Ippolito was declared eligible for the offices of State.

The appointment of Passerini was unfortunate. "He was," writes Benedetto
Varchi, "like most prelates, extremely avaricious; he had neither the
intellect to understand the Florentine character nor the judgment to
manage it, had he understood it." Ippolito assumed at once the style of
"Il Magnifico," and began to display a lust for power and a taste for
extravagance quite unusual in so young a lad. The Cardinal yielded to
every whim, and very soon a goodly number of courtiers rallied round the
handsome youth.

Having launched one of his protégés successfully upon the troubled sea
of Florentine politics, Clement despatched Alessandro, under the care of
Rosso de' Ridolfi, one of his most trustworthy attendants, with little
Caterina de' Medici. They were instructed to report themselves to
Cardinal Passerini, and then without delay to proceed to the Villa
Poggio a Caiano.

This was a very wise arrangement on the part of Clement, in view of the
strenuous rivalry and emphatic dislike the two lads had for each other.
The two were kept apart as they had been at the Vatican, but this led
naturally to the creation of rival parties and rival courts, each of
which acclaimed their respective young leaders as _Il Capo della
Repubblica_ and "_Il Signore di Firenze_." Better far as matters turned
out, had it been deemed sufficient to advance Ippolito alone. His
splendid talents--although linked to fickleness and inconsistency--and
his liberality, appealed to the Florentines, and he might have proved a
second Lorenzo il Magnifico.

The sack of Rome in 1527 and the imprisonment of Clement VII. in the