Clement VI.

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Pope Clement VI ( 14th century fresco by Matteo Giovannetti )

Clement VI. , Originally Pierre Roger or Peter von Fécamp , (* around 1290 on the castle Maumont in Rosiers-d'Égletons , Corrèze , France ; † 6. December 1352 in Avignon , France) was of 7 May 1342 to his death Pope of Catholic Church based in Avignon .

Life

Pierre Roger probably comes from the southern French nobility (see House Rogier de Beaufort ). He entered the Benedictine order early . In 1326 he became Abbot of Fécamp , and two years later, in 1328, Bishop of Arras . In 1329 he became Archbishop of Sens and a year later also Archbishop of Rouen . As Archbishop of Rouen, he was Chancellor of France and first minister of Philip VI for eight years . Pope Benedict XII. appointed him cardinal in 1338 .

The conclave elected him after ten days Sedisvakanz on May 7, 1342 as the new pope. His enthronement in Avignon took place on May 19. Although Clemens was a highly educated man and one of the best speakers of his time, he was also an inscrutable diplomat. He was a very secular Pope, who dressed up his lust for pleasures of all kinds spiritually, ceremonially and theologically. Lush parties were celebrated in the Papal Palace. He organized glamorous hunts and wastefulness was prevalent everywhere in his time. The lavish standard of living at the court of Avignon resembled that of Pope Leo X a hundred and seventy years later. Petrarch described in his 18 letters sine titulo the conditions at the papal court, which, according to his own admission, were based on personal experiences. Birgitta of Sweden and Catherine of Siena accused Clemens of the general papal exchange and the mercantilism of Avignon. Birgitta even called him an amator carnis . In the second novella of the first day from Decamerone , Boccaccio , who began this work in 1347 in the first year of the plague, described the conditions at the papal court without exaggerating. The horror of the outbreak of the European plague in 1347 left the Pope completely indifferent. He didn't even think about changing his excessive lifestyle. By order of his doctors he is said to have spent the hot summer of 1348 between two fires that were always burning. It is possible that he only survived the Black Death because the heat and smoke kept the fleas away. Even during the plague in Avignon, he ensured that the curial administrative apparatus continued to function properly.

Act

Clemens is considered a nepotist : four months after climbing the Petri chair, he appointed ten new cardinals, nine of whom came from southern France like him and five were his nephews. The Limousin dominated under him . During his pontificate , Clement VI. a total of 25 cardinals , including 19 from the south of France, eight of whom were his nephews or other close relatives. His mistresses as well as multitudes of nephews and favorites owe it to him to have gained new influence and to be able to accumulate great fortunes. He supported numerous artists with his funds, which he obtained from tax increases. The English parliament found that the pope's income from the acquisition of vacant English benefices exceeded the income of the English king by five times. In response to the accusations made by the English state, Clement VI stated that, unlike him, his predecessors did not understand how to be Pope.

The Pope also continued the proceedings against Emperor Ludwig . The emperor was banned again every Sunday. The Pope led trials designed to undermine the emperor's dignity. Despite these threats, the emperor continued to seek reconciliation with the pope. However, in the interests of the Kurverein von Rense, the electors disapproved of the Pope's procedures directed against the emperor. The Pope had to give in on the rights of the empire.

Clemens took advantage of the conflict between the emperor and the House of Luxembourg-Bohemia, loyal to the Pope, and promoted the opposing candidacy of Charles IV , grandson of Henry VII , to the Rex Romanorum in 1346 . Emperor Ludwig was now isolated. His death on October 11, 1347 ended the conflict. The supporters of the old emperor declared Günther von Schwarzburg to be his successor. But shortly afterwards he renounced this dignity.

To Philip VI and his successor Johann II., the Good , he gave millions in loans for their fight in the Hundred Years War . On June 12, 1348 he acquired the county of Avignon from Queen Joan I of Naples for 80,000 guilders in her capacity as Countess of Provence. Clemens thus created a papal state on the Rhône. He was accommodated by the fact that King Charles renounced his imperial rights to the papal Avignon, although Charles was not yet an emperor at that time.

Clemens also called for a crusade. In ignorance of the situation of the Eastern Christians, he had no understanding of the vital tolerance of these Christians towards Islam, which was victorious in their countries. His decision to go on a crusade did not arise out of concern for the Christians there, but out of the desire to use the crusade to strengthen the papacy's declined reputation against the European national monarchies. On September 30, 1343, Pope Clemens called for a crusade against the Turks in Asia Minor with the bull Insurgentibus contra fidem . A crusade league, consisting of the papacy, Venice, the Hospitallers and Cyprus, won several sea victories against Turkish pirates and at the end of 1344 captured Smyrna from the Aydınids . A second crusade under Humbert II von Viennois , sent to reinforce it, ended unsuccessfully in 1347. Pope Clement finally stopped all crusade efforts in September 1351.

In the work of Pope Clemens it is worthy of recognition that he helped or at least tried to help the Jews who had to endure horrific pogroms in all countries during the plague years . He even threatened harsh punishments against persecutors of the Jews. On July 4, 1348, Pope Clement VI turned. in a bull against the persecution of Jews who caused the plague. It has been largely ignored. Therefore, on September 26, 1348, he issued a second papal bull with the title Quamvis perfidiam , in which he defended Jews against the accusation of being the cause of well poisoning . He threatened the persecutors with excommunication . He declared the Geißler gangs , who had particularly distinguished themselves in the Jewish pogroms, to be heretics.

Favored by decay and anarchy, Cola di Rienzi established a dictatorship in Rome. He found recognition in Italy and even with the Pope. However, when the Pope realized that the Rienzi national-Italian movement was endangering the papacy in Italy and perhaps even questioning its universal institution, Clement changed his mind. As Rienzo became more and more a tyrant, he lost his power and was banned by the Pope. He came to power again under adventurous circumstances. He was finally, at the time of the pontificate of Pope Innocent VI. , killed by Roman citizens.

For the year 1350, Clement VI called. the second celebration of a holy year . In the bull Unigenitus Dei filius on January 27, 1343, he also shortened the time for the respective return of a holy year to 50 years. On December 6, 1351 he determined new rules for the conclave in the Constitution Licet in Constitutione .

Pope Clement VI died after ten years of pontificate on December 6, 1352 and was buried in the Abbey of La Chaise-Dieu . His pompous tomb was decorated with forty-four marble columns. He also determined that all of his spiritual and secular nephews should be buried here. His wives, children and grandchildren should also have this right. The monument was destroyed by the Calvinists in 1562.

literature

High grave of Pope Clement VI. at La Chaise-Dieu Abbey

Web links

Commons : Clement VI.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kenneth Meyer Setton: The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571: The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries , American Philosophical Society, 1976 ( full text available online on Google Books )
  2. ↑ Joseph Épiphane Darras, Martin John Spalding : A general history of the Catholic Church , Volume 3, page 505. New York 1869 (English), polled 6 July 2011
  3. ↑ zionism-israel.com: List of Papal Bulls on Jewish Question , accessed on July 6, 2011
predecessor Office successor
Benedict XII. Pope
1342-1352 		Innocent VI.
Jean de Cojordan Archbishop of Avignon
1349–1352 		Innocent VI.
Guillaume de Melun Archbishop of Sens
1329–1342 		Pierre Royer (Roger) de Maumont
William III. from Durfort Archbishop of Rouen
1331–1338 		Aimery Guenaud
personal data
SURNAME Clement VI.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pierre Roger; Peter of Fécamp
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Pope (1342-1352)
DATE OF BIRTH around 1290
PLACE OF BIRTH Maumont Castle, Correze Department , France
DATE OF DEATH December 6, 1352
Place of death Avignon , France