Scarlet clergyman backed the writer and the Italian (7)
I believe the answer is:
vermeil
'scarlet' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'clergyman backed the writer and the italian' is the wordplay.
'clergyman' becomes 'rev' (I've seen this before).
'backed' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'the writer' becomes 'me' (the person who wrote the clues).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'the italian' becomes 'il' ('the' in Italian).
'rev' backwards is 'ver'.
'ver'+'me'+'il'='VERMEIL'
(Other definitions for vermeil that I've seen before include "Scarlet" , "Gilded silver or bronze" .)