Pope Innocent XI
Encyclopedia
Blessed Pope Innocent XI (16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was Pope
from 1676 to 1689.
in 1611 (either on 16 or 19 May), the son of a Como nobleman, Livio Odescalchi, and Paola Castelli Giovanelli from Gandino
. In 1626 his father died, and Benedetto began schooling in human sciences taught by the Jesuits at his local college, before transferring to Genoa
. In 1630 he narrowly survived an outbreak of plague, which killed his mother.
The Odescalchi family, although only of minor nobility, were nevertheless determined entrepreneurs. In 1619, Benedetto's brother founded a bank with his three uncles in Genoa
which quickly grew into a successful money-lending business. After completing his studies in grammar and letters, the 15-year old Benedetto moved to Genoa to take part in the family business as an apprentice. Lucrative economic transactions were established with clients in the major Italian and European cities, such as Nuremberg
, Milan
, Kraków
, and Rome
.
Some time between 1632 and 1636, Benedetto decided to move to Rome
and then Naples
in order to study civil law
. This led to securing the offices of protonotary apostolic
, president of the apostolic chamber, commissary of the Marco di Roma, and governor of Macerata
; on 6 March 1645, Pope Innocent X
(1644–55) made him Cardinal-Deacon with the deaconry of Santi Cosma e Damiano
. He subsequently became legate
to Ferrara
. When he was sent to Ferrara in order to assist the people stricken with a severe famine, the Pope introduced him to the people of Ferrara as the "father of the poor."
In 1650, Odescalchi became bishop of Novara, in which capacity he spent all the revenues of his see
to relieve the poor and sick in his diocese
. With the permission of the pope he resigned as bishop of Novara in favor of his brother Giulio in 1656 and went to Rome. While there he took a prominent part in the consultations of the various congregations of which he was a member.
(1667–69) in 1669, but the French
government rejected him (using the now-abolished veto). After Pope Clement X
(1670–76) died, Louis XIV of France
(1643–1715) again intended to use his royal influence against Odescalchi's election. Instead, believing the cardinals as well as the Roman people were of one mind in their desire to have Odescalchi as their Pope, Louis reluctantly instructed the French party cardinals to acquiesce in his candidacy. On 21 September 1676, Odescalchi was chosen Clement X's successor and took the name of Innocent XI.
. He passed strict ordinances against nepotism
among the cardinals. He lived very parsimoniously and exhorted the cardinals to do the same. In this manner he not only squared the annual deficit which at his accession had reached the sum of 170,000 scudi
, but within a few years the papal income was even in excess of the expenditures. He lost no time in declaring and practically manifesting his zeal as a reformer of manners and a corrector of administrative abuses. Beginning with the clergy, he sought to raise the laity
also to a higher moral standard of living. He closed all of the theaters in Rome (considered to be centers of vice and immorality) and famously brought a temporary halt to the flourishing traditions of Roman opera
. In 1679 he publicly condemned sixty-five propositions, taken chiefly from the writings of Escobar
, Suarez
and other casuists
(mostly Jesuit casuists, who had been heavily attacked by Pascal
in his Provincial Letters) as propositiones laxorum moralistarum and forbade anyone to teach them under penalty of excommunication. He condemned in particular the most radical form of mental reservation
(stricte mentalis) which authorised deception without an outright lie.
Personally not unfriendly to Miguel de Molinos
, Innocent XI nevertheless yielded to the enormous pressure brought to bear upon him to confirm in 1687 the judgement of the inquisitors by which sixty-eight quietist
propositions of Molinos were condemned as blasphemous and heretical.
within the Italian States. He compelled the city of Venice
to release the Jewish prisoners taken by Francesco Morisini in 1685. He also discouraged compulsory baptisms which accordingly became less frequent under his pontificate; but he could not abolish the old practice altogether.
More controversially on 30 October 1682 he issued an edict by which all the money-lending activities carried out by the Roman Jews were to cease. Such a move would incidentally have financially benefitted his own brothers who played a dominant role in European money-lending. However ultimately convinced that such a measure would cause much misery in destroying livelihoods, the enforcement of the edict was twice delayed.
which brought together the German Estates and King John III of Poland who in 1683 hastened to the relief of Vienna
which was being besieged by the Turks
. After the siege was raised, Innocent again spared no efforts to induce the Christian princes to lend a helping hand for the expulsion of the Turks from Hungary
. He contributed millions of scudi to the Turkish war fund in Austria
and Hungary
and had the satisfaction of surviving the capture of Belgrade
, September 6, 1688.
, Guyenne
, Provence
, and Dauphiné
, where it had previously not been exercised.
All the efforts of Innocent to induce Louis XIV to respect the rights and primacy of the Church proved useless. In 1682, the King convoked an assembly of the French clergy
which adopted the four articles that became known as the Gallican Liberties. Innocent XI annulled the four articles on 11 April 1682, and refused his approbation to all future episcopal candidates who had taken part in the assembly.
To appease the Pope, Louis began to act as a zealot of Catholicism. In 1685 he revoked the Edict of Nantes
and inaugurated a persecution of French Hugenots. Innocent expressed displeasure at these drastic measures and continued to withhold his approbation from the episcopal candidates.
Innocent irritated the King still more that same year by abolishing the much abused right of asylum
, by which foreign ambassadors in Rome had been able to harbor in embassies any criminal wanted by the papal court of justice. He notified the new French ambassador, Marquis de Lavardin, that he would not be recognised as ambassador in Rome unless he renounced this right, but Louis XIV would not give it up. At the head of an armed force of about 800 men Lavardin entered Rome in November 1687, and took forcible possession of his palace. Innocent XI treated him as excommunicated
and placed under interdict
the Church of St. Louis at Rome where he attended services on 24 December 1687.
In January 1688, Innocent also received the diplomatic mission which had been dispatched to France and the Vatican by Narai
, the King of Siam
under Fr. Guy Tachard and Ok-khun Chamnan in order to establish relations.
The tension between the Pope and the King of France increased by Innocent's procedure in filling the vacant archiepiscopal see of Cologne. The two candidates for the see were Cardinal William Egon of Fürstenberg
, then Bishop of Strasbourg, and Joseph Clement
, a brother of Max Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. The former was a willing tool in the hands of Louis XIV, and his appointment as Archbishop and Prince-elector
of Cologne would have implied French preponderance in north-western Germany.
Joseph Clement was not only the candidate of Emperor Leopold I
(1658–1705) but of all European rulers, with the exception of the King of France and his supporter, King James II of England
(1685–88). At the election, which took place on 19 July 1688, neither of the candidates received the required number of votes. The decision, therefore, fell to Innocent, who designated Joseph Clement as Archbishop and Elector of Cologne.
Louis XIV retaliated by taking possession of the papal territory of Avignon
, imprisoning the papal nuncio and appealing to a general council. Nor did he conceal his intention to separate the French Church entirely from Rome. The Pope remained firm. The subsequent fall of James II in England destroyed French preponderance in Europe and soon after Innocent XI's death the struggle between Louis XIV and the papacy was settled in favour of the Church.
as nuncio to the Kingdom of England
, the first representative of the Church to go to that land in more than one hundred years. Even so, the Pope did not approve the imprudent manner in which James II
attempted to restore Catholicism in England. He also repeatedly expressed his displeasure at the support which James II gave to the autocratic King Louis XIV in his measures hostile to the Church. It is, therefore, not surprising that Innocent XI had little sympathy for the Catholic King of England, and that he did not assist him in his hour of trial.
In 2007, researchers Rita Monaldi
and Francesco Sorti
, drew popular attention to the claim, repeatedly made by historians over the intervening centuries, that Innocent XI had secretly funded the resistance of the Protestant hero William of Orange
to the French King, and even financed his overthrow of James II of England
. This was done using the established Odescalchi family business in money-lending.
Innocent XI died after a long period of ill health on 12 August 1689. Following his death, he was buried in St Peter's Basilica beneath his funeral monument near the Clementine Chapel, which his nephew, Livio Odescalchi, commissioned. The monument, which was designed and sculpted by Pierre-Étienne Monnot
, features the pope seated upon the throne above a sarcophagus with a base-relief showing the liberation of Vienna from the Turks by John III Sobieski
, flanked by two allegorical figures representing Faith and Fortitude.
The process of Innocent's beatification
was introduced in 1741 by Benedict XIV and continued by Clement XI and Clement XII; but French influence and the accusation of Jansenism
caused it to be suspended in 1744. In the 20th century it was reintroduced, and Venerable Pope Pius XII
(1939–58) announced his beatification
on 7 October 1956.
When his body was exhumed for beatification, it was discovered that it had remained preserved, though 267 years had passed since his death. Innocent XI was subsequently considered by many to be incorrupt, and his body was placed in a glass and bronze-work sarcophagus with his face and hands covered in silver. He is regarded by many Catholics to be the first Pope whose body was discovered to be incorrupt, followed by Pope St. Pius X (1903–14) and Blessed Pope John XXIII
(1958–63).
Following his beatification, his sarcophagus was placed under the Altar of St. Sebastian in the basilica's Chapel of St. Sebastian, where it remained until 8 April 2011 when it was moved to make way for the remains of Blessed Pope John Paul II
(1978–2005) to be relocated to the basilica from the grotto beneath St. Peter's in honor of his beatification and in order to make his resting place more accessible to the public. Innocent's body was transferred to the basilica's Altar of Transfiguration, which is located near the Clementine Chapel and the entombed remains of Pope St. Gregory the Great (590–604). The altar is also across from Innocent XI's monument, which was his original site of burial before his beatification.
The feast day of Pope Blessed Innocent XI is 12 August, the date of his death.
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
from 1676 to 1689.
Early life
Benedetto Odescalchi was born at ComoComo
Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....
in 1611 (either on 16 or 19 May), the son of a Como nobleman, Livio Odescalchi, and Paola Castelli Giovanelli from Gandino
Gandino
Gandino is a comune in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about 70 km northeast of Milan and about 20 km northeast of Bergamo...
. In 1626 his father died, and Benedetto began schooling in human sciences taught by the Jesuits at his local college, before transferring to Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. In 1630 he narrowly survived an outbreak of plague, which killed his mother.
The Odescalchi family, although only of minor nobility, were nevertheless determined entrepreneurs. In 1619, Benedetto's brother founded a bank with his three uncles in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
which quickly grew into a successful money-lending business. After completing his studies in grammar and letters, the 15-year old Benedetto moved to Genoa to take part in the family business as an apprentice. Lucrative economic transactions were established with clients in the major Italian and European cities, such as Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
.
Some time between 1632 and 1636, Benedetto decided to move to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and then Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
in order to study civil law
Civil law (area)
Civil law in continental law is a branch of law which is the general part of private law.The basis for civil law lies in a civil code. Before enacting of codes, civil law could not be distinguished from private law...
. This led to securing the offices of protonotary apostolic
Protonotary apostolic
In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside of Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pope has conferred this title and its special privileges.-History:In later antiquity there were in...
, president of the apostolic chamber, commissary of the Marco di Roma, and governor of Macerata
Macerata
Macerata is a city and comune in central Italy, the capital of the province of Macerata in the Marche region.The historical city center is located on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza rivers. It consisted of the Picenes city named Ricina, then, after the romanization, Recina and Helvia Recina...
; on 6 March 1645, Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X , born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj , was Pope from 1644 to 1655. Born in Rome of a family from Gubbio in Umbria who had come to Rome during the pontificate of Pope Innocent IX, he graduated from the Collegio Romano and followed a conventional cursus honorum, following his uncle...
(1644–55) made him Cardinal-Deacon with the deaconry of Santi Cosma e Damiano
Santi Cosma e Damiano
The basilica of Santi Cosma e Damiano is a church in Rome, Italy, located in the Roman Forum. It is one of the ancient churches called tituli, of which cardinals are patrons as deacons: the Cardinal Deacon of the Titulus Ss. Cosmae et Damiani is Giovanni Cheli...
. He subsequently became legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
to Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
. When he was sent to Ferrara in order to assist the people stricken with a severe famine, the Pope introduced him to the people of Ferrara as the "father of the poor."
In 1650, Odescalchi became bishop of Novara, in which capacity he spent all the revenues of his see
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
to relieve the poor and sick in his diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
. With the permission of the pope he resigned as bishop of Novara in favor of his brother Giulio in 1656 and went to Rome. While there he took a prominent part in the consultations of the various congregations of which he was a member.
Election
Odescalchi was a strong papal candidate after the death of Pope Clement IXPope Clement IX
Pope Clement IX , born Giulio Rospigliosi, was Pope from 1667 to 1669.-Early life:Born Giulio Rospigliosi to a noble family of Pistoia, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, he was a pupil of the Jesuits. After receiving his doctorate in philosophy at the University of Pisa, he taught theology there...
(1667–69) in 1669, but the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
government rejected him (using the now-abolished veto). After Pope Clement X
Pope Clement X
Pope Clement X , born Emilio Bonaventura Altieri, was Pope from 29 April 1670 to 22 July 1676.-Early life:Emilio Altieri was born in Rome, the son of Lorenzo Altieri and Victoria Delphini, a Venetian lady...
(1670–76) died, Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
(1643–1715) again intended to use his royal influence against Odescalchi's election. Instead, believing the cardinals as well as the Roman people were of one mind in their desire to have Odescalchi as their Pope, Louis reluctantly instructed the French party cardinals to acquiesce in his candidacy. On 21 September 1676, Odescalchi was chosen Clement X's successor and took the name of Innocent XI.
Reforming the Vatican administration
Immediately upon his accession, Innocent XI turned all his efforts towards reducing the expenses of the CuriaCuria
A curia in early Roman times was a subdivision of the people, i.e. more or less a tribe, and with a metonymy it came to mean also the meeting place where the tribe discussed its affairs...
. He passed strict ordinances against nepotism
Nepotism
Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives regardless of merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos, nepotis , from which modern Romanian nepot and Italian nipote, "nephew" or "grandchild" are also descended....
among the cardinals. He lived very parsimoniously and exhorted the cardinals to do the same. In this manner he not only squared the annual deficit which at his accession had reached the sum of 170,000 scudi
Italian scudo
The scudo was the name for a number of coins used in Italy until the 19th century. The name, like that of the French écu and the Spanish and Portuguese escudo, was derived from the Latin scutum . From the 16th century, the name was used in Italy for large silver coins...
, but within a few years the papal income was even in excess of the expenditures. He lost no time in declaring and practically manifesting his zeal as a reformer of manners and a corrector of administrative abuses. Beginning with the clergy, he sought to raise the laity
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
also to a higher moral standard of living. He closed all of the theaters in Rome (considered to be centers of vice and immorality) and famously brought a temporary halt to the flourishing traditions of Roman opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
. In 1679 he publicly condemned sixty-five propositions, taken chiefly from the writings of Escobar
Antonio Escobar y Mendoza
Antonio Escobar y Mendoza was a Spanish churchman of illustrious descent.Born in Valladolid, he was educated by the Jesuits, and at the age of fifteen took the habit of that order. He soon became a famous preacher. In addition he was a voluminous writer, and his collected works fill eighty-three...
, Suarez
Francisco Suárez
Francisco Suárez was a Spanish Jesuit priest, philosopher and theologian, one of the leading figures of the School of Salamanca movement, and generally regarded among the greatest scholastics after Thomas Aquinas....
and other casuists
Casuistry
In applied ethics, casuistry is case-based reasoning. Casuistry is used in juridical and ethical discussions of law and ethics, and often is a critique of principle- or rule-based reasoning...
(mostly Jesuit casuists, who had been heavily attacked by Pascal
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal , was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen...
in his Provincial Letters) as propositiones laxorum moralistarum and forbade anyone to teach them under penalty of excommunication. He condemned in particular the most radical form of mental reservation
Doctrine of mental reservation
The doctrine of mental reservation, or the doctrine of mental equivocation, was a special branch of casuistry developed in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and most often associated with the Jesuits.- Secular use :...
(stricte mentalis) which authorised deception without an outright lie.
Personally not unfriendly to Miguel de Molinos
Miguel de Molinos
Miguel de Molinos , Spanish divine, the chief apostle of the religious revival known as Quietism, was born about 1628 near Muniesa ....
, Innocent XI nevertheless yielded to the enormous pressure brought to bear upon him to confirm in 1687 the judgement of the inquisitors by which sixty-eight quietist
Quietism (Christian philosophy)
Quietism is a Christian philosophy that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century, but it had much earlier origins. The mystics known as Quietists insist, with more or less emphasis, on intellectual stillness and interior passivity as essential conditions of perfection...
propositions of Molinos were condemned as blasphemous and heretical.
Jewish relations
Innocent showed a degree of sensitivity in his dealings with the JewsJews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
within the Italian States. He compelled the city of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
to release the Jewish prisoners taken by Francesco Morisini in 1685. He also discouraged compulsory baptisms which accordingly became less frequent under his pontificate; but he could not abolish the old practice altogether.
More controversially on 30 October 1682 he issued an edict by which all the money-lending activities carried out by the Roman Jews were to cease. Such a move would incidentally have financially benefitted his own brothers who played a dominant role in European money-lending. However ultimately convinced that such a measure would cause much misery in destroying livelihoods, the enforcement of the edict was twice delayed.
The Battle of Vienna
Innocent was an enthusiastic initiator of the Holy LeagueHoly League (1684)
Holy League of 1684 was initiated in by Pope Innocent XI, and composed of the Holy Roman Empire, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Venetian Republic. Tsardom of Russia joined the League in 1686. This alliance opposed the Ottoman Empire in the Great Turkish War and lasted until the Treaty...
which brought together the German Estates and King John III of Poland who in 1683 hastened to the relief of Vienna
Battle of Vienna
The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...
which was being besieged by the Turks
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. After the siege was raised, Innocent again spared no efforts to induce the Christian princes to lend a helping hand for the expulsion of the Turks from Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. He contributed millions of scudi to the Turkish war fund in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and had the satisfaction of surviving the capture of Belgrade
Siege of Belgrade (1688)
The Siege of Belgrade in 1688 was the fourth siege of that city, taking place during the Great Turkish War.Belgrade was at that time a part of the Ottoman Empire, and had been for 167 years. The Ottoman Empire was at war with the Holy League, the forces of which were led by the elector of Bavaria,...
, September 6, 1688.
Relations with France
The pontificate of Innocent was marked by the struggle between the absolutism and hegemonic intentions of Louis XIV, and the primacy of the Catholic Church. As early as 1673, Louis had by his own power extended the right of the régale over the provinces of LanguedocLanguedoc
Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day régions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyrénées. It had an area of approximately 42,700 km² .-Geographical Extent:The traditional...
, Guyenne
Guyenne
Guyenne or Guienne , , ; Occitan Guiana ) is a vaguely defined historic region of south-western France. The Province of Guyenne, sometimes called the Province of Guyenne and Gascony, was a large province of pre-revolutionary France....
, Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, and Dauphiné
Dauphiné
The Dauphiné or Dauphiné Viennois is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of :Isère, :Drôme, and :Hautes-Alpes....
, where it had previously not been exercised.
All the efforts of Innocent to induce Louis XIV to respect the rights and primacy of the Church proved useless. In 1682, the King convoked an assembly of the French clergy
Assembly of the French clergy
The Assembly of the French Clergy was in its origins a representative meeting of the Catholic clergy of France, held every five years, for the purpose of apportioning the financial burdens laid upon the clergy of the French Catholic Church by the kings of France...
which adopted the four articles that became known as the Gallican Liberties. Innocent XI annulled the four articles on 11 April 1682, and refused his approbation to all future episcopal candidates who had taken part in the assembly.
To appease the Pope, Louis began to act as a zealot of Catholicism. In 1685 he revoked the Edict of Nantes
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...
and inaugurated a persecution of French Hugenots. Innocent expressed displeasure at these drastic measures and continued to withhold his approbation from the episcopal candidates.
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
, by which foreign ambassadors in Rome had been able to harbor in embassies any criminal wanted by the papal court of justice. He notified the new French ambassador, Marquis de Lavardin, that he would not be recognised as ambassador in Rome unless he renounced this right, but Louis XIV would not give it up. At the head of an armed force of about 800 men Lavardin entered Rome in November 1687, and took forcible possession of his palace. Innocent XI treated him as excommunicated
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
and placed under interdict
Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)
In Roman Catholic canon law, an interdict is an ecclesiastical censure that excludes from certain rites of the Church individuals or groups, who nonetheless do not cease to be members of the Church.-Distinctions in canon law:...
the Church of St. Louis at Rome where he attended services on 24 December 1687.
In January 1688, Innocent also received the diplomatic mission which had been dispatched to France and the Vatican by Narai
Narai
Somdet Phra Narai or Somdet Phra Ramathibodi III was the king of Ayutthaya from 1656 to 1688 and arguably the most famous Ayutthayan king. His reign was the most prosperous during the Ayutthaya period and saw the great commercial and diplomatic activities with foreign nations including the...
, the King of Siam
Ayutthaya kingdom
Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese , Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the walls of the...
under Fr. Guy Tachard and Ok-khun Chamnan in order to establish relations.
Cologne controversy
William Egon of Fürstenberg
William Egon of Fürstenberg was a German clergyman who was bishop of Strasbourg.He began his career as a soldier in the French service....
, then Bishop of Strasbourg, and Joseph Clement
Joseph Clemens of Bavaria
Joseph Clemens of Bavaria was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty of Bavaria and Archbishop-Elector of Cologne from 1688 to 1723.-Biography:...
, a brother of Max Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. The former was a willing tool in the hands of Louis XIV, and his appointment as Archbishop and Prince-elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
of Cologne would have implied French preponderance in north-western Germany.
Joseph Clement was not only the candidate of Emperor Leopold I
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...
(1658–1705) but of all European rulers, with the exception of the King of France and his supporter, King James II of England
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
(1685–88). At the election, which took place on 19 July 1688, neither of the candidates received the required number of votes. The decision, therefore, fell to Innocent, who designated Joseph Clement as Archbishop and Elector of Cologne.
Louis XIV retaliated by taking possession of the papal territory of Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
, imprisoning the papal nuncio and appealing to a general council. Nor did he conceal his intention to separate the French Church entirely from Rome. The Pope remained firm. The subsequent fall of James II in England destroyed French preponderance in Europe and soon after Innocent XI's death the struggle between Louis XIV and the papacy was settled in favour of the Church.
Innocent and William of Orange
Innocent XI dispatched Ferdinando d'AddaFerdinando d'Adda
Ferdinando d'Adda was a Roman Catholic Cardinal, bishop and diplomat.D'Adda was born in Milan. He served as Prefect of the Congregation of Rites...
as nuncio to the Kingdom of England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
, the first representative of the Church to go to that land in more than one hundred years. Even so, the Pope did not approve the imprudent manner in which James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
attempted to restore Catholicism in England. He also repeatedly expressed his displeasure at the support which James II gave to the autocratic King Louis XIV in his measures hostile to the Church. It is, therefore, not surprising that Innocent XI had little sympathy for the Catholic King of England, and that he did not assist him in his hour of trial.
In 2007, researchers Rita Monaldi
Rita Monaldi
Rita Monaldi is an Italian journalist and writer who, in collaboration with her husband, Francesco Sorti, wrote a series of literary-historical books called Imprimatur, Secretum and Veritas, with Atto Melani as a central character. She majored in classical philology and specialized in the history...
and Francesco Sorti
Francesco Sorti
Francesco Sorti is an Italian journalist who, in collaboration with his wife Rita Monaldi, wrote a series of literary-historical books called Imprimatur, Secretum and Veritas, with Atto Melani as a central character. They both live in Vienna....
, drew popular attention to the claim, repeatedly made by historians over the intervening centuries, that Innocent XI had secretly funded the resistance of the Protestant hero William of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
to the French King, and even financed his overthrow of James II of England
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
. This was done using the established Odescalchi family business in money-lending.
Death and beatification
Pierre-Étienne Monnot
Pierre-Étienne Monnot was a French sculptor working mostly in Rome in a late-Baroque idiom.Monnot was born at Orchamps-Vennes, Doubs, Franche-Comté, and brought up at Besançon. Trained at first by his father, he was apprenticed to a sculptor at Dijon, then developed his style during a decade in...
, features the pope seated upon the throne above a sarcophagus with a base-relief showing the liberation of Vienna from the Turks by John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski was one of the most notable monarchs of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1674 until his death King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Sobieski's 22-year-reign was marked by a period of the Commonwealth's stabilization, much needed after the turmoil of the Deluge and...
, flanked by two allegorical figures representing Faith and Fortitude.
The process of Innocent's beatification
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
was introduced in 1741 by Benedict XIV and continued by Clement XI and Clement XII; but French influence and the accusation of Jansenism
Jansenism
Jansenism was a Christian theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638...
caused it to be suspended in 1744. In the 20th century it was reintroduced, and Venerable Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
(1939–58) announced his beatification
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
on 7 October 1956.
When his body was exhumed for beatification, it was discovered that it had remained preserved, though 267 years had passed since his death. Innocent XI was subsequently considered by many to be incorrupt, and his body was placed in a glass and bronze-work sarcophagus with his face and hands covered in silver. He is regarded by many Catholics to be the first Pope whose body was discovered to be incorrupt, followed by Pope St. Pius X (1903–14) and Blessed Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII
-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...
(1958–63).
Following his beatification, his sarcophagus was placed under the Altar of St. Sebastian in the basilica's Chapel of St. Sebastian, where it remained until 8 April 2011 when it was moved to make way for the remains of Blessed Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
(1978–2005) to be relocated to the basilica from the grotto beneath St. Peter's in honor of his beatification and in order to make his resting place more accessible to the public. Innocent's body was transferred to the basilica's Altar of Transfiguration, which is located near the Clementine Chapel and the entombed remains of Pope St. Gregory the Great (590–604). The altar is also across from Innocent XI's monument, which was his original site of burial before his beatification.
The feast day of Pope Blessed Innocent XI is 12 August, the date of his death.
Encyclicals
- Sollicitudo pastoralis (Fostering and Preserving the Orders of Men Religious)
- Coelestis PastorCoelestis PastorCoelestis Pastor was a papal encyclical issued on November 19, 1687 by Pope Innocent XI in which he condemns the practices of the Quiestists, a group of religious separatists led by Miguel de Molinos.-External Links: at Papal Encyclicals Online...
(Condemning the errors of MolinosMolinosMolinos can refer to:* Molinos, Teruel, Spanish town* Miguel de Molinos , Spanish theologist* Molinos, an award-winning musical album by The Paperboys, or its title track and lead single...
)