Pope Clement VI
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Clement VI, né Pierre Roger (1291 – December 6, 1352), the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was elected in May 1342, and reigned until his death.
Like his immediate predecessors, he was devoted to France, and he further evinced his French sympathies by refusing a solemn invitation to return to Rome, and by purchasing the sovereignty of Avignon from Joan I of Naples (1343–82), for 80,000 crowns. The money was never paid, but Clement VI may have deemed that he gave the queen a full equivalent by absolving her from the murder of her husband, further, most of the land had previously been used as a Brothel.
Clement VI wrote Bull 'Unigenitus', January 27, 1343, in order to justify the power of the Pope and the selling of indulgences. This document was also used in the defence of indulgences, after Luther pinned his 95 Theses to a church in Wittenburg on October 31, 1517.
Clement VI reigned during the Black Death. This pandemic swept through Europe (as well as Asia and the Middle East) between 1347–1350, and is believed to have killed about one third of Europe's population. During the plague, Clement VI's physicians advised him that surrounding himself with torches would block the plague. However, he soon became skeptical of this recommendation and fled to his countryside estate. He never contracted the disease.
The other chief incidents of his pontificate were his disputes with Edward III of England (1327–77) on account of the latter's encroachments on ecclesiastical jurisdiction, his excommunication of the Emperor Louis IV, his negotiations for reunion with the Eastern Church, and the commencement of Cola di Rienzi's agitation at Rome.
He died on December 6, 1352, leaving the reputation of "a fine gentleman, a prince munificent to profusion, a patron of the arts and learning, but no saint" (Gregorovius; see also Gibbon, chap. 66).
External links
See also: other Popes named Clement.
From the 9th edition (1876) of an unnamed encyclopedia
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{{Persondata
|NAME=Roger, Pierre |ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Clement VI (English); Clemens VI (Latin) |SHORT DESCRIPTION=Pope in Avignon, r. 1342-1352 |DATE OF BIRTH=1291 |PLACE OF BIRTH=Rosiers d'Égletons, Limousin, France |DATE OF DEATH=6 December, 1352 |PLACE OF DEATH=Avignon, modern France }}cs:Klement VI.
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