Alexander VIII (Pietro Vitto Ottoboni),
pope from
1689 to
1691, was born on
April 22,
1610 of a noble Venetian family, was created cardinal, and then successively bishop of Brescia and datary.
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. Charities
on a large scale and unbounded nepotism exhausted the papal
treasury. He bought the books and manuscripts of Queen
Christina of Sweden for the Vatican library. Alexander condemned in
1690 the doctrines of so-called philosophic sin, taught in the Jesuit schools. He died on
February 1,
1691. (W. W. R.*)
Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed
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