The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Clement XI, pope
1649–1721, pope (1700–1721), an Italian (b. Urbino) named Giovanni Francesco Albani; successor of Innocent XII. He was known in his youth for his prodigious learning and brilliance. He became cardinal in 1690. As pope he was involved in the struggle between France and Austria over the throne of Spain; he recognized Philip V but later was forced into recognizing Charles of Hapsburg, the other claimant. The chief spiritual concern of his pontificate was that of Jansenism (see under Jansen, Cornelis). The brief Vineam Domini (1705) condemned the Jansenist ideas on papal infallibility, and in 1713 he issued the bull Unigenitus, which condemned certain other Jansenist propositions. He was succeeded by Innocent XIII.
