Benedict XIV

Benedict XIV (1675-1758), pope (1740-1758), who was outstanding for his moderation, erudition, and active interest in education. Born Prospero Lambertini in Bologna, he became a cardinal in 1728 and archbishop of Bologna in 1731. As pope he encouraged commerce and agriculture, instituted various reforms, and, in his bulls and encyclicals, regulated mixed marriages and settled controversies regarding Indian and Chinese rites. One of the most learned of the popes, Benedict greatly encouraged education and science, founding the chairs of physics, chemistry, and mathematics at the University of Rome, and reviving the academy of Bologna. In literature, he caused the best English and French books to be translated into Italian. His most important works are De Servorum Dei Beatificatione et Beatorum Canonizatione (On the Beatification and Canonization of Saints, 1734-1738), De Sacrosancto Missae Sacrficio (On the Sacrifice of the Mass, 1748), and De Synodo Dioecesana (On the Diocesan Synod, 1748)