INNOCENT XI, Pope. - B. at Como on 19 May 1611, d. at Rome on 12 Aug. 1689. Benedetto Odelscalchi, from a wealthy family of merchants, had done his early studies at Como, his studies of law at Rome and Naples, and had obtained his degree at the latter; he had been prothonotary, commissioner of the market, governor of Macerata, cardinal (6 March 1645), legate of Ferrara (1645-50), bishop of Novara (1650-54). He lived very retired, attending to his duties as cardinal and to works of piety and charity, when, in accordance with the expectation of many, but against his own will and only after a capitulation that was his own work had been signed by all the cardinals, he was elected pope on 21 Sept. 1676.
He was tall of stature, with a broad forehead, aquiline nose, prominent chin; dignified in bearing, reserved, averse to applause. Immune from nepotism, so much so that he declared he had neither house nor family, he would have wished to strike at it with a bull, which he could not promulgate because of the opposition of cardinals and governments. He suppressed the position of cardinal-nephew and gave the Secretariat of State the organization that it still retains.
He took great care for religion and morality. He ordered preaching of the Gospel that was simple and practical, catechetical instruction for children and adults, observance of the monastic Rules; he provided for the education of the young, for spiritual assistance to the sick; he promoted the cult of the Eucharist; he wanted fewer priests, but good ones, and paid great attention in the choice of bishops and ecclesiastical dignitaries. He imposed modesty in women's dress and succeeded, though with difficulty, in obtaining some improvement; he fought usury and gambling; he tolerated only grudgingly and with restrictions performances in theaters; in years of particular hardship he even prohibited the amusements of carnival.
Setting the first example of the strictest economy, reducing offices and salaries, eliminating waste, even renting out the papal gardens, he restored the finances, and had money for the defense of Europe against the Turk, for the provisioning of Rome and the State in years of famine, for the most extensive charity. He willed that justice be administered uprightly, and reformed the tribunals of the Curia, without however succeeding in entirely suppressing abuses.
He defended the integrity of religious doctrine, keeping far from every form of interconfessionalism. He worked for the conversion of Protestants, but willed that guarantees of seriousness and disinterestedness be given. He fought against the Portuguese Inquisition, seeking to reserve to himself the judgment, too often tainted by political interests, on converted Jews suspected of Judaism. He greeted with joy the accession to the throne of England of the Catholic King James II and sent Gerolamo d'Adda on a mission to him; he nevertheless counseled prudence and tolerance, resisted the King's demands and, while deploring his expulsion, did not help the deposed monarch.
His ascetic tendency and some gaps in his theological culture made him somewhat inclined to Jansenism; nevertheless the Congregation of the Council approved frequent and even daily Communion. He showed, at first, esteem and sympathy for Miguel Molinos, supporter of quietism (v.); he had works contrary to his doctrine condemned; he created Pier Matteo Petrucci, a friend of his, bishop and cardinal. But he pronounced no dogmatic definition in favor of quietism; on the contrary he approved the condemnation by the Holy Office of 68 propositions of Molinos (28 Nov. 1687), who, after abjuring, remained in prison. An opponent of laxist morality, he confirmed the condemnation of 65 propositions in the probabilist sense (1679) and a decree of the Holy Office, which recognized the Jesuit Tirso Gonzáles freedom to maintain, against the opinions predominant in his Order, probabiliorism, and then procured the election of Gonzales as general (1687).
An energetic defender of papal authority, he had a long dispute with Louis XIV. He praised the King's zeal in repressing Calvinism and celebrated the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685); but he neither approved Louis's brutal means, nor admitted his interference in religious matters. He condemned the extension to all of France of the right of régale, that is, of royal administration of vacant dioceses, and resisted the King's intrusion into ecclesiastical appointments. And, when the Assembly of the French clergy voted the four articles of the Gallican liberties (March 1682), he branded the consenting bishops as weak, condemned the decisions of the Assembly (brief of 11 Apr. 1682), refused to preconize bishops who were members of it, unless they retracted the articles.
A new object of conflict with the Sun King was the Pope's decision (circular to the nuncios of 4 Jan. 1677, bull of 12 May 1687) to abolish the "quarter" of ambassadors, that is, the right of franchise and asylum in their buildings. The French envoy de Lavardin entered Rome with armed men (16 Nov. 1687) and fortified himself in the Palazzo Farnese: the Pope considered excommunicated not only the ambassador, but the King himself and the ministers. The conflict grew more bitter because of the King's claim to place Cardinal von Fürstenberg, a French creature, in the German archiepiscopal see of Cologne. Parliament and King appealed to a Council (8 Feb. and 27 Sept. 1688): Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin were occupied; the Pope was threatened with intervention by arms. I. did not yield; but the questions were resolved after his death.
The chief praise for I. was his having been the soul of the defense of Christendom against the Turk. The attempt to unite for this struggle not only the Christian nations of the West, but also the non-Christian States of the East failed because of scant religious fervor, the divisions among Christians, and the policy of Louis XIV, aimed at overthrowing the Habsburgs and expanding the borders of France, even with the indirect support of the Turks. The Pope nevertheless had a part in the negotiations of Nijmegen (1677-79); and, although he considered the rights of the Church violated by the treaties, he limited himself to a moderate protest so as not to compromise the cause of peace; and even later he worked for the truce concluded at Regensburg between France and the Habsburgs (1684). He had great merit in the conclusion of the alliance between the Emperor and John Sobieski, king of Poland (1 Apr. 1683), whence came the victory of Vienna, and in the adherence of Venice (March 1684) and of Russia (1686) to the "Holy League": he contributed largely to the liberation of Buda (1686) and to the fortunate campaigns that set a dike against the new wave of the Turks and saved European civilization. The war between France and the Emperor hindered the completion of the enterprise.
The bones of I. rest in St. Peter's in a grandiose monument, the work of Monnot. The people, who during his lifetime had not shown that they loved him for his austerity, later venerated him as a saint. Indeed, the process of his canonization was begun in 1714 and continued under Benedict XIV. It is to be hoped that it may be resumed, because, despite some angularity, the irresolution due to excessive scruple, the tenacity in preserving his own opinions, I. was, for the nobility of his ideals and the holiness of his life, among the best pontiffs. - See plate VI.
Bibliography7 works
Giovanni Battista Picotti