Head of the Catholic Church from 1730 to 1740
Pope Clement XII
(
Latin
:
Clemens XII
;
Italian
:
Clemente XII
; 7 April 1652 – 6 February 1740), born
Lorenzo Corsini
, was head of the
Catholic Church
and ruler of the
Papal States
from 12 July 1730 to his death in February 1740.
Clement presided over the growth of a surplus in the papal finances. He thus became known for building the new facade of the
Basilica of Saint John Lateran
, beginning construction of the
Trevi Fountain
,
[2]
and the purchase of Cardinal
Alessandro Albani
's collection of antiquities for the papal gallery. In his 1738 bull
In eminenti apostolatus
, he provides the first public papal condemnation of
Freemasonry
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Lorenzo Corsini was born in
Florence
in 1652 as the son of Bartolomeo
Corsini
, Marquis of Casigliano and his wife Elisabetta
Strozzi
, the sister of the
Duke of Bagnuolo
. Both of his parents belonged to the old Florentine nobility. He was a distant relative of Saint
Andrew Corsini
.
[3]
Corsini studied at the
Jesuit
Roman College
in
Rome
and also at the
University of Pisa
where he earned a doctorate in both civil law and
canon law
.
Career
[
edit
]
Corsini practiced law under the able direction of his uncle, Cardinal
Neri Corsini
. After the death of his uncle and his father, in 1685, Corsini, now thirty-three, would have become head of the Corsini. Instead he renounced his right of
primogeniture
and from
Pope Innocent XI
(1676?1689) he purchased, according to the custom of the time, for 30,000
scudi
, a position of prelatial rank and devoted his wealth and leisure to the enlargement of the library bequeathed to him by his uncle.
[3]
Corsini's home on the
Piazza Navona
was the center of Rome's scholarly and artistic life.
[4]
In 1690 he was made
titular Archbishop
of
Nicomedia
and chosen
nuncio to Vienna
, receiving a dispensation from
Pope Alexander VIII
since he had not yet been ordained a priest. He did not proceed to the imperial court,
[3]
because
Leopold I
, the
Holy Roman Emperor
, maintained that he had the right to select the nuncio from a list of three names furnished by the pope.
[4]
In 1696, Corsini was appointed treasurer-general and governor of the
Castel Sant'Angelo
. His good fortune increased during the pontificate of
Pope Clement XI
(1700?1721),
[3]
who employed his talents as a courtier and named him
Cardinal-Priest
of
Santa Susanna
on 17 May 1706, retaining his services as papal treasurer.
[3]
He advanced still further under
Pope Benedict XIII
(1724?1730), who made him Prefect of the
Apostolic Signatura
, a judicial branch of the
Roman Curia
. He was successively appointed as the Cardinal-Priest of
San Pietro in Vincoli
and Cardinal-
Bishop of Frascati
.
[3]
Pontificate
[
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]
Papal styles of
Pope Clement XII
|
---|
|
Reference style
| His Holiness
|
---|
Spoken style
| Your Holiness
|
---|
Religious style
| Holy Father
|
---|
Posthumous style
| None
|
---|
Papal election
[
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]
Under Benedict XIII, the finances of the
Papal States
had been delivered into the hands of Cardinal
Niccolo Coscia
and other members of the curia, who had drained the financial resources of the see. Benedict died in 1730, and in the conclave that followed his death, after deliberating for four months, the
College of Cardinals
selected Corsini, 78 years old and with failing eyesight, who had held all the important offices of the
Roman Curia
.
[3]
Since Clement XII, no pope has been elected at an older age than Clement XII when he was elected.
As a
Corsini
, with his mother a
Strozzi
, the new pope represented a family in the highest level of Florentine society, with a cardinal in every generation for the previous hundred years.
On 1 May 1730, several of the cardinals initially settled upon electing Cardinal
Gianantonio Davia
but had been unable to secure the necessary support. To that end, they refocused their efforts on getting Corsini elected, securing him 31 votes. Corsini, however, was not seriously considered as a candidate until about early July when the candidacy of
Pietro Marcellino Corradini
started to waver. Meanwhile, the French, Spanish, and Germans were perfectly amenable to Corsini's election.
[5]
Corsini took his papal name in memorial to
Pope Clement XI
, who created him cardinal.
Finances
[
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]
His first moves as Pope Clement XII were to restore the papal finances. He demanded restitution from the ministers who had abused the confidence of his predecessor. The chief culprit, Cardinal Niccolo Coscia, was heavily fined,
excommunicated
and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. Papal finances were also improved through reviving the public lottery, which had been suppressed by the severe morality of Benedict XIII. Soon money poured into Clement XII's treasury, an annual sum amounting to nearly a half million
scudi
, enabling him to undertake the extensive building programs for which he is chiefly remembered,
[3]
but which he was never able to see.
Art and architecture
[
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]
A competition for the majestic facade of the
Basilica of Saint John Lateran
was won by architect
Alessandro Galilei
. The facade he designed is perhaps more palatial than ecclesiastic, and was finished by 1735. Clement XII erected in that ancient basilica a magnificent chapel dedicated to his 14th century kinsman, St.
Andrew Corsini
. He restored the
Arch of Constantine
and built the
Palazzo della Consulta
on the
Quirinal Hill
. He purchased from Cardinal
Alessandro Albani
for 60,000 scudi a famous collection of statues, inscriptions, etc., and opened it to the public as the
Capitoline Museums
. He paved the streets of Rome and the roads leading from the city, and widened the
Via del Corso
. He began the triumphant Baroque
Trevi Fountain
, one of the noted ornaments of Rome. Under his reign a port was built at
Ancona
, with a highway that gave easy access to the interior. He drained the malarial marshes of the Chiana near
Lake Trasimeno
.The pope founded in 1732 the Italo-Albanian College Library of
San Demetrio Corone
in
Calabria
.
[6]
[3]
Foreign policy
[
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]
Politically, however, this was not a successful papacy among the secular powers of Europe. When the attempt of Papal forces to take over the ancient independent Republic of
San Marino
failed, Clement XII disavowed the arbitrary action of his legate, Cardinal
Giulio Alberoni
, in seizing San Marino, and restored its independence. He was also rebuffed in Papal claims over the
Duchy of Parma and Piacenza
.
[3]
In August 1730 he gave permission for
Victor Amadeus II of Savoy
to carry out a
morganatic marriage
to
Anna Canalis di Cumiana
. Victor Amadeus II subsequently abdicated his throne causing great unrest in
Savoy
.
Ecclesial activities
[
edit
]
In ecclesiastic affairs he issued
In eminenti apostolatus
, the first papal decree against the
Freemasons
on 28 April 1738. He canonized
Saint Vincent de Paul
and proceeded with vigour against the French
Jansenists
. He campaigned for the reunion of the Roman and
Orthodox churches
, received the
Patriarch
of the
Coptic Church
and persuaded the
Armenian Patriarch
to remove the
anathema
against the
Council of Chalcedon
and
Pope Leo I
(440?461). He dispatched
Joseph Simeon Assemani
to the East for the twofold purpose of continuing his search for manuscripts and presiding as legate over a national council of
Maronites
.
[3]
He created the youngest Cardinal ever when on 19 December 1735, he named
Luis Antonio Jaime de Borbon y Farnesio
, Royal
Infante
of Spain, age 8, to the
Sacred College
.
Though he was blind and compelled to keep to his bed, from which he gave audiences and transacted affairs of state, he surrounded himself with capable officials, many of them his Corsini relatives, but he did little for his family except to purchase and enlarge the palace built in
Trastevere
for the
Riarii
, and now known as the
Palazzo Corsini
(the seat of the
Accademia dei Lincei
). In 1754, his nephew, Cardinal
Neri Maria Corsini
, founded there the famous Corsini Library.
[3]
Consistories
[
edit
]
Clement XII created 35 cardinals in fifteen consistories held throughout his pontificate. The first individual he raised into the cardinalate was his nephew
Neri Maria Corsini
while he also raised his future successor Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico (
Pope Clement XIII
) to the cardinalate. He also raised his nephew
Giovanni Antonio Guadagni
to the cardinalate in 1731.
Canonizations and beatifications
[
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]
The pope named five new saints during his reign with the most notable being
Vincent de Paul
. He also beatified eight others including his predecessor
Pope Benedict XI
.
Death and burial
[
edit
]
Clement XII died on 6 February 1740 at 9:30am due to complications from
gout
. His remains were transferred to his tomb in the
Basilica of Saint John Lateran
on 20 July 1742.
[3]
Pope Clement XII's tomb is in the Capella Corsini of the Basilica of St. John Lateran and was completed by the sculptors
Giovanni Battista Maini
and Carlo Monaldi. His bust was completed by
Filippo della Valle
.
[7]
See also
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]
References
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]
External links
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]
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13th?16th centuries
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17th?21st centuries
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History of the papacy
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International
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