Pope Benedict XIV (; ; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death on 3 May 1758.Pope Benedict X (1058–1059) is now considered an antipope. At the time, however, this status was not recognized by church historians, and so the tenth legitimate pontiff by this name is the one who took the official name Benedict XI (1303–1304). This has advanced the numbering of all subsequent Popes Benedict by one. Popes Benedict XI–XVI are therefore the tenth through fifteenth popes by that name. His intellectualism and advocacy of science education earned him the nickname "the Enlightenment Pope".
Perhaps one of the best scholars to sit on the papal throne, yet often overlooked, he promoted scientific learning, the Baroque arts, reinvigoration of Thomism, and the study of the human form. Firmly committed to carrying out the decrees of the Council of Trent and Catholic teaching, Benedict removed changes previously made to the Breviary, sought peacefully to reverse growing secularism in European courts, invigorated ceremonies with great pomp, and throughout his life and his reign published numerous theological and ecclesiastical treatises. In governing the Papal States, he reduced taxation on some products, but also raised taxes on others; he also encouraged agriculture and supported free trade within the Papal States. A scholar, he created the Sacred and Profane Museums, now part of the present Vatican Museums. He can be considered a polymath due to his numerous studies of ancient literature, his publishing of ecclesiastical books and documents, his interest in the study of the human body, and his devotion to art and theology.
Towards the end of his papacy Benedict XIV was forced to contend with issues surrounding the Society of Jesus. He expelled them from Portugal at the behest of Joseph I in 1758, just before his death. The papacy reluctantly acceded to the anti-Jesuit demands while providing minimal theological justification for the suppressions.
Horace Walpole described him as "loved by papists, esteemed by Protestants, a priest without insolence or interest, a prince without favorites, a pope without nepotism, an author without vanity, a man whom neither intellect nor power could corrupt."Benedict XIV and the Enlightenment, p. 370.
Early life Birth and studies Lambertini was born into a noble family of Bologna, the third of five children of Marcello Lambertini and Lucrezia Bulgarini.Following his father's untimely death at the age of forty-two, his mother, aged twenty-four and a widow for only three months, married Count Luigi Bentivoglio. Pastor, Vol. 35, p. 23. At the time of his birth, Bologna was the second largest city in the Papal States. His earliest studies were with tutors, and then he was sent to the Convitto del Porto, staffed by the Somaschi Fathers.Pastor, Vol. 35, p. 24. At the age of thirteen, he began attending the Collegio Clementino in Rome, where he studied rhetoric, Latin, philosophy, and theology (1689–1692). During his studies as a young man, he often studied the works of St. Thomas Aquinas, who was his favorite author and saint. While he enjoyed studying at Collegio Clementino, his attention turned toward civil and canon law. 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).
Ecclesiastical career Lambertini became an assistant to Alessandro Caprara, the Auditor of the Rota. After the election of Pope Clement XI in November 1700, he was made a consistorial advocate in 1701.Pastor, Vol. 35, pp. 24–25. Shortly after, he was created a Consultor of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, and then in 1708 Promoter of the Faith. As Promoter of the Faith, he achieved two major successes. The first was the canonization of Pope Pius V. The second was the composition of his treatise on the process of the beatification and canonization of saints.Pastor, pp. 25–26. The first edition was published in Bologna in four volumes: De servorum Dei beatificatione et beatificatorum canonizatione, Bononiae 1734–1738.
In 1712, Lambertini was named Canon Theologus of the Chapter of the Vatican Basilica and member of the Sacred Congregation of Rites; in 1713 he was named monsignor; and in 1718 secretary of the Sacred Congregation of the Council.Schulte, p. 503.
Episcopate On 12 June 1724, only two weeks after his election, Pope Benedict XIII appointed Lambertini titular bishop of Theodosiopolis in Arcadia. Lambertini was consecrated a bishop in Rome, in the Cappella Paolina of the Vatican Palace, on 16 July 1724, by Pope Benedict XIII. His co-consecrators were Giovanni Francesco Nicolai, titular Archbishop of Myra (Vicar of the Vatican Basilica), and Nicola Maria Lercari, titular Archbishop of Nazianzus (Papal Maestro di Camera). In 1725, he served as the Canonist at the Roman Synod of Pope Benedict XIII.Mario Rosa, "Benedetto XIV", in Enciclopedia dei Papi (Treccani 2000). L. Fiorani, Il concilio romano del 1725 (Roma 1978), pp. 144–146, 209.
In 1718, the Istituto delle scienze ed Arti Liberali in Bologna had begun construction of a chapel for everyday convenience dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. In 1725, Bishop Prospero Lambertini of Theodosia, who was working in the Roman Curia but was mindful of his origins, ordered the chapel to be painted. He handed over the work to Carlo Salarolo, who had the walls of the chapel adorned. Lambertini also ordered and paid for the painting above the main altar, an image of the Virgin being greeted by the angel, the work of Marcantonio Franceschini.
He was made Bishop of Ancona on 27 January 1727, and was permitted to retain the title of Archbishop, as well as all the offices which he had already been granted. He was also allowed to continue as Abbot Commendatory of the Camaldolese monastery of S. Stefano di Cintorio (Cemeterio) in the diocese of Pisa.Ritzler-Sefrin, V, p. 83 with note 3. In 1731, the new bishop had the main altar and the choir of the cathedral restored and renovated. Once he became pope, Lambertini remembered his former diocese, sending an annual gift to the Church of Ancona, of sacred vessels of gold or silver, altar appointments, vestments, and other items.
Cardinal Bishop Lambertini was created a Cardinal on 9 December 1726, though the public announcement of his promotion was postponed until 30 April 1728.Ritzler-Sefrin, p. 37 no. 18. He was assigned the titular church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme on 10 May 1728.Ritzler-Sefrin, p. 45. He participated in the 1730 conclave.
On 30 April 1731, Cardinal Lambertini was appointed Archbishop of Bologna by Pope Clement XII. During his time as archbishop, he composed an extensive treatise in three volumes, De synodo dioecesana, on the subject of the diocesan synod, presenting a synthesis of the history, Canon Law, practices, and procedures for the holding of those important meetings of the clergy of each diocese. He was in fact preparing the ground for the holding of a synod of his own for the diocese of Bologna, an expectation he first announced in a Notificazione of 14 October 1732. When the first edition of the De Synodo was published in 1748, however, the synod still had not taken place.Fattori, p. 444, with note 86: chiesa. Quando uscì la prima edizione del De Synodo, nel 1748, Lambertini dichiarò di non avere potuto celebrare il sinodo diocesano per alcune difficoltà. He continued in the office of Archbishop of Bologna even after he became Pope, not finally resigning until 14 January 1754.Ritzler-Sefrin, VI, p. 126, note 2.
Election to the papacy
After the death of Pope Clement XII on 6 February 1740, Cardinal Lambertini attended the papal conclave to choose a successor. The Conclave opened on 18 February, but Lambertini did not arrive until 5 March. He was not one of the 'papabili', not being one of the favorites of any of the factions (Imperialists, Spanish, French, Zelanti). The conclave lasted for six months.F. Petruccelli della Gattina Histoire diplomatique des Conclaves IV (Paris 1866) pp. 108–133. At first Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, was favored to be elected, but a number of cardinals were opposed to him because he was the protector of France in the Papal Curia. His death on 29 February 1740 eliminated him from consideration.Ritzler-Sefrin, V, p. 16 no. 1.
Cardinal Domenico Riviera of Urbino received a respectable number of votes for a while, and then, in July, Cardinal Pompeio Aldrovandi of Bologna. He had enemies, however, who assembled enough votes to ensure that he would never get the two-thirds needed to be elected. His greatest enemy, the Camerlengo Cardinal Annibale Albani, chose instead to support Cardinal Giacomo de Lanfredini of Florence, who worked in Rome in the Curia. In mid-August, Albani asked the leader of the Imperialist faction, Cardinal Niccolò del Giudice, to give a thought to Lambertini. After long deliberations, Lambertini was put forth to the cardinal electors as a compromise candidate, and it is reported that he said to the members of the College of Cardinals "If you wish to elect a saint, choose Gotti; a statesman, Aldrovandi; an honest man, me." Vincenzo Ludovico Gotti (1664–1742) was professor of philosophy at the College of Saint Thomas, and perhaps the leading Thomist of his time.Salvador Miranda, The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, "Gotti, O.P., Vincenzo Ludovico"; Retrieved 7 February 2011. Cardinal Aldrovandi was a canon lawyer.
This witticism appears to have assisted his cause, which also benefited from his reputation for deep learning, gentleness, wisdom, and conciliation in policy. On the evening of 17 August 1740 at around 9:00 pm, on the 255th ballot, he was elected pope and took the throne name of Benedict XIV in honour of Pope Benedict XIII to whom he owed his ecclesiastical career.Pastor, Vol. 35, pp. 3–22. Benedict XIV wrote a letter about the Conclave to his friend Francesco Peggi: F.S. Kraus (editor), Briefe Benedikts XIV an den Canonicus Pier Francesco Peggio in Bologna (1729–1758), zweite Ausgabe (Freiburg im Breisgau 1888), pp. 171–173. He was solemnly crowned by the protodeacon on 21 August 1740. By 30 August 1740 the famous ephemeral baroque structures of the Festival of the Chinea and the triumphal arch of Benedict XIV were erected by Charles VII of Naples, King of Naples and a papal vassal.
Pontificate
Benedict XIV's pontificate began in a time of great difficulties, fueled by anti-clericalism and chiefly caused by the disputes between Catholic rulers and the papacy about governmental demands to nominate bishops rather than leaving the appointment to the church. He managed to overcome most of these problems – the Holy See's disputes with the Kingdom of Naples, Sardinia, Spain, Venice, and Austria were settled.Ludwig von Pastor, Vol. 36, pp. 140–142, attempts a defense of Benedict.
Pastoralis Romani Pontificis The apostolic constitution Pastoralis Romani Pontificis, which was Benedict's revision of the traditional In Coena Domini anathematization, was promulgated on 30 March 1741. In it Benedict again excommunicated all members of Protestant sects, including Lutherans, Calvinists, Zwinglians, and Huguenots. It ordered that ecumenical councils not be resorted to by opponents of papal decisions.Item excommunicamus, et anathematizamus omnes, singulos cujuscumque gradus, seu conditionis fuerint; Universitates vero, Collegia, & Capitula quocumque ncmine nuncupentur, interdicimus, ab ordinationibus, seu mandatis Nostris. ut Romanorum Pontificum pro tempore existentium ad universale futurum Concilium appellantes; nec non eos, quorum auxilio, concilio, vel favore appellatum fuerit. Its most stringent clause was §20: