Pope Alexander VIII

Alexander VIII, né Pietro Vitto Ottoboni (April 22, 1610 – February 1, 1691), pope from 1689 to 1691, was born of a noble Venetian family, the was the son of Marco Ottoboni, chancellor of the Republic of Venice. His early studies were made with marked brilliancy at the University of Padua, where, in 1627, he earned a doctorate in canon and civil law. He went to Rome, during the pontificate of Urban VIII, and was made governor of Terni, Rieti, and Spoleto. For fourteen years he served as auditor of the Rota. At the request of the Venetian Republic, Ottoboni was made Cardinal by Innocent X in 1652, and was later given the Bishopric of Brescia, in Venetian territory where he quietly spent the best years of middle life.

The ambassador of King Louis XIV of France succeeded in procuring his election on October 6, 1689 as successor to Pope Innocent XI; nevertheless, after months of negotiation Alexander finally condemned the declaration made in 1682 by the French clergy concerning the liberties of the Gallican church. He was already an octogenarian when elected to the papacy, and lived but sixteen months, during which time little of importance was done. Louis XIV of France whose political situation was now critical, profited by the peaceful dispositions of the new Pope, restored to him Avignon, and renounced the longabused right of asylum for the French Embassy.

Charities on a large scale and unbounded nepotism exhausted the papal treasury, reversing the policies of his predecessor. Out of compassion for the poor of the impoverished Papal States, he sought to help them by reducing the taxes. But this same generous nature led him to bestow on his relations the riches they were eager to accumulate; in their behalf, and to the discredit of his pontificate, he revived sinecure offices which had been suppressed by Innocent XI. He bought the books and manuscripts of Queen Christina of Sweden for the Vatican Library. He assisted his native Venice by generous subsidies in the war against the Turks. Alexander condemned in 1690 the doctrines of so-called philosophical sin, taught in the Jesuit schools. He died on February 1, 1691.

See also: other popes named Alexander.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. This article incorporates text from the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia.