Pope Benedict XIII

Benedict XIII

Papacy began 29 May 1724
Papacy ended 21 February 1730 (&0000000000000005.0000005 years, &0000000000000268.000000268 days)
Predecessor Innocent XIII
Successor Clement XII
Personal details
Birth name Pietro Francesco Orsini
Born 2 February 1649(1649-02-02)
Gravina in Puglia, Kingdom of Naples
Died 21 February 1730 (aged 81)
Rome, Papal State
Other Popes named Benedict

Pope Benedict XIII (2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco Orsini, later Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was pope from 1724 until his death. He succeeded Pope Innocent XIII (1721–1724).

He was born in Gravina in Puglia to Ferdinando III Orsini, duke of Gravina, and Giovanna Frangipani della Tolfa, from Toritto. He was a member of the Orsini of Rome, the third and last member of that family to become Pope. He entered the Dominican Order and received the name Vincenzo Maria. He was named Cardinal-Priest of San Sisto on 22 February 1672 (allegedly, against his will); later he was bishop of Manfredonia, bishop of Cesena and then archbishop of Benevento.

At first, he called himself Benedict XIV, but afterwards altered the title to Benedict XIII (the previous Benedict XIII having been considered an antipope).

Papal styles of
Pope Benedict XIII

Reference style His Holiness
Spoken style Your Holiness
Religious style Holy Father
Posthumous style None

He endeavoured to put a stop to the decadent lifestyles of the Italian priesthood and of the cardinalate. He also abolished the lottery in Rome. A man fond above all of asceticism and religious celebrations, according to Cardinal Lambertini (later Pope Benedict XIV) he "did not have any idea about how to rule". The government was effectively held in his lieu by Cardinal Niccolò Coscia, who had been Benedict's secretary when he was archbishop of Benevento, and who committed a long series of financial abuses at his own advantage, causing the ruin of the Papal treasure. According to Montesquieu, "All the money of Rome go to Benevento... as the Beneventani direct [Benedict's] weakness".

In foreign politics, he struggled with John V of Portugal and the Jansenists

Pope Benedict XIII repealed the world wide smoking ban set by Pope Urban VIII.

Benedict XIII, whose orders were descended from Scipione Rebiba, personally consecrated at least 139 bishops for various important European sees, including German, French, English and New World bishops. These bishops in turn consecrated bishops almost exclusively for their respective countries causing other episcopal lineages to die. As a result, more than 90% of present-day bishops trace their episcopal lineage through him to Cardinal Rebiba [1] [2].

In 1727 he inaugurated the famous Spanish Steps and founded the University of Camerino.

Benedict died in 1730 and was buried in a tomb in Santa Maria sopra Minerva completed by Pietro Bracci and others. Coscia fled from the city in the circumstance, being excommunicated under the new Pope Clement XII. He was later restored and took part in the conclaves of 1730 and 1740.

The comment to Benedict's death by Pasquino, the popular satirist of Rome, was:

"This tomb encloses

the bones of a little friar:

more than a saint's lover

a protector of brigands"

Episcopal succession

Episcopal Lineage
Consecrated by: Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri Degli Albertoni
Date of consecration: 3 February 1675
Consecrator of
Bishop Date of consecration
Tiberio Muscettola 19 May 1680
Domenico Diez de Aux 13 November 1689
Fabrizio Cianci 30 November 1689
Marcello Cavalieri 15 January 1690
Giuseppe Rosa 22 January 1690
Giuseppe Ponzi 22 January 1690
Pietro Vecchia 12 March 1690

References

• "Pope Benedict XIII" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
• Rendina, Claudio (1993). I papi. Storia e segreti. Rome: Newton Compton. 

Footnotes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Benedictus XIII

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Innocent XIII Pope
1724–30 Succeeded by
Clement XII

Popes of the Catholic Church

1st–4th centuries

5th–8th centuries

9th–12th centuries