Pope Clement VIII

Born Ippolito Aldobrandini in Fano in 1536 to a prominent Florentine family, he rose through the Church as a canon lawyer before becoming Cardinal-Priest in 1585. Elected Pope in 1592, he engineered the reconciliation of Henry IV of France to Catholicism and helped forge a Christian alliance against the Ottoman Empire during the Long War. He mediated a theological clash between Dominicans and Jesuits over grace and free will, and in 1600 oversaw a jubilee that drew pilgrims to Rome in great numbers. That same year he presided over the trial and execution of Giordano Bruno, and he imposed stric…