Sede Vacante 1676

PALUZZO CARDINAL PALUZZI ALTIERI DEGLI ALBERTONI (1623-1698). Paluzzo Paluzzi was a member of one of Rome's distinguished families. He obtained a doctorate in law at the University of Perugia. He joined the Apostolic Chamber under Urban VIII Barberini, and became Auditor General under Alexander VII Chigi. His family was joined with the Altieri when his nephew, Gaspare Albertoni, married the niece and sole heiress of the family of Emilio Cardinal Altieri. In 1664 he was named Cardinal Priest and received the titulus of SS. Apostoli (which he exchanged for S. Crisogono and then S. Maria in Trastevere). He was elected Bishop of Montefiascone and Corneto in 1666.

In 1670, his relative Emilio Cardinal Altieri, was elected Pope Clement X, and on the day of the election the new pope adopted Paluzzo Paluzzi and named him Cardinal Nephew. He received a number of important benefices as a result: Archbishop of Ravenna (1670-1674?), Legate in Avignon (1670), Legate in Urbino (1673-1677), Governor of Tivoli. He became Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church on August 4, 1671, a post which he held until his death on June 29, 1698. At the time of the Conclave of 1676, he was the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation de propaganda fide. In 1691 he was promoted to Cardinal Bishop of Sabina, then Palestrina, and then to Porto and Santa Rufina in 1698. He was Archpriest of the Lateran from 1693-1698.

He participated in the Conclaves of 1667 and 1669-70 and presided at the Conclaves of 1676, 1689, and 1691

Francesco Cardinal Barberini was Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals.

.Msgr. Domenico Maria Corsi was Governor of the Conclave.

The Marshal of the Conclave was Prince Giulio Savelli (1626-1712), the second son of Prince Bernardino Savelli, Prince of Albano (1606-1658) and Felice Peretti, the heiress of Pope Sixtus V. He married Caterina Aldobrandini, daughter of Pietro Aldobrandini, Duke of Carpentino, and then Caterina Giustiniani. The family were perpetually in financial difficulties: in 1596 they sold Castel Gandolfo to the pope, and in 1650 the duchy of Albano. He succeeded his father as Marshal of the Holy Roman Church in 1658. He had one son, who predeceased him. On his death in 1712, the office of Hereditary Marshal of the Roman Church was conferred on the Chigi Family. Prince Giulio Savellio left a manuscript Conclave Diary; it is in the Chigi archives.

Pope Clement X (Altieri) died on July 22, 1676. He was in his 80's and had been ill for some time, both physically and (as the French sources in particular insist) mentally. In his senility, he deferred completely to his "nephew", Cardinal Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri, who was not a scrupulous man financially or politically. Sixty-seven cardinals ultimately participated in the Conclave, which began on August 2 with fourty-four cardinals entering conclave.

There were, according to Michaud (p. 10), seven factions. The French faction had six members (Bouillon, Bonzi, Estrées, Grimaldi, Maidalchini, and Retz). The Spanish also had six (including, Nidhard, Portocarrero and Pio). Cardinal Barberini (nephew of Urban VIII) had six votes (including Facchinetti). Cardinal Chigi's (nephew of Alexander VII) faction had seventeen (including Bonvisi, Corsini, Conti,Spinola, Delfino, Vidoni, Franzone, Barbadigo, Litta, Piccolomini, and Caraffa). The Nephew of Clement IX, Cardinal Rospigliosi, led six cardinals (including Cerri). The Camerlengo presided over a faction of fourteen (including Albizzi and Norfolk). The 'escadronistes" had only three members (Ottoboni, Azzolini and Omodei). But not all of these warriors were in the battle line at the beginning of the conclave.

The great powers were all represented in Rome: the Emperor Leopold I, in the absence of an ambassador, by Cardinal Carlo Pio di Savoia; the King of France Louis XIV by the Duc d' Estrées and the Cardinal César d'Estrées; Charles II, King of Spain, was represented by his mother's former confessor, the Cardinal Johann Nidhard, SJ. The Archbishop of Braga, Veríssimo de Lencastre, represented Alfonso VI of Portugal. Philip Howard, OP, the Cardinal Norfolk, spoke for Catholic England. Louis XIV was so annoyed at his treatment during the Altieri years that he forbade cardinals of the French interest from visiting the Camerlengo or any of Pope Clement's creatures. This complicated matters considerably.

Celio Cardinal Piccolomini was the early favorite, receiving as many as 28 votes. Cardinal Odescalchi was one of those who was highly thought of by the Austrian Court and the Polish Court, and had been a candidate in the Conclave of 1669-1670. Lippi-Berthier (p. 34; 229) quotes an anonymous source, writing in 1676 or 1677, that it was as a result of a sermon preached by the Preacher of the Conclave, Father Bonaventura da Recanati, on August 15 (Feast of the Assumption) that some electors began to turn toward Odescalchi, giving him 21 votes. This movement was opposed by Cardinal Estrées and the French interest, and supported by the Spanish and Imperial interest, led by Cardinal Cibo. But it was Cardinal Gravina (according to Novaes and Montor; or Cardinal Orsini, according to Moroni) who is said to have proposed the name of Cardinal Odescalchi— who vigorously refused the honor.

On the evening of August 30, four of the French cardinals, who had arrived in Rome a few days earlier, entered the conclave; they were Retz, Bouillon, Maidalchini and Bonzi (Michaud, 34). Immediately they set to work to help d'Estrées accomplish the will of the king. Remarkably, on the 4th of September, Cardinal de Retz received eight votes in the scrutiny. The essential issue, to be sure, was the candidacy of Odescalchi—who had a great deal of sympathy inside the conclave—and the French attitude toward it. On September 4, at Versailles, Louis XIV finally decided that, in the light of d'Estrée's analyses and those of others, it would not be to the advantage of the French Throne to interpose a veto (exclusiva) against Cardinal Odescalchi.

On the evening of the 6th of September, Cardinal Grimaldi (Archbishop of Aix) entered conclave, and immediately complicated matters. His hostility to Cardinal Odescalchi worked in complete opposition to the d'Estrées' efforts to obtain assurances from Odescalchi which would satisfy Louis XIV and French interests (Michaud, 40-41). Great delicacy was needed, lest either party stray into a position which might give the impression of simony.

By the 8th of September the number of cardinals present at the conclave had risen to sixty-two, and thus the number of votes needed for a canonical election had risen to 42. Neither Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri nor Flavio Chigi any longer had sufficient strength in the voting to obstruct events.

But on the evening of September 20, after dinner, some cardinals visited Odescalchi's room and escorted him to the chapel, where they, ultimately unanimously, kissed his hand in hommage. Odescalchi asked for a moment to consider, then began to suggest alternates, one after another. Led by Cardinal Cibo, however, the cardinals insisted that he accept the Papacy. This constituted election-by-adoration (or so the impression is given by Novaes, Moroni and Montor). But Odescalchi's official date of election is September 21, not September 20. There was a scrutiny on September 21, after mass in the Sistine Chapel; all the other cardinals voted for Odescalchi, who voted for Cardinal Barberini (Lippi, 35).

The story is obviously incomplete and unconvincing as it stands. Some commentators ignore the important fact that on the 20th of September, the French Ambassador was solemnly received by the Cardinals and gave an impressive address, which had been prepared to make it seem that Odescalchi was Louis XIV's choice (Bozon, p. 170). Hagiographical clouds have certainly obscured many of the relevant details, making it appear that (for the first time in Conclave history) a 'party' called the 'zelanti', whose only interest was the good of the Church, made its influence felt (Novaes, 7). That explanation would appear to cast aside suspicions of simony. Canonization proceedings were begun in 1714 immediately upon the death of Louis XIV, and Odescalchi was raised to the rank of 'Blessed' in 1956, thereby removing any uncertainty as to who the aggrieved party might be. Church historians are understandably reluctant to investigate the nature of Odescalchi's accommodations with Cardinal d' Estrées and Louis XIV, particularly in the light of canon law and papal legislation against simony. It is certain, however, that the election turned out most unfavorable to French interests and favorable to the Spanish. Louis XIV spent a generation working out his pique against Innocent and the Vatican.

Benedetto Odescalchi (Innocent XI) was crowned on October 4, and took possession of the Lateran Basilica on November 8.

G. Novaes, Elementi della storia de' sommi pontefice Vol. 11 (Roma 1822) 6-8. G. Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica Vol 36 (Venezia 1846) 24-25. Alexis François Artaud de Montor, Histoire des souverains pontifes Romains VI (Paris 1851) 104-106. Leopold von Ranke, History of the Popes of Rome during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (tr. S. Austin) (Philadelphia 1841), II, 214-224, III, 117ff., for the reaction of Louis XIV. For a French view of the conclave, see: A. Bozon, Le Cardinal de Retz à Rome (Paris 1878) 139-172, and E. Michaud, Louis XIV et Innocent XI (Paris 1882), Volume I, 1-55 [drawing on the letters of Cardinal César d' Estrées].. Mattia Giuseppe Lippi, Vita di Papa Innocenzo XI (ed. G. Berthier) (Roma 1889) 32-36 (the text by Lippi was written in 1695).

On the possibility, and the denial, of electoral politicking involving Cardinals Odescalchi and Cibo, see Lippi-Berthier, pp. 221-226 . On Odescalchi's reputation in the Conclave of 1670, see T. A. Trollope, The Papal Conclaves (London 1876) 352-353 and 373-374.