Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, the future…
July 1758 CE
Born to Giovanni Battista Rezzonico and Vittoria Barbarigo, his brother is Aurelio.
He had received a Jesuit education in Bologna and later studied at the University of Padua where he obtained his doctorate in canon law and civil law.
From there, he had traveled to Rome, where he attended the Pontifical Academy of Ecclesiastical Nobles.
Rezzonico became the Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura and remained in that position from 1716 to 1718 when he was appointed as the Governor of Fano.
He was then ordained to the priesthood on December 23, 1731 in Rome.
Pope Clement XII appointed him to the cardinalate in 1737 as the Cardinal-Deacon of San Nicola in Carcere; Rezzonico had also filled various important posts in the Roman Curia.
Rezzonico had been chosen as Bishop of Padua in 1743 and received episcopal consecration in Rome by Pope Benedict XIV himself.
Rezzonico had visited his diocese on frequent occasions and reformed the way that the diocese ran, paying attention to the social needs of the diocese; he had been the first to do this in five decades.
He later opted to become the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in 1747 and later to become the Cardinal-Priest of San Marco in 1755.
The College of Cardinals gathered at the papal conclave in order to elect a successor to Benedict XIIV after his death from gout.
Direct negotiations between the rival factions had resulted in the proposal for the election of Rezzonico.
On the evening of July 6, 1758, Rezzonico had received thirty-one votes out of a possible forty-four, one more than the required amount.
He selects the pontifical name of "Clement XIII" in honor of Pope Clement XII, who had elevated him to the cardinalate.
Rezzonico is crowned as pontiff on July 16, 1758 by the protodeacon, Cardinal Alessandro Albani.
In the same year, the Rezzonico family will celebrate Ludovico Rezzonico's marriage into the powerful Savorgnan family.
Rezzonico will be notorious for his rampant nepotism throughout his pontificate.
Locations
Regions
Southwest Europe
View →Subregions
