CLEMENTE X, POPE. — Emilio Altieri, born in Rome on 12 July 1590 to the ancient Altieri family; doctor of both laws, in 1623 he became auditor at the nunciature in Poland, and then, on 26 November 1627, was appointed bishop of Camerino, following the resignation of his brother Giov. Battista, and held this see until 1666. He was nuncio in Naples, but was created cardinal by Clemente IX only on 24 November 1669. Upon the latter’s death, after a five-month conclave, at the age of 80 he was elected pope (29 April 1670), and, having no close relatives, entrusted the conduct of affairs to Cardinal Paluzzi
degli Albertoni, who assumed the surname Altieri. C.’s great concern was the internal dissensions of Poland, which Maometto IV was exploiting in order to seize the fortresses of the kingdom; he supported the initiatives of Giovanni Sobieski, his victory at Chocim on the Dniester (11 November 1673), and his election as king on 20 May 1674.
Also in the war that was being waged simultaneously (1673–1675) between France and Spain, C. worked as a mediator for peace, and had already appointed Fabio Guinigi, archbishop of Ravenna, plenipotentiary (5 October 1675), when he died on 26 July 1676. A few years later, a monument was erected to him in S. Pietro, designed by Mattia De Rossi.
C.’s pontificate was fruitful in works aimed at ensuring the well-being of his subjects and the embellishment of the seat of the papacy. He gave strong impetus to agriculture, promoted the advancement of industry, subsidized hospices and hospitals, and allocated funds for alms.
The arts, too, were encouraged. Carlo Rainaldi, appointed court architect in place of the aged Bernini, carried out the arrangement of the staircase and the tribune of S. Maria Maggiore, and erected there the monument to Clemente IX. Bernini completed the decoration of Ponte S. Angelo with four statues and executed the bronze ciborium for the Chapel of the Sacrament in S. Pietro. The mosaic of Giotto’s «navicella» was reassembled in the same basilica, and in the square the fountain corresponding to the one placed there by Maderno was erected; in the church of the Minerva, the chapel of the Altieri family was embellished. — Vedi Tav. CXVIII.
C. canonized Luigi Bertrán, Gaetano Thiene, Francesco Borgia, Filippo Benizi, and Rosa da Lima (1671).