Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII reigned from 1592 to 1605, brought France back into the Catholic fold, and had Giordano Bruno burned. Born Ippolito Aldobrandini in Fano in 1536, the son of a distinguished jurist, he trained in law, served as a nuncio to Poland, and was made a cardinal in 1585. His most consequential act came early. Henry of Navarre, the Protestant claimant to the French throne, had converted to Catholicism in 1593, and Spain pressed Rome to reject it as opportunism. Clement absolved him in September 1595 over Spanish objections, which ended the French wars of religion, secured the Bourbon succession, and freed the papacy from dependence on Madrid. He then mediated the Peace of Vervins between France and Spain in 1598. That year he also annexed the duchy of Ferrara to the Papal States when the Este line failed, extending papal territory substantially. He was rigorous in administration, holding regular consistories, visiting Roman churches and hospitals personally, and issuing revised editions of the Vulgate, the Breviary and the Missal. He also expanded the Index of Prohibited Books and used the Inquisition heavily; some thirty people were executed for heresy in Rome during his pontificate. The best known was Giordano Bruno, the former Dominican who taught that the universe is infinite, that the stars are suns with worlds of their own, and who denied central doctrines. After seven years of imprisonment he refused to recant and was burned in the Campo de' Fiori in February 1600. He presided over the Jubilee of 1600, which drew enormous crowds, and began the long congregations on grace that he left unresolved. He died in 1605.
- Lived: 1536 CE – 1605 CE
- Nationality: Italian
- Roles: pope, cleric
