Lentorama 2010: Two Millennia of Pointy Hats

Day 36: Benedict XIII (1724-30)

Benedict was the third and last member of the Orsini family to become pope, although he fought fairly hard to avoid the office, only accepting it after seeing how damaging it would be if the conclave were reopened.

Benedict, like so many popes before him, wanted to end the lavish lifestyles that many clerics enjoyed, and like most (if not all) of those popes, he was not particularly successful. Part of the problem is that Benedict was not much of an administrator, and left many of those duties to Cardinal Niccolo Coscia. Coscia, for his part, would have fit in nicely with many of today's financial leaders, as he was more than happy to cook the books to his own advantage (and, similar to today, to a near collapse of organizational finances).

Still, Benedict's reign did have some long-lasting consequences. For instance, he was the pope that lifted Urban VIII's ban on smoking. More importantly (to the church at any rate), he ordained a large number of bishops, who in turn ordained a large number of local bishops, to the point where over 90 percent of today's bishops can trace the line of their office to those bishops ordained by Benedict.

Benedict also had one long-lasting impact on Rome, as it was during his term of office that the Spanish Steps were completed. So if you're a bishop who likes to stop and have a smoke near one of Rome's greatest tourist spots, you have Benedict to thank.