Clement XII

Clement XII (born April 7, 1652, Florence—died Feb. 6, 1740, Rome) was the pope from 1730 to 1740. A member of the influential Florentine princely family of Corsini, he became papal ambassador to Vienna in 1691, cardinal deacon in 1706, and pope on July 12, 1730. Despite ill health and total blindness (from 1732), he sought to halt the decline of papal influence but was far from successful. Although his protests against the spread of...