Pope Clement VI

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Clement VI

Birth name	Pierre Roger
Papacy began	May 7, 1342
Papacy ended	December 6, 1352
Predecessor	Benedict XII
Successor	Innocent VI
Born	1291 Rosiers-d'Égletons, Limousin, France
Died	December 6, 1352 Avignon, France
Other Popes named Clement

Pope Clement VI (1291 – December 6, 1352), born Pierre Roger, the fourth of the Avignon Popes, was elected in May 1342, and reigned until his death. Unlike the Cistercian Pope Benedict XII who came before, Clement VI was devoted to lavish living, and the treasury which he inherited made that lifestyle possible. During his pontificate, he added a new chapel to the Papal Palace and dedicated it to St. Peter. He commissioned the famous artist Matteo Giovanelli de Viterbo to paint common hunting and fishing scenes on the walls of the existing papal chapels, and purchased enormous tapestries to decorate the stone walls. In order to bring good music to the celebrations, he recruited musicians from northern France, especially from Liège and of the Ars Nova style. He liked music so much that he kept composers and theorists close to him throughout his entire pontificate, Philippe de Vitry being among the more famous. The first two payments he made after his coronation were to musicians (Tomasello, 12-20).

Like his immediate predecessors, he was devoted to France, and he demonstrated 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.

Clement VI issued the 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 between a third and two thirds of Europe's population. During the plague, he sought the insight of astronomers for explanation. Jehan de Murs was among the team "of three who drew up a treatise explaining the plague of 1348 by the conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars in 1341" (Tomasello, 15). Clement VI's physicians advised him that surrounding himself with torches would block the plague. However, he soon became skeptical of this recommendation and stayed in Avignon supervising sick care, burials, and the pastoral care of the dying (Duffy, 167). He never contracted the disease.

Popular opinion blamed the Jews for the plague, and pogroms erupted throughout Europe. Clement issued two papal bulls in 1348 (one on July 6) which condemned the violence and said those who blamed the plague on the Jews had been "seduced by that liar, the Devil." He urged clergy to take action to protect Jews, but the orders appeared to have little effect, and the destruction of whole Jewish communities continued until 1349<ref>Tuchman, Barbara. A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. New York; Ballantine Books, 1978, p. 113</ref>.

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). The treasury he began with was terribly depleted upon his death. He claimed to have "lived as a sinner among sinners", in his own words.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

From the 9th edition (1876) of an unnamed encyclopedia
Andrew Tomasello: Music and Ritual at the Papal Court of Avignon 1309-1403.
Eamon Duffy, "Saints & Sinners, a History of the Popes," 2nd edition.

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Palace of the Popes - Avignon

Preceded by: Benedict XII	Pope 1342–52	Succeeded by: Innocent VI

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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