to the sister of Doge Andrea Gritti. He was a strong supporter of the alliance between Venice, France and the Papacy, called the League of Cognac. He shared the imprisonment of Pope Clement VII in the Castel S. Angelo during the Sack of Rome and its aftermath. He spent eighteen months in exile in Naples while Clement made his peace with the Emperor Charles V.
Innocenzo Cibo was an Italian cardinal and archbishop.
The Holy Roman emperor received the imperial regalia from the hands of the pope, symbolizing both the pope's right to crown Christian sovereigns and also the emperor's role as protector of the Roman Catholic Church. The Holy Roman empresses were crowned as well.
Esteban Gabriel Merino was a Spanish Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal.
Jacopo di Paolo was an Italian painter and miniaturist active in Bologna in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Francesco Girolamo Cancellieri was an Italian writer, librarian, and erudite bibliophile.
The Palazzo della Compagnia dell'Arte dei Brentatori is a medieval palace located on Via de' Pignattari #11, starting at the Piazza Maggiore and running alongside the basilica church of San Petronio. It presently functions as the Hotel Commercianti, and a hotel at the site has existed for over a century.
Madonna of the Rose is a 1530 oil on panel painting by Parmigianino, now in the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden.