Clement VI

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Clement VI Born Pierre Roger c. 1291 in Aquitaine, Clement VI was the fourth pope to serve from Avignon. Before his election in 1342, he had been chancellor of France and Archbishop of Rouen. He hoped to end the Hundred Years' War but did not. He presided over the last crusade, and during his tenure, the banks of Florence failed. In 1348, the Black Death again spread in France, and nearly a quarter of the papal staff at Avignon died of the disease. Although rumors abounded that Jews had carried the Plague, Clement welcomed them at Avignon. He bought the papal palace from Queen Joan I of Naples, who had been accused and acquitted of murdering her husband. Clement died in 1352 and was buried at Chaise-Dieu, where he had been a monk. In 1562, the Huguenots descrated the grave and burned Clement's body.