Pope Clement V

About Pope Clement V

Pope Clement V, a significant Religious Figure who lived from 1264 to 1314, holds the #856 rank in MIT's Historical Popularity Index, reflecting substantial, long-term global cultural impact. His tenure as Pope is most remembered for being the pontiff who moved the Papacy from Rome to Avignon, France, an event often termed the "Avignon Papacy," fundamentally altering the balance of ecclesiastical power for nearly seventy years.

Despite this high historical ranking, Pope Clement V appears significantly underrepresented in contemporary online attention, showing an Attention Gap of -3x relative to his historical weight. In 2025, his Wikipedia page accrued an annualized 117K views. For comparison, the less historically important religious figure Brigham Young (#947) garnered approximately 2.7 million views, while Catherine of Alexandria (#989) still drew 368K. This vast disparity suggests that while Clement V's role in shifting the center of Catholic power remains historically crucial, his digital footprint is much smaller than that of contemporary or related religious leaders.

Interestingly, the data shows a year-over-year growth of +44.2% in Wikipedia views, indicating some renewed, albeit minor, public interest. However, this momentum appears to be slightly waning, with a -13% drop between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, suggesting that any recent surge in attention is not being sustained throughout the year.