CLEMENT IX, Pope. - Giulio Rospigliosi was born in Pistoia, of a noble family, on 28 January 1600; created cardinal in 1657, elected pope on 20 June 1667, died on 9 December 1669. He studied and taught in Pisa, and subsequently was in Rome among the household of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, whom he accompanied to France and Spain. He was an official of the curia in Rome when, in March 1644, he was appointed nuncio to Spain, where he remained with honor until 1653. Because he was a friend of Barberini, he was never pleasing to Pope Innocent X; during the conclave, after the latter's death, he was elected governor of Rome and then, by the new pope Alexander VII, named secretary of State and cardinal (1657): he succeeded Alexander VII ten years later, thanks to his fine qualities, among them gentleness of spirit, a sense of justice and generosity; as pope he did not allow himself to be induced to favor his relatives; rigorous with himself, he was truly "clement" with his subjects; even Pasquino greeted his election with praises and foretold a golden pontificate; except that he was rather advanced in years and sickly.
In his day the Jansenist controversy was still raging; without departing from the judgments issued by his predecessors on the matter, he aimed through his intervention to reconcile minds (the "Clementine peace"); but inflamed passions caused his initiative to fail. He governed the Papal State with balance, avoiding making his subjects feel too heavily the burden of public charges. Before being pope, he had taken delight in poetry and melodramatic art with some success and renown; as pope he protected studies and the arts; among the artists of his time he honored Borromini and Bernini, who was working on the statues to be placed on the Ponte S. Angelo; he granted his benevolence to the highly cultured Queen Christina of Sweden, once again a guest of Rome. Important measures in favor of the missions are to be remembered, among them the bull of 17 June 1669, which explicitly forbade missionaries and all ecclesiastics to engage in commercial affairs, whether for personal profit or for the benefit of their own religious community, unless the latter was in strict necessity; and the brief of 13 September 1669, by which he subjected all missionaries to the vigilance and jurisdiction of the apostolic vicars.
In the political order the greatest problem was the fate of Candia; from 1645 the Venetians and the troops of certain Christian powers fought to prevent that island from falling into the hands of the Turks; following the example of his predecessors, C. sent conspicuous aid of men, money and galleys and assiduously urged France and Spain to take part in the enterprise; to that end he worked to heal their discord. Louis XIV intervened in fact with a fleet of his own and with an army, but not decisively, so as not to disturb entirely the friendly relations with the Ottoman Empire; Spain held back, distrusting the French adversary; Candia fell and the news reached Rome when C. had died. C. had the merit of reconciling to the Holy See Louis XIV, who had had very brusque diplomatic relations with Pope Alexander VII. His body, which remained a short time in St. Peter's, was transferred by his successor to St. Mary Major. - See Plate CXVII.
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Giovanni Soranzo