This episode explains the fickle nature of the citizens of Florence, where the Medici family were cast into exile, only to be embraced again once Giovanni Medici was elected as Pope; Pope Giovanni indulging in much vice and hosting elaborate dinners every night, also making decorating the Vatican a priority; Michelangelo painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; Cardinals attempting and failing to assassinate Pope Giovanni; Pope Giovanni emptying the Papal coffers a year into his rein due to his extravagant lifestyle, which he then paid for by selling “Papal indulgences” around Europe in exchange for the forgiveness of sins; Pope Giovanni dying in 1521, with his cousin Giulio then being crowed as Pope Clemet the Seventh, inheriting the fallout from Giovanni’s rein; And the German monk Martin Luther becoming fed up with Pope Giovanni’s corruption, leading to him sacking the Vatican with an army, killing many thousands of people.


Points made in this episode:


— Michelangelo carved the sculpture “David” out of a 13 foot block of marble, taking three years to complete.  It was finished in 1504, and Michelangelo stated that it was “a symbol of the resistance to the overbearing Medici” despite his previoulsy being adopted and raised along with the children of the Medici family.

— The streets of Florence were wiped of Medici insignias and the heirs of the family were cast into exile, with the cousins Giovanni and Giulio being reinstated nine years later in 1512 by troops sent by Pope Julius II that cut a bloody path to Florence, prompting the city to surrender before being attacked, but with the people not initially being supportive of the reinstated Medicis.

— Pope Julius II died in 1513, and the Cardinals elected the Cardinal Giovanni Medici as the new Pope, being known as Pope Leo X, which caused the city of Florence to suddenly embrace the Medici family once again.

— The other cousin Giulio was then made the archbishop of Florence, and soon he was also made a Cardinal due to Giovanni’s influence as Pope.

— Once Giovanni was Pope, he indulged in much vice and hosted elaborate dinners every night, and he made decorating the Vatican a priority.

— Michelangelo was already working on painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel when Giovanni was elected Pope, and he feared repercussions due to speaking out against the Medici family in the past, but they commissioned a large tomb from him dedicated to the Medici family.

— The anti-Medici conspirator Machiavelli wrote a book “The Prince” describing a theory of politics devoid of morality, making his name be a byword of “Machiavellian,” meaning “ruthless and cynical politics.”

— A group of Cardinals attempted to assassinate Giovanni in 1516, but they killed a body double instead due to Giovanni being warned, leading to the conspirators being killed and the Medici cousins working to secure the loyalty of those around him.

— Giovanni then created hundreds of new jobs around the Vatican and gave them to those he could trust.

— Giovanni emptied the Papal coffers a year into his rein due to his extravagant lifestyle, which necessitated him to secretly pawn Papal jewels as well as sell “papal indulgences” around Europe in 1513 which offered forgiveness of sins.

— The German Monk Martin Luther was angered by the corruption of Giovanni’s Church, and in 1517 he published an incendiary manifesto “95 Theses” using the new technology of the printing press, which caused Luther to be excommunicated by Giovanni.

— Giovanni died in 1521, and his cousin Giulio was then crowed as Pope Clemet the Seventh, inheriting the fallout from Giovanni’s rein.

— The Germans then surrounded Rome and sacked it, killing many thousands of people.

— Giulio was held under siege in Rome for months, and rioting also occurred in Florence with the arm of Michelangelo’s “David” sculpture being broken off.

— Giulio threatened to attack Florence, but the people threatened to throw his 11 year old niece Catherine into a soldier’s brothel unless Giulio agreed to a truce, so he called off his troops.

— Giulio had his Niece Catherine married to the son of a French King when she was 14, bringing the unrest created by her uncle with her to France.

— Giulio lived on borrowed time in Rome while Michelangelo painted the final section of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel known as “The Last Judgement,” with Giulio dying in 1534, ending the disastrous corrupt era of the Medici Popes.