Editing Pope Clement XII (section)

===Papal election===
{{main|1730 papal conclave}}
[[File:Médaille en or à l'effigie du Pape Clément XII, 1730.jpg|thumb|left|Clement XII, 1730]]

Under Benedict XIII, the finances of the [[Papal States]] had been delivered into the hands of Cardinal [[Niccolò Coscia]] and other members of the curia, who had drained the financial resources of the see. Benedict died in 1730, and in the conclave that followed his death, after deliberating for four months, the [[College of Cardinals]] selected Corsini, 78 years old and with failing eyesight, who had held all the important offices of the [[Roman Curia]].<ref name=Loughlin/> No pope has since been elected at an older age than Clement XII when he was elected.{{efn|[[Pope Benedict XVI|Benedict XVI]] is also often listed as being elected at 78, but when elected [[2005 papal conclave|in 2005]] he was two months younger than Clement.}}

As a [[Corsini]], with his mother a [[Strozzi family|Strozzi]], the new pope represented a family at the highest level of Florentine society, with a cardinal in every generation for the previous hundred years.

On 1 May 1730, several of the cardinals initially settled upon electing Cardinal [[Gianantonio Davia]] but had been unable to secure the necessary support. To that end, they refocused their efforts on getting Corsini elected, securing him 31 votes. Corsini, however, was not seriously considered as a candidate until about early July when the candidacy of [[Pietro Marcellino Corradini]] started to waver. Meanwhile, the French, Spanish, and Germans were perfectly amenable to Corsini's election.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1730.html|title=Sede Vacante 1730|date=29 September 2015|author=John Paul Adams|publisher=CSUN|accessdate=7 March 2022}}</ref>

Corsini took his papal name in memorial to [[Pope Clement XI]], who created him cardinal.