Below is a list of all of the popes who reigned during the eighteenth century. The first number is which pope they were. This is followed by their chosen name, the starting and ending dates of their reigns, and finally the number of years they were pope. Follow the links to read short biographies of each pope and learn about what they did, what they believed, and what impact they had on the course of the Roman Catholic Church.
243. Innocent XII:
July 12, 1691 - September 27, 1700 (9 years)
Innocent XII was a compromise candidate, elected only after the conclave had lasted 5 months. There were fierce divisions at the time among the cardinals that prevented an easy choice from being made.
244. Clement XI:
November 23, 1700 - March 19, 1721 (20 years)
Pope Clement XI's reign was consumed by numerous political and religious problems. For one, he was faced with dissent from the Jansenist priests and in the papal bull Unigentius Dei Filius, published in September, 1713, Clement condemned Jansenism and excommunicated many of its followers.
245. Innocent XIII:
May 8, 1721 - March 7, 1724 (2 years)
Pope Innocent XIII was very reform - oriented, imposing new standards of frugality on the papal court and abolishing a great deal of excessive spending.
246. Benedict XIII:
May 29, 1724 - February 21, 1730 (5 years)
Benedict's poor understanding of how to handle secular leaders, when combined with the poor reputation of his associates, led to him developing and increasingly bad reputation and a general weakening of papal interests in areas like Siciliy and Sardina.
247. Clement XII:
July 12, 1730 - February 6, 1740 (9 years)
Pope Clement XII appears to have been a cynical choice. Seventy nine years old at the time of his election, he was frequently bed ridden with the gout and had been completely blind since 1732.
248. Benedict XIV:
August 17, 1740 - May 3, 1758 (17 years, 8 months)
Pope Benedict XIV had a very active pontifficate because he had many important political matters that had plagued his predecessors and that he was determined to finish off once and for all. Unfortunately, while he was able to settle many things, he often did so at great political cost and with little sense of actual victory.
249. Clement XIII:
July 6, 1758 - February 2, 1769 (10 years)
Clement XIII's papacy was almost entirey caught up with scandals involving the Jesuits.
250. Clement XIV:
May 19, 1769 - September 22, 1774 (5 years)
Originally a Franciscan friar, Clement XIV was elected by a conclave which was beset by pressure from various Catholic sovereigns who were anxious that no one who supported the Jesuits be chosen.
251. Pius VI:
February 15, 1775 - August 29, 1799 (24 years)
Pius VI was elected pope at a time when secular power was growing throughout Europe, edging aside the traditional powers of religious institutions. During his pontificate, Pius not only proved unable to stem this tide, but in fact it grew worse at an increasing pace.
