Roman Catholic Pope. Born Antonio Pignatelli, at Spinazzola, Italy. He was educated at the Jesuit College in Rome, and began his career in the church at twenty. He became vice-legate of Urbino, governor of Perugia, and inquisitor in Malta. Pope Innocent XI appointed him a Cardinal of San Pancrazio in 1668. After the death of Pope Alexander VIII, he was elected Pope in July 1691. He began his tenure with reform, he issued decrees against begging, extravagance, gambling; prohibited the sale of offices, and, in a papal bull of 1692, curtailed widespread nepotism by decreeing no pope should grant estates, offices, or revenues to more than one of his own relatives. In 1693 he relived the long-standing strained relations between Louis XIV of France and the Holy See. When the issue of Spanish succession came into question, he advised Charles II to make his will in favor of the Duke of Anjou; advice that led to the War of the Spanish Succession just a year after the pontiff's death.
Roman Catholic Pope. Born Antonio Pignatelli, at Spinazzola, Italy. He was educated at the Jesuit College in Rome, and began his career in the church at twenty. He became vice-legate of Urbino, governor of Perugia, and inquisitor in Malta. Pope Innocent XI appointed him a Cardinal of San Pancrazio in 1668. After the death of Pope Alexander VIII, he was elected Pope in July 1691. He began his tenure with reform, he issued decrees against begging, extravagance, gambling; prohibited the sale of offices, and, in a papal bull of 1692, curtailed widespread nepotism by decreeing no pope should grant estates, offices, or revenues to more than one of his own relatives. In 1693 he relived the long-standing strained relations between Louis XIV of France and the Holy See. When the issue of Spanish succession came into question, he advised Charles II to make his will in favor of the Duke of Anjou; advice that led to the War of the Spanish Succession just a year after the pontiff's death.
Bio by: Iola
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