Pope Innocent XIII

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Pope
Innocent XIII
InnocientXIII.jpg
Papacy began 8 May 1721
Papacy ended 7 March 1724
Predecessor Clement XI
Successor Benedict XIII
Orders
Consecration 16 June 1695
by Galeazzo Marescotti
Created Cardinal 7 June 1706
by Clement XI
Personal details
Birth name Michelangelo dei Conti
Born (1655-05-13)13 May 1655
Poli, Papal State
Died 7 March 1724(1724-03-07) (aged 68)
Rome, Papal State
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Coat of arms {{{coat_of_arms_alt}}}

Other popes named Innocent

Pope Innocent XIII (Latin: Innocentius PP. XIII; Italian: Innocenzo XIII; 13 May 1655 – 7 March 1724) was the head of the Catholic Church from 8 May 1721 to his death in 1724. He is the last Pope to take the name "Innocent" upon his election.

Biography[edit]

He was born Michelangelo Conti on 13 May 1655 in Poli, near Rome. Like Pope Innocent III (1198–1216), Pope Gregory IX (1227–1241) and Pope Alexander IV (1254–1261), he was a member of the land-owning family of the Conti, who held the titles of counts and dukes of Segni. He included the family crest in his Pontifical coats of arms.

In 1706 he became Cardinal-Priest of Santi Quirico e Giulitta under Pope Clement XI (1700–21). From 1697 to 1710 he acted as papal nuncio to the Kingdom of Portugal, where he is believed to have formed those unfavourable impressions of the Jesuits which afterwards influenced his conduct towards them.

In 1721 his high reputation for ability, learning, purity, and a kindly disposition secured his election to succeed Clement XI as Pope Innocent XIII. His pontificate was prosperous, but comparatively uneventful.

Innocent XIII prohibited the Jesuits from prosecuting their mission in China, and ordered that no new members should be received into the order. This indication of his sympathies encouraged some French bishops to approach him with a petition for the recall of the bull Unigenitus by which Jansenism had been condemned; the request, however, was peremptorily denied.

Innocent XIII, like his predecessor, showed much favour to James Francis Edward Stuart, the "Old Pretender" to the British throne and liberally supported him. The Pope's cousin, Francesco Maria Conti, from Siena, became chamberlain of James' little court in the Roman Muti Palace.

See also[edit]

Papal styles of
Pope Innocent XIII
C o a Innocenzo XIII.svg
Reference style His Holiness
Spoken style Your Holiness
Religious style Holy Father
Posthumous style none
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Clement XI
Pope
8 May 1721 – 7 March 1724
Succeeded by
Benedict XIII