INNOCENT XIII, Pope. - Michelangiolo Conti, of the dukes of Poli, b. at Poli on 13 May 1655, d. at Rome on 7 March 1724. He was governor of Ascoli, of Frosinone and of Viterbo, then nuncio in Switzerland (1695-98) and in Lisbon (1698-1709), where he acquired great influence with Queen Maria Anna. Created cardinal on 7 June 1706, he held the diocese of Osimo (1709-12) and, subsequently, that of Viterbo, which he left in 1719 for reasons of health.
On 8 May 1721 he was elevated to the pontificate, by unanimous vote and with the support of Charles VI of Habsburg. He enjoyed a reputation as an active, austere, honest man, and skilled in diplomatic dealings; the election was therefore received with great favor, especially by the Romans, who considered him their fellow citizen, by Noailles and by the Jansenists, who remembered his hostile attitude toward the bull Unigenitus. The new Pontiff disappointed many hopes because of his frail health, his weak and irresolute character, and the dissolving of the misunderstanding that had made Cardinal Conti a Jansenist. In reality, his opposition to the Unigenitus had been caused by indignation against Clement XI, who had not consulted the Sacred College: having become pontiff, he reconfirmed and upheld the bull issued by his predecessor. When, in fact, in that same year 1721, seven French bishops requested its suppression, he had their letter condemned (8 Jan. 1722). On the other hand, he did not conceal his hostility toward the Jesuits, declaring himself opposed to them in the question of the Chinese rites. The attitude he assumed in the major question of the moment, the conflict between Jesuits and Jansenists, was therefore such as to draw upon him from both currents accusations of uncertainty and weakness. Similar accusations were leveled at him when, although he had, despite every pressure, absolved (1723) and given hospitality to Alberoni, condemned by his predecessor, he was unable to deny the regent of France the purple for the unworthy Guillaume Dubois. The force of circumstances, more than weakness of character, induced him several times to yield before the will of the European powers and led him to failures in many other political or politico-religious questions: although he had granted Charles VI, on 9 June 1722, the investiture of Naples and of Sicily, and had received from him the homage of the church, he did not obtain the renunciation of the apostolic legateship; he protested in vain against the assignment of Parma, a papal fief, to Don Carlos of Bourbon; he asked the Emperor several times, without success, for the restitution of Comacchio; he failed to conclude a concordat with Spain.
Within the State he worked for the development of culture and of the economy, which he wished to favor by permitting the free trade in grain. He created his brother Bernardo cardinal; but, despite the fears of some, he did not restore the methods of nepotism.
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Fausto Fonzi