Pope Innocent XI

Pontificate

Reforming the Vatican Administration

Relations with France

The whole pontificate of Innocent XI is marked by a continuous struggle with the absolutism of Louis XIV. As early as 1673, the king had by his own power extended the right of the régale over the provinces of Languedoc, Guyenne, Provence, and Dauphiné, where it had previously not been exercised. All the efforts of Innocent to induce King Louis to respect the rights of the Church were useless. In 1682, Louis convoked an assembly of the French clergy which adopted the four famous articles, which became known as the Gallican Liberties. Innocent annulled the four articles on April 11, 1682, and refused his approbation to all future episcopal candidates who had taken part in the assembly.

Related Topics:
1673 - Régale - Languedoc - Guyenne - Provence - Dauphiné - 1682 - Gallican Liberties - April 11

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To appease the pope, Louis began to act as a zealot of Catholicism. In 1685 Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes and inaugurated a cruel persecution of the Protestants. Innocent expressed his displeasure at these drastic measures and continued to withhold his approbation from the episcopal candidates. He irritated the king still more that same year by abolishing the much abused right of asylum, by which the foreign ambassadors at Rome had been able to harbor in their embassies any criminal who was wanted by the papal court of justice. Innocent notified the new French ambassador, Marquis de Lavardin, that he would not be recognized as ambassador in Rome unless he renounced this right, but Louis XIV would not give it up. At the head of an armed force of about 800 men Lavardin entered Rome in November 1687, and took forcible possession of his palace. Innocent treated him as excommunicated and placed under interdict the church of St. Louis at Rome where he attended services on December 24, 1687.

Related Topics:
1685 - Edict of Nantes - Protestants - Right of asylum - Marquis de Lavardin - 1687 - Excommunicated - Interdict - December 24

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Cologne Controversy

The tension between the pope and the king of France was still increased by the pope's procedure in filling the vacant archiepiscopal see of Cologne. The two candidates for the see were Cardinal William Egon of Fürstenberg, then Bishop of Strasbourg, and Joseph Clement, a brother of Max Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. The former was a willing tool in the hands of Louis XIV, and his appointment as Archbishop and Elector of Cologne would have implied French preponderance in north-western Germany. Joseph Clement was not only the candidate of Emperor Leopold I of Austria but of all European rulers, with the exception of the King of France and his supporter, King James II of England. At the election, which took place on July 19, 1688, neither of the candidates received the required number of votes. The decision, therefore, fell to Innocent, who designated Joseph Clement as Archbishop and Elector of Cologne. Louis XIV retaliated by taking possession of the papal territory of Avignon, imprisoning the papal nuncio and appealing to a general council. Nor did he conceal his intention to separate the French Church entirely from Rome. The pope remained firm. The subsequent fall of James II of England destroyed French preponderance in Europe and soon after Innocent's death the struggle between Louis XIV and the papacy was settled in favour of the Church.

Related Topics:
Cologne - William Egon of Fürstenberg - Strasbourg - Joseph Clement - Max Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria - Elector - Leopold I - James II of England - July 19 - 1688 - Avignon - Papal nuncio

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Other Foreign Relations

Innocent dispatched Ferdinando d'Adda as nuncio to England, the first representative of the Church to go to that land in more than one hundred years. Even so, the pope did not approve the imprudent manner in which James II attempted to restore Catholicism in England. He also repeatedly expressed his displeasure at the support which James II gave to the autocratic King Louis XIV in his measures hostile to the Church. It is, therefore, not surprising that Innocent had little sympathy for the Catholic King of England, and that he did not assist him in his hour of trial. There are, however, no grounds for the accusation that Innocent was informed of the designs which William of Orange had upon England, much less that he supported him in the overthrow of James II.

Related Topics:
Ferdinando d'Adda - William of Orange

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It was due to Innocent's earnest and incessant exhortations that the German Estates and King John Sobieski of Poland in 1683 hastened to the relief of Vienna which was being besieged by the Turks. After the siege was raised, Innocent again spared no efforts to induce the Christian princes to lend a helping hand for the expulsion of the Turks from Hungary. He contributed millions of scudi to the Turkish war fund in Austria and Hungary and had the satisfaction of surviving the capture of Belgrade, September 6, 1688.

Related Topics:
John Sobieski - Poland - 1683 - Vienna - Turks - Hungary - Austria - Belgrade - September 6 - 1688

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