Pope Clement XII

Pope Clement XII
Bishop of Rome

Papacy began	12 July 1730
Papacy ended	6 February 1740
Predecessor	Benedict XIII
Successor	Benedict XIV
Orders
Consecration	18 June 1690 by Flavio Chigi
Created Cardinal	17 May 1706 by Pope Clement XI
Personal details
Birth name	Lorenzo Corsini
Born	(1652-04-07)7 April 1652 Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Died	6 February 1740(1740-02-06) (aged 87) Rome, Papal States
Previous post	Titular Archbishop of Nicomedia (1690–1706) Cardinal-Priest of Santa Susanna (1706–1720) Cardinal-Priest of San Pietro in Vincoli (1720–1725) Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati (1725–1730)
Coat of arms	${{{coat_of_arms_alt}}}$
Other popes named Clement

Pope Clement XII (Latin: Clemens XII; 7 April 1652 – 6 February 1740), born Lorenzo Corsini, was Pope from 12 July 1730 to his death in 1740.

Clement presided over the growth of a surplus in the papal finances. He thus became known for building the new façade of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, beginning construction of the Trevi Fountain, 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, helping bring about the Catholic Church's longstanding opposition to the order.

Biography

Early life

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 Andrea Corsini.^[1]

Corsini studied at the Jesuit Collegio Romano in Rome and also at the University of Pisa where he earned a doctorate in both civil law and canon law.

Career

Lawyer

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 resigned his right of primogeniture and from Pope Innocent XI (1676–89) 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.^[1] Corsini’s home on the Piazza Novona, was the center of Rome’s scholarly and artistic life.^[2]

In 1690 he was made titular Archbishop of Nicomedia and chosen nuncio to Vienna. He did not proceed to the imperial court, 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.^[2]

Treasurer-general

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 (1700–21), who employed his talents as a courtier and named Cardinal-Priest of Santa Susanna on 17 May 1706, retaining his services as papal treasurer.^[1]

Prefect

He advanced still further under Pope Benedict XIII (1724-30), 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.

Pontificate

Papal styles of Pope Clement XII

Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	None

Election

Papa Clemente XII

Clement XII, 1730

Under Benedict XIII, the finances of the Papal States had been delivered into the hands of Cardinal Niccolò 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. Clement XII was one of the oldest men to be elected pope.

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.

Actions

Restoration of the Papal finances

Bust of Pope Clement XII by Edme Bouchardon

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 Niccolò Coscia, was heavily fined 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 it 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, but which he was never able to see.

Architecture and buildings

A competition for the majestic façade of the San Giovanni in Laterano was won by architect Alessandro Galilei. The façade 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 governmental palace of the Consulta on the Quirinal. He purchased from Cardinal Alessandro Albani for 60,000 scudi a famous collection of statues, inscriptions, etc., and added it to the gallery of the Capitol. He paved the streets of Rome and the roads leading from the city, and widened the Corso. He began the triumphant Baroque Fontana di Trevi, 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.

Political failures

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 Duchies of Parma and Piacenza.

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.

Ecclesiastical works

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. He created the youngest Cardinal ever when on 19 December 1735, he named Luis Antonio Jaime de Borbón y Farnesio, Royal Infant of Spain, age 8, to the Sacred College.

Purchase of palace

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 Regia Accademia dei Lincei). In 1754, his nephew, Cardinal Neri Corsini, founded there the famous Corsini Library.

Death and burial

The tomb of Clement XII

Clement XII died on 6 February 1740 due to complications from gout. His remains were transferred to his tomb in the Basilica of St. John Lateran on 20 July 1742.

Pope Clement XII's tomb is in the Capella Corsini of the Basilica of St. John Lateran and was completed by the sculptors Maini and Monaldi. His bust was completed by Filippo della Valle (see terracota bust.).

References

1 2 3 Loughlin, James. "Pope Clement XII." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 10 June 2016
1 2 "Pope Clement XII", Papal Artifacts

Wikisource has original works written by or about:
Clement XII

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope Clement XII". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Benedict XIII	Pope 12 July 1730 – 6 February 1740	Succeeded by Benedict XIV

Popes of the Catholic Church
List of popes canonised Tombs extant non-extant Antipope Pope emeritus Papal resignation Pope-elect
1st–4th centuries During the Roman Empire (until 493) including under Constantine (312–337)	Peter Linus Anacletus Clement I Evaristus Alexander I Sixtus I Telesphorus Hyginus Pius I Anicetus Soter Eleuterus Victor I Zephyrinus Callixtus I Urban I Pontian Anterus Fabian Cornelius Lucius I Stephen I Sixtus II Dionysius Felix I Eutychian Caius Marcellinus Marcellus I Eusebius Miltiades Sylvester I Mark Julius I Liberius Damasus I Siricius Anastasius I
5th–8th centuries Ostrogothic Papacy (493–537) Byzantine Papacy (537–752) Frankish Papacy (756–857)	Innocent I Zosimus Boniface I Celestine I Sixtus III Leo I Hilarius Simplicius Felix III Gelasius I Anastasius II Symmachus Hormisdas John I Felix IV Boniface II John II Agapetus I Silverius Vigilius Pelagius I John III Benedict I Pelagius II Gregory I Sabinian Boniface III Boniface IV Adeodatus I Boniface V Honorius I Severinus John IV Theodore I Martin I Eugene I Vitalian Adeodatus II Donus Agatho Leo II Benedict II John V Conon Sergius I John VI John VII Sisinnius Constantine Gregory II Gregory III Zachary Stephen II Paul I Stephen III Adrian I Leo III
9th–12th centuries Papal selection before 1059 Saeculum obscurum (904–964) Crescentii era (974–1012) Tusculan Papacy (1012–1044/1048) Imperial Papacy (1048–1257)	Stephen IV Paschal I Eugene II Valentine Gregory IV Sergius II Leo IV Benedict III Nicholas I Adrian II John VIII Marinus I Adrian III Stephen V Formosus Boniface VI Stephen VI Romanus Theodore II John IX Benedict IV Leo V Sergius III Anastasius III Lando John X Leo VI Stephen VII John XI Leo VII Stephen VIII Marinus II Agapetus II John XII Benedict V Leo VIII John XIII Benedict VI Benedict VII John XIV John XV Gregory V Sylvester II John XVII John XVIII Sergius IV Benedict VIII John XIX Benedict IX Sylvester III Benedict IX Gregory VI Clement II Benedict IX Damasus II Leo IX Victor II Stephen IX Nicholas II Alexander II Gregory VII Victor III Urban II Paschal II Gelasius II Callixtus II Honorius II Innocent II Celestine II Lucius II Eugene III Anastasius IV Adrian IV Alexander III Lucius III Urban III Gregory VIII Clement III Celestine III Innocent III
13th–16th centuries Viterbo (1257–1281) Orvieto (1262–1297) Perugia (1228–1304) Avignon Papacy (1309–1378) Western Schism (1378–1417) Renaissance Papacy (1417–1534) Reformation Papacy (1534–1585) Baroque Papacy (1585–1689)	Honorius III Gregory IX Celestine IV Innocent IV Alexander IV Urban IV Clement IV Gregory X Innocent V Adrian V John XXI Nicholas III Martin IV Honorius IV Nicholas IV Celestine V Boniface VIII Benedict XI Clement V John XXII Benedict XII Clement VI Innocent VI Urban V Gregory XI Urban VI Boniface IX Innocent VII Gregory XII Martin V Eugene IV Nicholas V Callixtus III Pius II Paul II Sixtus IV Innocent VIII Alexander VI Pius III Julius II Leo X Adrian VI Clement VII Paul III Julius III Marcellus II Paul IV Pius IV Pius V Gregory XIII Sixtus V Urban VII Gregory XIV Innocent IX Clement VIII
17th–20th centuries Revolutionary Papacy (1775–1848) Roman Question (1870–1929) Vatican City (1929–present) World War II (1939–1945) Cold War (1945–1991)	Leo XI Paul V Gregory XV Urban VIII Innocent X Alexander VII Clement IX Clement X Innocent XI Alexander VIII Innocent XII Clement XI Innocent XIII Benedict XIII Clement XII Benedict XIV Clement XIII Clement XIV Pius VI Pius VII Leo XII Pius VIII Gregory XVI Pius IX Leo XIII Pius X Benedict XV Pius XI Pius XII John XXIII Paul VI John Paul I John Paul II
21st century	Benedict XVI Francis
Book Category Pope portal Catholicism portal

Catholic Church

History
(Timeline)

Vatican II	Definition of the Church Dei verbum Gaudium et spes Lumen gentium Nostra aetate Sacrosanctum Concilium

Hierarchy
(Precedence)

Pope (List)	Pope Francis (2013–) conclave inauguration theology canonizations visits Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (2005–2013)

Theology

Mariology	Assumption History Immaculate Conception Mariology of the popes Mariology of the saints Mother of God Perpetual virginity Veneration

Philosophy

Sacraments

Saints

Doctors
of the
Church

Orders,
institutes,
and societies

Associations
of the faithful

Charities

Particular
churches

Liturgical rites	Alexandrian Antiochian Armenian Byzantine East Syrian Latin Anglican Use Ambrosian Mozarabic Roman West Syrian

Index
Outline
Category
Media
Templates
WikiProject
Book
Pope portal
Vatican City portal
Catholicism portal

History of the Catholic Church
General	History of the Catholic Church By country or region History of the Papacy Timeline of the Catholic Church Catholic Ecumenical Councils History of the Roman Curia Catholic Church art Religious institutes Christian monasticism Papal States Role of Christianity in civilization
Church beginnings, Great Church	Jesus Apostles Saint Peter Paul the Apostle Saint Stephen John the Apostle Great Commission Council of Jerusalem Apostolic Age Apostolic Fathers Ignatius of Antioch Irenaeus Pope Victor I Tertullian
Constantine to Pope Gregory I	Constantine the Great and Christianity Arianism Archbasilica of St. John Lateran First Council of Nicaea Pope Sylvester I First Council of Constantinople Biblical canon Jerome Vulgate Council of Ephesus Council of Chalcedon Benedict of Nursia Second Council of Constantinople Pope Gregory I Gregorian chant
Early Middle Ages	Third Council of Constantinople Saint Boniface Byzantine Iconoclasm Second Council of Nicaea Charlemagne Pope Leo III Fourth Council of Constantinople East–West Schism
High Middle Ages	Pope Urban II Investiture Controversy Crusades First Council of the Lateran Second Council of the Lateran Third Council of the Lateran Pope Innocent III Latin Empire Francis of Assisi Fourth Council of the Lateran Inquisition First Council of Lyon Second Council of Lyon Bernard of Clairvaux Thomas Aquinas
Late Middle Ages	Pope Boniface VIII Avignon Papacy Pope Clement V Council of Vienne Knights Templar Catherine of Siena Pope Alexander VI
Protestant Reformation Counter-Reformation	Protestant Reformation Counter-Reformation Thomas More Pope Leo X Society of Jesus Ignatius of Loyola Francis Xavier Dissolution of the Monasteries Council of Trent Pope Pius V Tridentine Mass Teresa of Ávila John of the Cross Philip Neri Robert Bellarmine
Baroque Period to the French Revolution	Pope Innocent XI Pope Benedict XIV Suppression of the Society of Jesus Anti-clericalism Pope Pius VI Shimabara Rebellion Edict of Nantes Dechristianization of France during the French Revolution
19th century	Pope Pius VII Pope Pius IX Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary Our Lady of La Salette Our Lady of Lourdes First Vatican Council Papal infallibility Pope Leo XIII Mary of the Divine Heart Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart Rerum novarum
20th century	Pope Pius X Our Lady of Fátima Persecutions of the Catholic Church and Pius XII Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Lateran Treaty Pope John XXIII Second Vatican Council Pope Paul VI Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul II World Youth Day 1995 2000
21st century	Catholic Church sexual abuse cases Pope Benedict XVI World Youth Day 2002 2005 2008 2011 2013 2016 Pope Francis
Pope portal Vatican City portal Catholicism portal

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.