Pope Clement XIV, born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli on the 31st of October 1705 in Santarcangelo di Romagna, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from the 19th of May 1769 until his death on the 22nd of September 1774. He was the only Franciscan friar in the College of Cardinals at the time of his election.
Why did Pope Clement XIV suppress the Jesuits?
Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus by the brief Dominus ac Redemptor on the 21st of July 1773, citing the need for peace in the Church and to prevent a secession by Catholic powers in Europe. The Bourbon monarchs of France, Spain, Naples, and Portugal had already expelled the Jesuits from their territories and were threatening to break with Rome entirely if the order was not dissolved.
What was Pope Clement XIV's connection to Mozart?
In April and May 1770, Clement XIV received the fourteen-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his father Leopold in Rome. After Mozart transcribed from memory the entire Miserere mei, Deus by Gregorio Allegri, a piece whose copying was forbidden on pain of excommunication, Clement made him a knight of the Order of the Golden Spur.
Was Pope Clement XIV poisoned?
No conclusive evidence of poisoning was ever produced. Those closest to him denied the claims, and The Annual Register for 1774 noted he was over seventy and had been in poor health for some time. The autopsy attributed his death to scorbutic and hemorrhoidal conditions aggravated by excessive work.
Where is Pope Clement XIV buried?
Pope Clement XIV is buried in the church of Santi Apostoli in Rome. His Neoclassical tomb was designed and sculpted by Antonio Canova.
What did Pope Clement XIV conclude about the Jewish blood libel accusation?
In a memorandum issued on the 21st of March 1758, Ganganelli, acting on assignment from Pope Benedict XIV, declared Jews innocent of the blood libel accusation. He also showed that most similar claims stretching back to the thirteenth century were groundless.