Prosper Lambertini
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Pope Benedict XIV |
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| Bishop of Rome | |
Oil painting by Pierre Subleyras
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| Papacy began | 17 August 1740 |
| Papacy ended | 3 May 1758 |
| Predecessor | Clement XII |
| Successor | Clement XIII |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 2 July 1724 |
| Consecration | 16 July 1724 by Benedict XIII |
| Created Cardinal |
by Benedict XIII |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini |
| Born |
31 March 1675 Bologna, Emilia-Romagna Papal States |
| Died | 3 May 1758 (aged 83) Rome, Papal States |
| Previous post |
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| Coat of arms |  |
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Papal styles of Pope Benedict XIV |
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| Reference style | His Holiness |
| Spoken style | Your Holiness |
| Religious style | Holy Father |
| Posthumous style | None |
Pope Benedict XIV (Latin: Benedictus XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, served as the Pope of the Catholic Church from 17 August 1740 to his death in 1758.
Perhaps one of the greatest scholars in Christendom, yet often overlooked, he promoted scientific learning, the baroque arts, reinvigoration of Thomism, and the study of the human form. Firmly established with great devotion and adherence to the Council of Trent and authentic Catholic teaching, Benedict removed changes previously made to the Breviary, sought peacefully to reverse growing secularism in certain European courts, invigorated ceremonies with great pomp, and throughout his life and his reign, published numerous theological treatises. In terms of the governance of the Papal States, he reduced taxation and also encouraged agriculture. He also supported free trade. A scholar, he laid the groundwork for the present Vatican Museum. Benedict XIV, to an extent can be considered a polymath due to his numerous studies of ancient literature, the publishing of ecclesiastical books and documents, the study of the human body, and his great devotion to art and theology.
Horace Walpole described him as "a priest without insolence or interest, a prince without favorites, a pope without nephews."
Lambertini was born into a noble family of Bologna to Marcello Lambertini and Lucrezia Bulgarini, the third of five children. At the time of his birth, Bologna was the second largest city in the Papal States. At the age of thirteen, he began attending the Collegium Clementianum in Rome, where he studied rhetoric, Latin, philosophy, and theology. During his studies as a young man, he often studied the works of St. Thomas Aquinas, who was his favourite author and saint. While he enjoyed studying at Collegium Clementianum, the bent of his mind was well towards ecclesiastical and civil law, and actively enforcing it. Soon after, in 1694 at the age of nineteen, he received the degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology and Doctor Utriusque Juris (both ecclesiastical and civil law).
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