Pope Clement XI (Latin:Clemens XI;Italian:Clemente XI;Albanian:Klementi XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), bornGiovanni Francesco Albani, was head of theCatholic Church and ruler of thePapal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721.
Clement XI was a patron of the arts and of science. He was also a great benefactor of theVatican Library; his interest in archaeology is credited with saving much of Rome's antiquity. He authorized expeditions which succeeded in rediscovering various ancient Christian writings and authorized excavations of theRoman catacombs.
Giovanni Francesco Albani was born in 1649 inUrbino to theAlbani family, a distinguished family ofAlbanian origin in central Italy.[1][2][3] His mother Elena Mosca (1630–1698) was a high-standing Italian ofBergamasque origin, descended from the noble Mosca family ofPesaro. His father Carlo Albani (1623–1684) was a patrician. His mother descended in part from the Staccoli family, who were patricians ofUrbino, in part from the Giordani, who were nobles of Pesaro.[4][5] The original name of the Albani was Lazzi (Laçi) which they changed toAlbani in memory of their origin. Francesco Albani funded an expedition in Albania to locate the exact settlement of his family's origins. In the final report, the two most probable locations which were presented to him wereLaç near Lezhë and Laç near Kukës, both in northern Albania.[6]
Pope Alexander VIII elevated him to the cardinalate in 1690 despite his protests and made him the Cardinal-Deacon ofSanta Maria in Aquiro but he later opted for theDiaconia ofSant'Adriano al Foro and later, as the Cardinal-Priest, for thetitulus ofSan Silvestro in Capite. He was then ordained to the priesthood in September 1700 and celebrated his first Mass in Rome on 6 October 1700.
Bust of Pope Clement XI atSanta Cecilia church, Rome
After the death of Pope Innocent XII in 1700, a conclave was convoked to elect a successor. Albani was regarded as a fine diplomat known for his skills as a peacemaker and so was unanimously elected pope on 23 November 1700. He agreed to the election after three days of consultation.
Unusually, from the viewpoint of current practice, his election came within three months after his ordination as a priest and within two months after he celebrated his first Mass, though he had been a cardinal for ten years previously. Having accepted election after some hesitation, he was ordained a bishop on 30 November 1700 and assumed the pontifical name of "Clement XI". Cardinal protodeaconBenedetto Pamphili crowned him on 8 December 1700 and he took possession of theBasilica of Saint John Lateran on 10 April 1701.
Despite initially holding an ambiguous neutrality in world affairs, Clement XI was later forced to supportCharles, Archduke of Austria'sclaim as theKing of Spain, since theimperial army had conquered much of northern Italy and was threatening Rome itself in January 1709.
In 1713 Clement XI issued thebullUnigenitus in response to the spread of theJansenist heresy. There followed great upheaval inFrance, where apart from theological issues, a strongGallican tendency persisted. The bull, which was produced with the contribution of Gregorio Selleri, a lector at the College of Saint Thomas, the futurePontifical University of Saint Thomas AquinasAngelicum,[8] condemned Jansenism by extracting and anathematizing asheretical 101 propositions from the works ofPasquier Quesnel, declaring them to be identical in substance with propositions already condemned in the writings ofJansenius.
The resistance of many French ecclesiastics and the refusal of the Frenchparlements to register the bull led to controversies extending through the greater part of the 18th century. Because the local governments did not officially receive the bull, it was not, technically, in force in those areas – an example of the interference of states in religious affairs common before the 20th century.
Clement XI made a concerted effort to acquire Christian manuscripts inSyriac from Egypt and other places in the Middle East, greatly expanding theVatican Library's collection of Syriac works.[10]
Clement XI, on 8 February 1720, namedSaint Anselm of Canterbury as aDoctor of the Church, providing him the supplementary titles of "Doctor magnificus" ("Magnificent Doctor") and "Doctor Marianus" ("Marian Doctor").
Clement XI created a total of 70 cardinals in 15 consistories. Notably, two cardinals of his own creation were Michelangelo dei Conti, who became his immediate successor,Pope Innocent XIII, and Lorenzo Corsini, who later becamePope Clement XII. The pope also nominated eight cardinals "in pectore", later publishing their names which validated their appointments as cardinals.
During his pontificate, Gabriele Filippucci resigned his cardinalate which the pope accepted on 7 June 1706. Clement XI also accepted the resignation ofFrancesco Maria de' Medici from the cardinalate on 19 June 1709.
Another important decision of Clement XI was in regard to theChinese Rites controversy: theJesuit missionaries were forbidden to take part in honors paid toConfucius or the ancestors of the Emperors ofChina, which Clement XI identified as "idolatrous and barbaric", and to accommodate Christian language to pagan ideas under plea of conciliating the heathen.
Clement XI died in Rome on 19 March 1721[11] at 12:45pm and was buried in the pavement ofSaint Peter's Basilica rather than in an ornate tomb like those of his predecessors.
On 10 March, Clement XI had a meeting at about 11:00am with theBishop of Sisteron Pierre François Lafitau. When the pope met with the bishop, he said that his time was drawing to a close and that he would soon die, despite protests to the contrary by Lafitau. On 14 March, Clement XI took ill while Lafitau was trying to get the pope's nephew to persuade the pope to name theFrench Chief ministerGuillaume Dubois to the cardinalate. However, Clement XI was in a state of delirium and was not responsive to his pleas. On 16 March,Quadragesima Sunday, the pope did not participate in the services, however, celebrated Mass in his private chapel at theQuirinal Palace. He took medication that day but experienced pains in his thorax and had trouble breathing from the cold air in his rooms.[12]
The following day, Clement XI celebrated Mass in his private chapel before meeting various prelates which included theArchbishop of Ravenna Geronimo Crispi. However, at around noon, he was suddenly struck with an extraordinary chill which was accompanied by a very strongfever that immediately forced him to his bed, with the pope declining a meal that evening. His pulse was exceptionally slow and he even coughed up a thick liquid that was streaked with blood. Unable to sleep that night, his fever abated somewhat. But the following day saw his fever return much more violently, and he had an irregular pulse. Thesputum was foamy, once more with blood, indicating that there was something wrong with his lungs, causing his doctors to realize that his condition would more than likely prove fatal. Clement XI made his confession and the profession of faith before receivingHoly Communion at 8:00pm.James Francis Edward Stuart, the "Pretender", tried to see the dying pope, however he was denied on the grounds of the dangerous state of the pope's condition. That night, the papalsacristan Niccolo Agostino degli Abbati Olivieri, Bishop ofPorfirio, administered theExtreme Unction.[12]
On 19 March, the fever returned violently, and Clement XI slowly lost his ability to speak as his eyes clouded over and his respiration slowly diminished as the pope died just after midday.[12]
He also enriched theVatican Library with numerous Oriental codices and lent his patronage to the first archaeological excavations in the Romancatacombs. In his native Urbino he restored numerous edifices and founded a public library.
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