Clement VIII

Clement VIII,

1536–1605, pope (1592–1605), a Florentine named Ippolito Aldobrandini; successor of Innocent IX. He reversed the policy of his predecessors by allying the Holy See with France rather than with Spain, which had assumed a dictatorial attitude over the papacy. Clement absolved Henry IVHenry IV,
1553–1610, king of France (1589–1610) and, as Henry III, of Navarre (1572–1610), son of Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne d'Albret; first of the Bourbon kings of France.
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 of France after his abjuration of Protestantism, and the two rulers were thereafter on most friendly terms. Clement was distinguished for his piety, and he labored for the improvement of the clergy and of the charitable institutions of Rome. His confessors were St. Philip NeriPhilip Neri, Saint
, 1515–95, Italian reformer. His original name was Filippo Romolo de' Neri. From boyhood he was religious, and in 1533 he went to Rome to study.
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 and BaroniusBaronius, Caesar
, 1538–1607, Italian ecclesiastical historian, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He went to Rome c.1557 and soon came under the tutelage of St. Philip Neri.
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, whom he created cardinal. He was succeeded by Leo XI.