Pope Innocent XII
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Marcantonio Franciotti | |
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Created cardinal | 1 September 1681 by Innocent XI |
Personal details | |
Born | Antonio Pignatelli 13 March 1615 |
Died | 27 September 1700 Rome, Papal States | (aged 85)
Previous post(s) |
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Coat of arms | ![]() |
Other popes named Innocent |
Papal styles of Pope Innocent XII | |
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His Holiness | |
Spoken style | Your Holiness |
Religious style | Holy Father |
Posthumous style | None |
Pope Innocent XII (
He took a hard stance against nepotism in the Church, continuing the policies of Pope Innocent XI, who started the battle against nepotism but which did not gain traction under Pope Alexander VIII. To that end, he issued a papal bull strictly forbidding it. The pope also used this bull to ensure that no revenue or land could be bestowed on relatives.
Biography
Early life
Antonio Pignatelli was born on 13 March 1615 in
He was educated at the
and civil law.Diplomatic career
At the age of 20 he became an official of the court of Pope Urban VIII. Pignatelli was the Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura and served as the governor of Fano and Viterbo. Later he went to Malta where he served as an inquisitor from 1646 to 1649,[2] and then governor of Perugia. Shortly after this, he received his priestly ordination.
Episcopate and cardinalate
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/PIGNATELLI_ANTONIO.jpg/165px-PIGNATELLI_ANTONIO.jpg)
Pignatelli was made Titular
Papacy
Papal election
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/M%C3%A9daille_annuelle_en_or_du_Vatican_%C3%A0_l%27effigie_du_Pape_Innocent_XII%2C_1695.jpg/220px-M%C3%A9daille_annuelle_en_or_du_Vatican_%C3%A0_l%27effigie_du_Pape_Innocent_XII%2C_1695.jpg)
Pope Alexander VIII died in 1691 and the College of Cardinals assembled to hold a conclave to select his successor. Factions loyal to the Kingdom of France, Spain and the broader Holy Roman Empire failed to agree on a consensus candidate.
After five months, Cardinal Pignatelli emerged as a compromise candidate between the cardinals of France and those of the Holy Roman Empire, particularly after Cardinal
Actions
Immediately after his election on 12 July 1691, Innocent XII declared his opposition to the
At the same time he sought to check the
That same year he invited Marcello Malpighi to Rome to serve as his personal physician and offered him the position of Professor of Medicine at the Sapienza University of Rome. Malpighi introduced his Roman colleagues to the use of the microscope.[3]
Innocent XII also introduced various reforms into the States of the Church including the Forum Innocentianum, designed to improve the administration of justice dispensed by the Church. In 1693 he compelled French bishops to retract the four propositions relating to the
In 1699, he decided in favour of
Consistories
Innocent XII created 30 cardinals in four consistories; two of those he elevated were those he reserved in pectore.
Canonizations and beatifications
He canonized Saint
Death
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Pope_Innocent_XII_Tomb.jpg/165px-Pope_Innocent_XII_Tomb.jpg)
Innocent XII was already considerably ill on 25 December 1699 with
Innocent died on 27 September 1700 and was succeeded in the next conclave by Pope Clement XI (1700–21). His tomb in Saint Peter's Basilica was sculpted by Filippo della Valle.
In fiction
Innocent appears as one of the narrators in Robert Browning's long poem The Ring and the Book (1869), based on the true story of the pope's intervention in a historical murder trial in Rome during his papacy. Innocent is the most recent pope to not be clean shaven.[4]
See also
- Cardinals created by Innocent XII
- Papal conclave, 1691
- Papal conclave, 1700
References
- ^ a b c Ott, Michael. "Pope Innocent XII." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 4 February 2019
- ^ a b "Miranda, Salvador. "Antonio Pignatelli", Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, Florida International University". Archived from the original on 2018-02-13. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
- ^ "Riva, Michele Augusto et al. "The first recorded use of microscopy in medicine: Pope Innocent XII's autopsy report", The Lancet, August 6, 2016".
- ^ Howse, Christopher (2013-02-22). "Why we won't get a bearded pope".
Bibliography
- Ago, R. (1994), "La carriera curiale di Antonio Pignatelli," in: Riforme, religione e politica durante il pontificato di Innocenzo XII (1691-1700), pp. 23–30.
- Ago, Renata (2000), "Innocenzo XII," Enciclopedia dei Papi (Treccani: 2000). (in Italian)
- Pastor, Ludwig (1891). The history of the popes from the close of the Middle Ages Volume 32. London: Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trubner.
- Pellegrino, B. (ed.). Riforme, religione e politica durante il pontificato di Innocenzo XII (1691-1700) Lecce 1994. (in Italian) [collection of studies]
- Spedicato, M. (1994), "L'episcopato di Antonio Pignatelli a Lecce (1671-82): un governo pastorale a distanza?," in: Riforme, religione e politica, pp. 31–44. (in Italian)
Sources
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope Innocent XII". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Innocent". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
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