Innocent XI

Innocent XI,

1611–89, pope (1676–89), an Italian named Benedetto Odescalchi, b. Como; successor of Clement X. He was elected because of his great saintliness and desire for reform. His election had been opposed by Louis XIVLouis XIV,
1638–1715, king of France (1643–1715), son and successor of King Louis XIII. Early Reign

After his father's death his mother, Anne of Austria, was regent for Louis, but the real power was wielded by Anne's adviser, Cardinal Mazarin.
..... Click the link for more information. , with whom he had a long, bitter quarrel over GallicanismGallicanism
, in French Roman Catholicism, tradition of resistance to papal authority. It was in opposition to ultramontanism, the view that accorded the papacy complete authority over the universal church.
..... Click the link for more information. , begun in this phase with Louis's collection of the revenues of vacant benefices all over France. The Gallican statement of 1682 brought a papal condemnation; and when Louis revoked the Edict of NantesNantes, Edict of,
1598, decree promulgated at Nantes by King Henry IV to restore internal peace in France, which had been torn by the Wars of Religion; the edict defined the rights of the French Protestants (see Huguenots).
..... Click the link for more information. , perhaps to gain papal favor, Innocent denounced the proceedings (1685). James II of England, Louis's ally, also excited Innocent's displeasure, but there is no proof of the allegation that Innocent supported the Protestant William III in his accession to the English throne. Innocent condemned (1687) the quietismquietism,
a heretical form of religious mysticism founded by Miguel de Molinos, a 17th-century Spanish priest. Molinism, or quietism, developed within the Roman Catholic Church in Spain and spread especially to France, where its most influential exponent was Madame Guyon.
..... Click the link for more information. of Miguel de MolinosMolinos, Miguel de
, 1640–1697?, Spanish priest and mystic. He was the founder of quietism, which he adhered to in its most extreme form. From 1669 he lived principally at Rome.
..... Click the link for more information. . He was succeeded by Alexander VIII. Innocent was beatified in 1956.

Innocent XI

Innocent XI

Innocent XI,

Innocent XI

Synonyms for Innocent XI

noun Italian pope from 1676 to 1689 whose papacy was marked by the struggle with Louis XIV of France over papal authority over French Catholics

Synonyms