RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Clement
archbishop of Bordeaux by Boniface VIII., and elected pope at Perugia June 5, 1305, after the conclave had lasted eleven months. His coronation took place in Lyons. Under Philip the Fair's influence he remained in France, residing first at Bordeaux, Poitiers, and elsewhere, and fixing his seat at Avignon in the spring of 1309. _He is accused by Villani of avarice, nepotism, and simony; he certainly surrounded himself with the pomp of a worldly sovereign, and was suspected of a criminal attachment to the beautiful countess of Perigord. Another fault was the weakness of character which made him a slave of the cold and unscrupulous king, and to the suppression of the Templars (q.v.). At the same time another process was begun against Boniface VIII., which Philip pressed for personal reasons, refusing, however, to push it to extremes and contenting himself with the bull of April 27, 1311, in which Clement declared that Philip was innocent of Nogaret's deeds of violence and of the plundering of the papal treasure (see Boniface VIII.), and annulled Boniface's excommunications and interdicts, especially the bull Vnam sanctam. In the affairs of the Empire Clement pursued a vacillating course; he had recommended the election of Philip's brother Charles of Valois, but willingly recognized Henry VIZ., and crowned him in the Lateran, June 29, 1312. When Henry, however, fell out with Robert of Naples, Clement took the latter's side, threatening the emperor with excommunication. On Henry's death (Aug. 24, 1313) he named Robert imperial vicar for Italy, claiming the supreme exercise of the imperial power during the vacancy for himself. His own death followed a few months later (Apr. 20, 1314). His collection of decretals, which he meant to form a seventh book in the great collection, though first formally confirmed by his successor John XXII., is known under the name of Clementina (see Canon Law, II., 6, § 3).
(A. Hauck.)
Bibliography: Regesium, edited by the Benedictines, Rome, 9 vols, and appendix, 1885-92; his Tractatus cum Heinrico VII., ed. J. Schwalm, is in MGH, Const, imper., IV. 1, pp. 338 sqq. ; J. Schwalm, JVeue Aktenstiicke zur Beschichte Clemens V., Rome, 1904, i., pp. 492-496.
The old VitcB are collected in Baluze, Vitce paparum Avenionensium, i. 1-62, 85-152, Paris, 1693. Consult: Muratori, Scriptores, III. i. 673, ii. 441; L. Konig, Die papsUiche Kammer unter Clemens V., Vienna, 1894; E. Berchon, Hist, du pape Clement V., Paris, 1896; F. Lacoste, Nouvelles etudes sur Clement V., Bordeaux, 1896; Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, vi. 394 sqq.; Pastor, Popes, i. 58-61, 63-64 et passim; Bower, Popes, iii. 58-72; Milman, Latin Christianity, vi. 373-531; Neander, Christian Church, v. 70, 341, notes 2-23.
Clement VI. (Pierre Roger): Pope 1342-52. Originally a member of the Benedictine order, councilor and keeper of the seals to Philip the Fair, then archbishop of Rouen, he was elected pope at Avignon May 7, 1342. A talented man and a brilliant orator, he was wholly devoted to the French policy, and refused the pressing invitation of a Roman deputation, which included Petrarch, to return to Rome. He vigorously carried on the struggle with Louis the Bavarian, favored by the divisions in the electoral college and by the emperor's weakness. Louis showed his readiness to
submit to any humiliations, but Clement was obdurate. In the spring of 1346 he pronounced the emperor's excommunication and deposition. At his bidding Charles of Luxemburg was informally chosen as Charles IV. by the three archbishops, John of Bohemia, and Rudolph of Saxony (July 11, 1346). Louis died Oct. 11, 1347. The failure of the attempt to set up another claimant in his place justified Clement's assertion of the necessity of papal confirmation. Fortune seemed to favor him. The republican rising in Rome under Cola di Rienzo (May-Dec, 1347) fell to pieces of itself. Queen Joanna of Sicily, suspected of the murder of her husband, appeared before him and was acquitted and allowed to retain her crown. Needing money, she sold the county of Avignon to the pope for 80,000 florins, Charles IV renouncing his claims to it. To please the Romans and to fill his treasure, Clement reduced the period between jubilees from a hundred to fifty years. In connection with the jubilee of 1350, the scholastic doctrine of the superabundant merits of Christ was extended to include those of the saints, and the right to distribute the indulgences based upon it was formally claimed for the successors of Peter. Clement died Dec. 6, 1352. (A. Hauck.)
Bibliography: The Epistola ad archiepiscopum Trevirensem is in J. P. Schunk, Beitrage zur mainzischen Geschichte,
ii. 474, Mainz, 1789; the Sermo adv. Heinricum, ib. ii. 332 sqq. The older Vitce are collected in E. Baluze, Vit(B paparum Avenionensium, i. 243—322, Paris, 1693. Consult: M. Freyberg, Die Stellung der deutschen Geistlichkeit zur Wahl Karls IV., Halle, 1880; C. Miiller, Der Kampf Ludwigs mit der romischen Kurie, ii. 163 sqq., Tubingen, 1880; F. Gregorovius, Hist, of the City of Rome, London, 1899; Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, vi. 663; Pastor, Popes, vi. 6 et passim; Bower, Popes,
iii. 93-104; Milman, Latin Christianity, vii. 135-198; Neander, Christian Church, v. 41-43.
Clement VII. (Robert, Count of Geneva): Antipope 1378-94. He was a canon in Paris, bishop of Therouanne, and finally cardinal. The French cardinals who deserted Urban VI. chose him pope at Fondi. He soon lost hope of maintaining himself in Italy, and returned to Avignon. The struggle between the rival claimants is narrated under Urban VI. Its course was unfavorable to Clement, in spite of his attempts by seductive promises to stir up Louis of Anjou and Charles VI., and he died, no nearer the goal of his ambition, Sept. 16, 1394.
(A. Hauck.)
Bibliography: N. Valois, La France et le grand schisme, vol. ii., Paris, 1896; idem, in Rbmische Quartalschrift, 1893, pp. 170 sqq.; J. Fraikin, Nonciatures de Clement VII, vol. i., Paris, 1906; Bower, Popes, iii. 141; Pastor, Popes, i. passim; Creighton, Papacy, i. 72-144.
Clement VIII. (Egidio Munoz): Antipope 1425- 1429. He was canon of Barcelona when three cardinals of the party of Benedict XIII. (q.v.) elected him to succeed the latter. He was recognized by Alfonso V- of Aragon, but never attained any importance and resigned his claims July 26, 1429.
(A. Hauck.)
Bibliography: Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, vii. 396, 417; Bower, Popes, iii. 212; Pastor, Popes, i. 274-277.
Clement VIL (Giulio de' Medici): Pope 1523- 1534. He was born May 26, 1478, the illegitimate son of the Giuliano who was murdered in the con-
Clement