Alexander VIII

Pietro Ottoboni was born on April 22, 1610 in Venice , in the family of Chancellor of the Republic of Venice Marco Ottoboni and his wife, Victoria Tornielli. He received a law degree from a university in Padua , where in 1627 he received his doctoral degree in canonical and civil law.

He went to Rome during the pontificate of Pope Urban VIII (1623–1644) and was made governor of Terni, Rieti and Spoleto . For fourteen years he served as the auditor of the papal court. At the request of the Republic of Venice in 1652, Ottoboni was appointed Cardinal and Bishop of Brescia ( 1654 - 1664 ), where he calmly spent the next decade. In 1683, he became the Bishop of Santa Sabina and Frascati, and in 1687 Porto and Santa Rufina.

Ambassador Louis XIV (1643-1715) achieved Ottoboni’s election on October 6, 1689 as the successor to Pope Innocent XI (1676-1689). He chose the name of Alexander in gratitude to Cardinal Flavio Chigi, Alexander VII's nephew, who also supported his candidacy. Thanks to the French patronage, relations with France improved considerably during the pontificate of Alexander VIII. However, after several months of negotiations, Alexander VIII finally condemned the statement made in 1682 by the French clergy concerning the freedom of the Gallican church.

Alexander VIII was almost eighty years old at the time of his election to the papal throne. His papacy lasted only sixteen months and practically did not remember anything. Louis XIV in this period returned to Pope Avignon .

Financial Disputes

Large-scale charity and cronyism have exhausted the papal treasury, crossing out the economical policy of the predecessor Alexander, Innokenty XI. After being elected to the papal post, Alexander VIII returned to the practice of nepotism , appointing Ottoboni, Marco and Pietro as cardinals of two. Twenty-two year old Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni was a famous patron of the theater. Marco was made inspector of naval fortifications and Duke Fiano. Pope's nephew Giovanni Rubin became secretary of state for the Bishop of Vicenza. Out of compassion for the poor, Papa sought to help them by reducing taxes. However, unscrupulous officials began to use it and assign values ​​to the poor, which only discredited the papacy.

Dad bought books and manuscripts of the Swedish Queen Christina for the Vatican Library. He also assisted Poland and Venice in their struggle with Turkey , sending seven galleys and 2,000 infantry for the campaign in Albania.

Alexander VIII died on February 1, 1691 . His grand tombstone at St. Peter’s Cathedral was commissioned by his great-nephew, Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni , and designed by Count Arrigo di San Martino. The bas-relief at the base and flanking figures (1704) were made by sculptor Angelo de Rossi , and the bronze statue of the pope was cast by Giuseppe Bertosi ^[5] .

• Alexander, the Roman popes // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 tons. (82 tons and 4 extra.). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Rendina, Claudio (1984). I papi. Storia e segreti. Rome: Newton Compton.
• "Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni (1667-1740) and the Vatican tomb of Pope Alexander VIII", by Edward J. Olsezewski (2004), American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.