CLEMENT
30
CLEMENT
sank under the weight of his labours and cares, he con-
tinued to keep rigorously the fasts of the Church, and
generally allowed himself but the shortest possible
respite from his labours.
In his efforts to establish peace among the Powers of Europe and to uphold the rights of the Church, he met with scant success; for the eighteenth century was eminently the age of selfishness and infidelity. One of his first public acts was to protest against the as- sumption (1701) by the Elector of Brandenburg of the title of King of Prussia. The pope's action, though often derided and misinterpreted, was natural enough, not only because the bestowal of royal titles had al- ways been regarded as the privilege of the Holy See, but also because Prussia belonged by ancient right to the ecciesiastico-militar}' institute known as the Teu- tonic Order. In the troubles e.xcited by the rivalry of France and the Empire for the Spanish succession. Pope Clement resolved to maintain a neutral attitude; but this was found to be impossible. When, there- fore, the Bourbon was crowned in Madrid as Philip V, amid the universal acclamations of the Spaniards, the pope acquiesced and acknowledged the validity of his title. This embittered the morose Emperor Leopold, and the relations between Austria and the Holy See became so strained that the pope did not conceal his satisfaction when the French and Bavarian troops be- gan that march on Vienna which ended so disas- trously on the field of Blenheim. Marlborough's vic- torj', followed by Prince Eugene's successful cam- paign in Piedmont, placed Italy at the mercy of the Austrians. Leopold died in 1705 and was succeeded by his oldest son Joseph I, a worthy precursor of Joseph II. A contest immediately began on the ques- tion known as Jxis primnrum precum, involving the right of the crown to appoint to vacant benefices. The victorious Austrians, now masters of Northern Italy, invaded the Papal States, took possession of Piacenza and Parma, annexed Comacchio and be- sieged Ferrara. Clement at first offered a spirited resistance, but, abandoned by all, could not hope for success, and when a strong detachment of Protestant troops under the command of the Prince of Hesse- Cassel reached Bologna, fearing a repetition of the fearful scenes of 1527, he finally gave way (15 Jan., 1709), acknowledged the Archduke Charles as King of Spain "without detriment to the rights of another", and promised him the investiture of Naples. Though the Bourbon monarchs had done nothing to aid the pope in his unequal struggle, both Louis and Philip became very indignant and retaliated by every means in their power (see Louis XIV). In the negotiations preceding the Peace of L"trecht (1713) the rights of the pope were studiously neglected; his nuncio was not accorded a hearing ; his dominions were parcelled out to suit the convenience of either party. Sicily was given to Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, with whom from the first days of his pontificate Clement was in- volved in quarrels on the subjects of ecclesiastical im- munities and appointments to vacant benefices. The new king now undertook to revive the so-called Mon- archia Sicula, an ancient but much-disputed and abused privilege of pontifical origin which practically excluded the pope from any authority over the Church in Sicily. When Clement answered with bann and interdict, all the clergy, about 3000 in number, who remained loyal to the Holy See were banished the island, and the pojje was forced to give them food and shelter. The interdict wa-s not raised till 1718, when Spain regained possession, but the old controversy was repeatedly resumed under the Bourbons. Through the machinations of Cardinal Alberoni, Parma and PiaciMiza were granted to a Spanish Infante without regard to the papal overlordsliip. It was some con- solation to the much-tried jiopc that .Augustus of Sax- ony. Kim; of Poland, ri'turiicd to the Church. Clem- ent laboured hard to restore harmony in Poland, but
without success. The Turks had taken advantage of
the dissensions among the Christians to invade Eu-
rope by land and sea. Clement proclaimed a jubilee,
sent money and ships to the assistance of the Vene-
tians, and granted a tithe on all benefices to the Em-
peror Charles VI. When Prince Eugene won the
great battle of Temesviir, which put an end to the
Turkish danger, no slight share of the credit was given
by the Christian world to the pope and the HolyRos-
ary. Clement sent the great commander a blessed
hat and sword. The fleet which Philip V of Spain had
raised at the instigation of the pope, and with sub-
sidies levied on church revenues, was diverted by
Alberoni to the conquest of Sardinia; and though
Clement showed his indignation by demanding the
dismissal of the minister, and beginning a process
against him, he had much to do to convince the em-
peror that he was not privy to the treacherous trans-
action. He gave a generous hospitality to the exiled
son of James II of England, James Edward Stuart,
and helped him to obtain the hand of Clementina,
John Sobieski's accomplished granddaughter, mother
of Charles Edward.
Clement's pastoral vigilance was felt in every corner of the earth. He organized the Church in the Philip- pine Islands and sent missionaries to every distant spot. He erected Lisljon into a patriarchate, 7 De- cember, 1716. He enriched the Vatican Library with the manuscript treasures gathered at the expense of the pope by Joseph Simeon Assemani in his researches throughout Egypt and Syria. In the imfortunate controversy between the Dominican and the Jesuit missionaries in China concerning the permissibility of certain rites and customs, Clement decided in favour of the former. When the Jansenists provoked a new collision with the Church under the leadership of Quesnel, Pope Clement issued his two memorable Constitutions, " Vineam Domini", 16 July, 1705, and " LTnigenitus ", 10 September, 1713 (see Unigenitps; ViNE.\ji Domini; Jan.senism). Clement XI made the feast of the Conception of the B.V. M. a Holy Day of obligation, and canonized Pius V, Andrew of Avel- lino, Felix of Cantalice, and Catherine of Bologna.
This great and saintly pontiff died appropriately on the feast of St. Joseph, for whom he entertained a particular devotion, and in whose honour he com- posed the special Office found in the Breviary. His remains rest in St. Peter's. His official acts, letters, and Briefs, also his homilies, were collected and pub- lished by his nephew. Cardinal Annibale Albani (2 vols., Rome, 1722-24).
PoLlDoRi. De vitd et rebus gestis dementis XI libri sex (Urbino, 1724), also in Fassini, Supplemento to N.\t.^lis Alex- .4MDER. Historia Ecclesiastica (Bassano, 1778); Reboulet, Histom de Clement XI (.\vignon, 1752;) Lafiteau. Vie de Clement XI (Padua, 1752); Bcdeh (non-Catholic), ieften und Thaten dcs klugen und heruhmten Papstes dementis XI. (Frank- fort 1721); NoVAES, Elementi della storia de' sommi pontefici da S. PietTo fino a Pio VI (Rome, 1821-25); Landau, Rom, Wien, Neapel wdhrend des sponischen Erbfolgekrieges (Leipzig, ISSo); Hergenrother-Kirsch, KirchengeschiMe (4th ed., Freihnr^. 10n7\ HI. See also, on the Albani, Vis- CONTI in Favvr ■ I '. and Von Reumont in Beitrage
sur Hal. Ge.vhir! \ ;.;.;,, and Cesch. d. Stadt Rom (Berlin, 1867), in, ii, 61J - 1 I I I- AuTACD DE MoNTOK. History of the Roman Pontiffs i.Ncw "luik. 1S67), IL
James F. Loughlin.
Clement XII, Pope (Lorenzo Cobsini), b. at Flor- ence, 7 April, 1652; elected 12 July, 1730; d. at Rome 6 February, 1740. The pontificate of the saintly Orsini pope, Benedict XIII. from the standpoint of the spiritual interests of the Church, had left nothing to be desired. He had, however, given over tem- poral concerns into the hands of rapacious minister.?; hence the finances of the Holy See were in bad conili- tion; there was an increasing deficit, and the papal subjects were in a state of exasperation. It was no easy task to select a man who posses.seil all the quali- ties demanded by the emergency. After deliberating for four months, the Sacred College united on Cardinal
