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INNOCENT XI

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Originally appearing in Volume V14, Page 583 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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INNOCENT XI . (Benedetto Odescalchi), See also:pope from 1676 to 1689, was See also:born at See also:Como on the 16th of May 1611. He studied See also:law in See also:Rome and See also:Naples, entered the See also:Curia under See also:Urban VIII. (his alleged military service seems to be questionable), and became successively protonotary, See also:president of the Apostolic Chamber, See also:governor of Macerate and See also:commissary of See also:Ancona. Innocent X. made him a See also:cardinal (1647), See also:legate to See also:Ferrara, and, in 165o, See also:bishop of See also:Novara. His See also:simple and blameless See also:life, his conscientious See also:discharge of See also:duty, and his devotion to the needs of the poor had won for him such a name that, despite the opposition of See also:France, he was chosen to succeed See also:Clement X. on the 21st of See also:September 1676. He at once applied himself to moral and administrative reform; declared against nepotism, introduced See also:economy, abolished sinecures, wiped out the deficit (at the same See also:time reducing rents), closed the gaming-houses, and issued a number of sumptuary ordinances. He held monks strictly to the performance of their vows; took care to satisfy himself of the fitness of candidates for bishoprics; enjoined See also:regular catechetical instruction, greater simplicity in See also:preaching, and greater reverence in See also:worship. The moral teaching of the See also:Jesuits incurred his condemnation (1679) (see See also:LIGUORI), an See also:act which the society never forgave, and which it partially revenged by forcing, through the See also:Inquisition, the condemnation of the quietistic doctrines of See also:Molinos (1687), for which Innocent entertained some sympathy (see MoaINOS). The pontificate of Innocent See also:fell within an important See also:period in See also:European politics, and he himself played no insignificant role. His protest against See also:Louis XIV.'s extended claim to regalian rights called forth the famous See also:Declaration of Gallican Liberties by a subservient See also:French See also:synod under the See also:lead of See also:Bossuet (1682), which the pope met by refusing to confirm Louis's clerical appointments. His determination to restrict the ambassadorial right of See also:asylum, which had been grossly abused, was resented by Louis, who defied him in his own See also:capital, seized the papal territory of See also:Avignon, and talked loudly of a See also:schism, without, however, shaking the pope in his See also:resolution.

The preponderance of France Innocent regarded as a menace to See also:

Europe. He opposed Louis's See also:candidate for the electorate of See also:Cologne (1688), approved the See also:League of See also:Augsburg, acquiesced in the designs of the See also:Protestant See also:William of See also:Orange, even in his supplanting See also:James II., whom, although a See also:Roman See also:Catholic, he distrusted as a See also:tool of Louis. The See also:great See also:object of Innocent's See also:desire was the repulse of the See also:Turks, and his unwearying efforts to that end entitled him to See also:share in the See also:glory of relieving See also:Vienna (1683). Innocent died on the 12th of See also:August 1689, lamented by his subjects. His See also:character and life were such as to suggest the propriety of See also:canonization, but hostile influences have defeated every move in that direction. - The life of Innocent has been frequently written. See Guarna ci, Vitae et res gestae Pontiff. Rom. (Rome, 1751), i. 105 sqq.; Palazzi, Gesta Pontiff. Rom. (See also:Venice, 169o) ; also the lives by Albrizzi (Rome, 1695); Buonamici (Rome, 1776); and Immich (See also:Berlin, 1900).

Particular phases of Innocent's activity have been treated by See also:

Michaud, Louis XIV. et Innoc.XI.(See also:Paris,1882 sqq., 4 vols.) ; Dubruel, La Correspond.... du Card. Carlo Pio, &c. (see Rev. See also:des quest. hist. lxxv. (1904) 602 sqq.); and Gerin, in Rev. des quest. hist., 1876, 1878, 1886. For See also:correspondence of Innocent see See also:Colombo, Notzzie biogr. e lettere di P. Innoc. XI. (See also:Turin, 1878); and See also:Berthier, Innoc. PP. XI. Epp. ad Principes (Rome, 1890 sqq.). An extended bibliography may be found in See also:Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopadie, s.v.

" Innocenz XI." (T. F.

End of Article: INNOCENT XI

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