that he was unworthy of it. Eventually he was persuaded to accept by Agustín Pipia, Master of the Order of Preachers and on 29 May 1724, Orsini was elected pontiff. He chose the regnal name of "Benedict XIII" in honour of Pope Benedict XI because he was also of the Dominican Order. On 4 June 1724, he was crowned by Benedetto Pamphili, the cardinal protodeacon. On the following 24 September, he took possession of the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Pontificate Actions Not a man of worldly matters, Benedict XIII made an effort to maintain his monastic lifestyle. He endeavoured to put a stop to the decadent lifestyles of the Italian priesthood and of the cardinalate. He also abolished the lottery in Rome and the Papal States, which only served to profit the neighboring states that maintained the public lottery. A man fond above all of asceticism and religious celebrations, he built several hospitals, but according to Cardinal Lambertini (later Pope Benedict XIV), "did not have any idea about how to rule". In 1727, he inaugurated the famous Spanish Steps and founded the University of Camerino. In 1728, Benedict's intervention settled a controversy, regarding the relics of Augustine of Hippo, that erupted in Pavia, Italy. He ultimately confirmed the authenticity of Augustine's bones, that had been discovered in 1695 in the Basilica San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro. The government of the Papal States was effectively held in Benedict XIII's stead by Cardinal Niccolò Coscia, who had been the pope's secretary when he was archbishop of Benevento, and who committed a long series of financial abuses to his own advantage, causing the ruin of the Papal treasury. Coscia and his associates effectively isolated Benedict from other advisors. According to Montesquieu, "All the money of Rome goes to Benevento... as the Beneventani direct [Benedict's] weakness". In foreign relations, he struggled with both John V of Portugal and the Jansenists in France. Beatifications and canonizations Benedict XIII beatified Bernardine of Feltre in 1728, Peter Fourier on 20 January 1730, Hyacintha of Mariscotti on 1 September 1726, Fidelis of Sigmaringen on 24 March 1729, Vincent de Paul on 13 August 1729, and Juan de Prado on 24 May 1728. Through the process of equipollent canonization Benedict XIII canonized Pope Gregory VII on 24 May 1728. He conferred sainthood upon Agnes of Montepulciano in 1726, Aloysius Gonzaga and Stanislaus Kostka on 31 December 1726, brothers