Who he was
A gifted Latinist from Urbino, educated at the Roman College, he served for thirteen years as Secretary of Papal Briefs and was ordained priest only after becoming a cardinal. Elected at fifty-one, he took three days to accept. He confessed and said Mass every day, preached and heard confessions himself, and kept his relatives away from power.
What he is remembered for
His reign was troubled by the War of the Spanish Succession, during which imperial troops invaded the Papal States. He issued the constitution Unigenitus (1713) against the Jansenist errors of Quesnel, ruled on the Chinese rites, made the Immaculate Conception a holy day of obligation, and canonised St Pius V. He composed the Office of St Joseph in the Breviary, and died on St Joseph's feast.
Sources
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