Clement XI
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Pope Clement XI |
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| Bishop of Rome | |
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| Papacy began | 23 November 1700 |
| Papacy ended | 19 March 1721 |
| Predecessor | Innocent XII |
| Successor | Innocent XIII |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | September 1700 |
| Consecration | 30 November 1700 by Emmanuel-Theódose de la Tour d’Auvergne de Bouillon |
| Created Cardinal | 13 February 1690 by Pope Alexander VIII |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Giovanni Francesco Albani |
| Born |
23 July 1649 Urbino, Papal States |
| Died | 19 March 1721 (aged 71) Rome, Papal States |
| Previous post |
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| Coat of arms |  |
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Papal styles of Pope Clement XI |
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| Reference style | His Holiness |
| Spoken style | Your Holiness |
| Religious style | Holy Father |
| Posthumous style | None |
Pope Clement XI (Latin: Clemens XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was Pope from 23 November 1700 to his death in 1721.
Clement XI was a patron of the arts and of science. He was also a great benefactor of the Vatican Library, his interest in archaeology is credited with saving much of Rome’s antiquity. He authorized expeditions which succeeded in rediscovering various ancient Christian writings, and authorized excavations of the Roman catacombs. He was of Italian and Albanian origin.
Giovanni Francesco Albani was born in 1649 in Urbino to a distinguished family. His mother Elena Mosca (1630-1698) was an Italian, descended from the noble Mosca family of Pesaro, while his father Carlo Albani (1623-1684) was a patrician descended from the noble Albani family that had established itself in Urbino from northern Albania in the 15th century.
Albani was educated at the Collegio Romano in Rome from 1660 onwards. He became a very proficient Latinist and gained a doctorate in both canon and civil law. He was one of those who frequented the academy of Queen Christina of Sweden. He would serve as a papal prelate under Pope Alexander VIII and was appointed by Pope Innocent XII as the Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura. Throughout this time, he also served as the governor of Rieti, Sabina and Orvieto.
Pope Alexander VIII elevated him to the cardinalate in 1690 despite his protests and made him the Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Aquiro but he later opted for the Diaconia of San Adriano al Forno and later, as the Cardinal-Priest, for the titulus of San Silvestro in Capite. He was then ordained to the priesthood in September 1700 and celebrated his first Mass in Rome on 6 October 1700.
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