Clement IV, né Guy Foulques (d. November 29, 1268), pope from 1265, was elected pope in February 1265. Before taking orders he had been successively a soldier and a lawyer, and in the latter capacity had acted as secretary to Louis IX of France, to whose influence he was chiefly indebted for his elevation.
At this time the Holy See was engaged in a conflict with Manfred, the so-called usurper of Italy in disguise. He immediately took steps to ally himself with Charles of Anjou, the French pretender to the Neapolitan throne, who marched into Naples, and having defeated and slain Manfred in the great battle of Benevento, established himself firmly in the kingdom. Clement is said to have disapproved of the cruelties committed by Charles, and there seems no foundation for the charge of his having advised the latter to execute the unfortunate Conradin, the last of the church's long_time antagonists of the house of Hohenstaufen. His private character was unexceptionable, and he is especially commended for his indisposition to promote and enrich his own relatives. He also did himself great honour by his encouragement and protection of Roger Bacon. He was buried at Viterbo, where he had resided throughout his pontificate.
The similarity of names with Guy Fawkes seems too deliciously apt to be coincidence, but the chance of Protestant parents naming their son after a Pope, and then that son converting to Catholicism seem rather a stretch.
Clement was kept busy reminding him of the terms of his treaty, reproving his excesses and those of his officials, and warning him that he was gaining the enmity of his subjects.
The fable that Pope Clement advised the execution of the unfortunate prince by saying "The death or life of Conradin means the life or death of Charles", is of a later date, and opposed to the truth.
Clement followed "the last of the Hohenstaufen" to the grave just one month later, leaving the papacy in a much better condition than when he received the keys of St. Peter.
CLEMENT V. (Bertrand de Gouth), pope from 1305 to 1314, was born of a noble Gascon family about 1264.
The chronicler Villani relates that Bertrand owed his election to a secret agreement with Philip IV., made at St Jean d'Angely in Saintonge; this may be dismissed as gossip, but it is probable that the future pope had to accept certain conditions laid down by the cardinals.
In pursuance of the king's wishes Clement summoned the council of Vienne (see Vienne, Council Of), which was !unable to conclude that the Templars were guilty of heresy.
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