Pope Clement VI

About Pope Clement VI

Pope Clement VI, reigning from 1342 to 1352, was a significant religious figure whose influence earned him the #999 rank in MIT's Historical Popularity Index. He held the papacy during a period of immense crisis, most notably overseeing the early stages of the Black Death pandemic in Europe, where he actively worked to minister to the sick and issued papal bulls condemning the persecution of Jews who were often scapegoated for the plague.

Despite this historical importance, Clement VI's modern internet visibility lags considerably. In 2025, his Wikipedia page accumulated only 60K annualized views. This places him in a distinct underattention category, receiving roughly five times fewer views than his historical importance ranking might suggest (-5x Attention Gap). For context, this low traffic is significantly less than figures like Edward Victor Appleton, ranked #586 in importance, who garnered 14K views, or even Khafra at #567 importance with 5K views-though both those figures are also underattended relative to their own importance.

Interestingly, while overall attention is low, Clement VI is seeing an upward trend, with his 2025 views increasing by +41.3% year-over-year. However, this momentum may be stalling, as the brief Q1-to-Q3 trend showed a slight -9% dip in immediate interest.