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 to 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 Liège of the Ars Nova persuasion. The first two payments he made after his coronation were to musicians. (Tomasello, 12-20)

Clement VI liked music so much that he kept composers and theorists close to him through out his entire pontificate, Philippe de Vitry being among the more famous.

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 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 1349Tuchman, Barbara. A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. New York; Ballantine Books, 1978, p. 113.

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 claims to have "lived as a sinner among sinners" in his own words.

Notes

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.

External links

• Palace of the Popes - Avignon

Popes | French popes | 1291 births | 1352 deaths

Klement VI. | Clemens VI. (Papst) | Clemente VI | Clément VI | Clemente VI | 교황 클레멘스 6세 | Paus Clemens VI | Papa Clemente VI | קלמנס השישי | Paus Clemens VI | クレメンス6世 (ローマ教皇) | Klemens VI | Papa Clemente VI | Климент VI (папа римский) | Klemens VI | Clemens VI | 克勉六世