and 1253. After Clare’s death, a milder rule was granted
by Pope Urban IV in 1263 and was adopted by the
majority of the houses. Clare’s own foundation at San
Damiano, however, had insisted, from its earliest days
and at her personal urging, on the strict observance of
the privilegium paupertatis or privilege of poverty, as
originally granted, and it never accepted any relaxation
of the rule. Clare was canonized in 1255.
Various writings attributed to Clare survive in the
corpus of material associated with the early develop-
ment of the Franciscan order. At least four letters are
generally accepted as genuine; another letter and two
devotional texts known as the Testament and the Blessing
are disputed. A contemporary biography of Clare, at-
tributed to Thomas of Celano, Francis’s fi rst biographer,
is preserved in Acta sanctorum.
See also Francis of Assisi, Saint; Innocent IV, Pope;
Thomas of Celano
Further Reading
Brooke, R. B., and C. N. L. Brooke. “Saint Clare.” In Medieval
Women, ed. Derek Baker. Oxford: Blackwell, 1978, pp.
275–287.
Clare of Assisi: Early Documents, 2nd ed., ed. and trans. Regis
Armstrong. Saint Bonaventure, N.Y.: Franciscan Institute,
1993.
Francis and Clare: The Complete Works, ed. and trans. Regis J.
Armstrong and Ignatius C. Brady. New York; Paulist, 1982.
Steven N. Botterill
CLEMENT V, POPE
(c. 1260 or 1264–1314,
r. 5 June 1305–20 April 1314)
Clement V (Bertrand de Got) was the fi rst of the Avig-
nonese popes. He was born in Gascony to a noble fam-
ily, studied the arts at Toulouse, and then studied law
at Orléans and Bologna. Through family connections
he rose rapidly in the church, holding several canon-
ries before becoming vicar-general to his brother, the
bishop of Lyon. After serving as a papal chaplain, he
was made bishop of Comminges in 1295 and archbishop
of Bordeaux in 1299.
When Benedict XI died in 1304, the college of cardi-
nals was deadlocked for almost a year over a successor,
primarily because they were divided over papal policy
toward the French king Philip the Fair. They settled on
Clement because he had good relations with Philip but
had also been a favorite of Philip’s enemy Boniface VIII
and had braved the king’s wrath to attend a council called
by Boniface during his struggle with Philip.
Disturbances at Rome and in the papal states pre-
vented Clement’s coronation there, so he was crowned
instead at Lyon, on 14 November 1305. He spent the
rest of his pontifi cate in France, in what he considered
temporary residences. During the fi rst four years of his
reign he moved frequendy, never spending more than
a year in one place, but after 1309 he favored Avignon,
a city subject not to the French king but to the king of
Naples, a papal vassal. His intended to stay in Avignon
only briefl y, but his successors were to remain there
until 1376.
Within weeks of his coronation, Clement initiated
policies which convinced some contemporaries that he
was a creature of King Philip. He annulled Boniface
VIII’s bull Clericis laicos, which had been directed at
Philip, and declared that Boniface’s Unam sanctam had
not claimed any new papal authority over France or its
king. He confi rmed Benedict XI’s absolution of Philip
and restored Philip’s deposed allies Giacomo and Pietro
Colonna to the cardinalate. Also, within a month of his
election he made the fi rst of a series of appointments to
the college of cardinals that gave a clear advantage to
the faction which favored the French. Of ten cardinals
appointed in 1305, nine were French. In 1307, Clem-
ent ordered an investigation of the Templars, again at
Philip’s prompting. Philip seems to have had political
motives for attacking the Templars; he coveted their
wealth. Moreover, the evidence Philip submitted to
Clement of sexual misconduct and witchcraft by the
Templars had been extracted under torture. Nevertheless,
Clement carried the investigation forward for several
years, uncomfortable with the evidence but unwilling
to drop the matter. He referred the case to the Council
of Vienne for review, then decided not to wait for its
decision. Rendering no decision on the evidence, he
simply suppressed the Templars, citing the good of
the church, on 22 March 1312. He then turned their
enormous wealth over to the Hospitallers and to other
military orders fi ghting the Muslims in Iberia, much to
King Philip’s chagrin. Some see this move as an example
of indecision; others consider it a clever resolution of a
complicated and embarrassing crisis.
In his relations with the empire, Clement was more
decisive. He backed the election of Henry VII in 1308
and Henry’s coronation as emperor in 1312, although
he had been pressured by King Philip to support Charles
of Valois, Philip’s brother. In 1313 Clement prevented
a war between Henry and Robert of Naples, the leader
of Clement’s forces in Italy, by threatening Henry with
excommunication. On Henry’s death a few months later,
Clement claimed authority to supervise the empire dur-
ing the vacancy.
In Italy, Clement and his Guelf allies struggled,
though desultorily, to regain control of the papal
states. Throughout Clement’s reign, Rome remained
too unstable to be occupied safely. Clement also did
his own cause considerable harm by appointing rapa-
cious Gascon favorites to govern the Italian lands he
did control.CLEMENT V, POPE