page_title: Pope Clement VI
section_title: Death, burial, and monument
hierarchical_section_title: Pope Clement VI / Papacy / Death, burial, and monument
caption_attribution_description: English&#x3a;&#32; Effigy of Pope Clement VI, whose tomb was destroyed during the Revolution.Español&#x202f;&#x3a;&#32; Yacente del Papa Clemente VI, cuya tumba fue destruida durante la revolución.Français&#x202f;&#x3a;&#32; Gisant du Pape Clément VI dont le tombeau a été détruit à la Révolution.
context_page_description: Pope Clement VI, born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death in 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Black Death, during which he granted remission of sins to all who died of the plague.
  Roger steadfastly resisted temporal encroachments on the Church's ecclesiastical jurisdiction and, as
  Clement VI, entrenched French dominance of the Church and opened its coffers to enhance the regal splendour of the Papacy. He recruited composers and music theorists for his court, including figures associated with the then-innovative Ars Nova style of France and the Low Countries. His nepotism was ultimately reflected in the 44 statues of relatives which surrounded his sarcophagus.
context_section_description: Clement had been ill for some time in 1352, not just with kidney stones, which had troubled him for many years, but also with a tumor, which broke out into an abscess with fever during his last week.  Pope Clement VI died on 6 December 1352, in the eleventh year of his reign.  After his death, his Almoner, Pierre de Froideville, distributed the sum of 400 livres to the poor of Avignon,  and on the day of the solemn funeral another 40 livres were distributed during the procession to the Cathedral to the poor who were present.  Clement left the reputation of "a fine gentleman, a prince munificent to profusion, a patron of the arts and learning, but no saint". His body was placed on exhibit in the Notre Dame-des-Doms, where it was buried temporarily.  Three months later the body was transferred in a splendid procession to the abbey of La Chaise-Dieu, passing through Le Puy on 6 April.  On arrival, the coffin was placed in the church of the Carmelites.  Later in April it was permanently interred in a tomb in the center of the Choir of the Church. The funeral procession was accompanied by his brother Count William Roger of Beaufort, and by the five cardinals who were his family members: Hugues Roger, Guillaume de la Jugié, Nicolas de Besse, Pierre Roger de Beaufort, and Guillaume d' Aigrefeuille.  In 1562 the tomb was attacked by the Huguenots and severely damaged, losing the forty-four statues of Clement's relatives which surrounded the sarcophagus.  Only the sarcophagus and tomb cover survived, making the present tomb a mere shadow of its former architectural and decorative glory. The tomb cover, in white marble, was made by master sculptor Pierre Roye, and his two assistants Jean de Sanholis and Jean David. The construction of the tomb began in 1346, and was completed in 1351. It cost 3500 florins, to which were added 120 écus d'or, as a gratuity for the master sculptor.
caption: Tomb of Clement VI
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