Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

CLEMENT VI

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 485 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

CLEMENT VI . (See also:Pierre See also:Roger), See also:pope from the 7th of May 1342 to the 6th of See also:December 1352, was See also:born at Maumont in See also:Limousin in 1291, the son of the wealthy See also:lord of Rosieres, entered the See also:Benedictine See also:order as a boy, studied at See also:Paris, and became successively See also:prior of St Baudil, See also:abbot of See also:Fecamp, See also:bishop of See also:Arras, See also:chancellor of See also:France, See also:archbishop of See also:Sens and archbishop of See also:Rouen. He was made See also:cardinal-See also:priest of Sti Nereo ed Achilleo and See also:administrator of the bishopric of See also:Avignon by See also:Benedict XII. in 1338, and four years later succeeded him as pope. He continued to reside at Avignon despite the arguments of envoys and the verses of See also:Petrarch, but threw a sop to the See also:Romans by reducing the See also:Jubilee See also:term from one See also:hundred years to fifty. He appointed Cola di Rienzo to a See also:civil position at See also:Rome, and, although at first approving the See also:establishment of the tribunate, he later sent a See also:legate who excommunicated Rienzo and, with the help of the aristocratic See also:faction, drove him from the See also:city (December 1347). Clement continued the struggle of his predecessors with the See also:emperor See also:Louis the Bavarian, excommunicating him after protracted negotiations on the 13th of See also:April 1346, and directing the See also:election of See also:Charles of See also:Moravia, who received See also:general recognition after the See also:death of Louis in See also:October 1347, and put an end to the See also:schism which had See also:long divided See also:Germany. Clement proclaimed a crusade in 1343, but nothing was accomplished beyond a See also:naval attack on See also:Smyrna (29th of October 1344). He also carried on fruitless negotiations for See also:church unity with the Armenians and with the See also:Greek emperor, See also:John Cantacuzenus. He tried to end the Hundred Years' See also:War between See also:England and France, but secured only a temporary truce. He excommunicated Casimir of See also:Poland for marital infidelity and forced him to do See also:penance. He successfully resisted encroachments on ecclesiastical See also:jurisdiction by the See also:kings of England, See also:Castile and See also:Aragon. He made See also:Prague an archbishopric in 1344, and three years later founded the university there.

During the disastrous See also:

plague of 1347-1348 Clement did all he could to alleviate the See also:distress, and condemned the See also:Flagellants and See also:Jew-baiters. He tried See also:Queen See also:Joanna of See also:Naples for the See also:murder of her See also:husband and acquitted her. He secured full ownership of the See also:county of Avignon through See also:purchase from Queen Joanna (9th of See also:June 1348) and renunciation of feudal claims by Charles IV. of France, and considerably enlarged the papal See also:palace in that city. To See also:supply See also:money for his many undertakings Clement revived the practice of selling reservations and expectancies, which had been abolished by his predecessor. Oppressive See also:taxation and unblushing nepotism were Clement's See also:great faults. On the other See also:hand, he was famed for his engaging See also:manners, eloquence and theological learning. He died on the 6th of December 1352, and was buried in the Benedictine See also:abbey at See also:Auvergne, but his See also:tomb was destroyed by Calvinists in 1562. His successor was See also:Innocent VI. The See also:chief See also:sources for the See also:life of Clement VI. are in Baluzius, Vitae Pap. Avenion., vol. i. (Paris, 1693) ; E. Werunsky, Excerpta ex registris Clementis VI. et Innocentii VI.

(See also:

Innsbruck, 1885) ; and F. Cerasoli, Clemente VI. e Giovanni I. di Napoli—Doeumenti inedite dell' Archivio Vaticano (1896, &c.). See L. Pastor, See also:History of the Popes, vol. i., trans. by F. I. Antrobus (See also:London, 1899); F. See also:Gregorovius, Rome in the See also:Middle Ages, vol. vi. trans. by Mrs G. W. See also:Hamilton (London, 1900-19o2) ; J. B. See also:Christopher Histoire de la papaute See also:pendant le XI V° siecle, vol. ii. (Paris, 1853) ; also See also:article by L.

Kiipper in the Kirchenlexikon (2nd ed.). (C. H.

End of Article: CLEMENT VI

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
CLEMENT V
[next]
CLEMENT VII