Clement XI (1649-1721) (Pope from 1700-1721)was born Giovanni Francesco Albani in Urbino, Italy. He was elevated to Cardinal in 1690 and installed Cardinal-Deacon of S. Maria in Aquiro. During the year 1700 he was appointed Cardinal-Deacon of S. Adriano al Foro, Cardinal-Priest of S. Silvestro in Capite, made an Ordained Priest and Priest of S. Silvestro in Capite, and finally elected Pope on November 1700, succeeding Innocent XII. His papacy was dominated by the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) between the Habsburgs and Bourbons. In 1714 Clement was forced to cede the Kingdom of Naples to the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1713 Clement issued a papal bull condemning Jansenism. Jansenism is a theological doctrine, which took its name from the Flemish theologian and bishop of Ypres, Cornelius Jansen (1585 - 1638). Jansen argued in favor of absolute Predestination, in which humans are perceived as incapable of doing good without God's unsolicited grace and only a chosen few are believed to receive salvation. It was probably the single most divisive issue within the Roman Catholic church between the Protestant Reformation and the French Revolution.

Clement’s ban on the use of indigenous or local customs in missions led to greater persecution of natives in European colonies. He also forbade missionaries in China to "accommodate" their teachings to pagan notions in order to win converts. (Taken, in part, from O’Brien)