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Benedetto Odescalchi elected as Pope Innocent XI

Pope Innocent XI (Latin: Innocentius XI; Italian: Innocenzo XI; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21...

Pope Innocent XI (Latin: Innocentius XI; Italian: Innocenzo XI; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 until his death on 12 August 1689.

Political and religious tensions with Louis XIV of France were a constant preoccupation for Innocent XI. Within the Papal States, he lowered taxes, produced a surplus in the papal budget and repudiated nepotism within the Church. Innocent XI was frugal in his governance of the Papal States, his methods evident in matters ranging from his manner of dress to a wide range of standards of personal behaviour consistent with his conception of Christian values.

Historical Significance

Pope Innocent XI (Latin: Innocentius XI; Italian: Innocenzo XI; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 until his death on 12 August 1689.

Events Before

  1. Don Carlos de Gurrea becomes the Spanish land guardian of Southern Netherlands

    Don Carlos de Gurrea becomes the Spanish land guardian of Southern Netherlands

  2. Royal Greenwich Observatory is established in England by King Charles II

    The Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG; known as the Old Royal Observatory from 1957 to 1998, when the working Royal Greenwich Observatory, RGO, temporarily moved south from Greenwich to Herstmonceux)...

  3. King Charles II and John Flamsteed lay the foundation stone of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London

    King Charles II and John Flamsteed lay the foundation stone of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London

  4. German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first time to find the area under

    German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of the function y = f(x)

  5. Battle at Turkheim (Colmar): French army beats Brandenburg

    Battle at Turkheim (Colmar): French army beats Brandenburg

Events After

  1. Prince William of Orange (27) marries English princess Mary II Stuart (15)

    Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death in 1694.

  2. First medical publication in America, a pamphlet on smallpox, is published in Boston

    First medical publication in America, a pamphlet on smallpox, is published in Boston

  3. King Charles II reports anti-French covenant with Netherlands

    King Charles II reports anti-French covenant with Netherlands

  4. Earl of Shaftesbury arrested and confined in the Tower of London

    Earl of Shaftesbury arrested and confined in the Tower of London

  5. First Battle of Tobago: Dutch fleet under Jacob Binckes forces a French squadron led by Jean II d'Estrées to retreat off

    First Battle of Tobago: Dutch fleet under Jacob Binckes forces a French squadron led by Jean II d'Estrées to retreat off Tobago in the Caribbean Sea during the Franco-Dutch War

More from the 1670s

Don Carlos de Gurrea becomes the Spanish land guardian of Southern Netherlands

Don Carlos de Gurrea becomes the Spanish land guardian of Southern Netherlands

Jean-Baptiste Lully's opera "Bellerophon" premieres at the Palais-Royal in Paris

Jean-Baptiste Lully born Giovanni Battista Lulli (28 or 29 November [O.S. 18 or 19 November] 1632 – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-French composer, dancer and instrumentalist, who is considered a...

Isaac Newton reads his first optics paper before the Royal Society in London

Sir Isaac Newton (4 January [O.S. 25 December] 1643 – 31 March [O.S. 20 March] 1727) was an English polymath who was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, author and...

John Bunyan's Christian novel "The Pilgrim's Progress" is published in London by Nathaniel Ponder

John Bunyan's Christian novel "The Pilgrim's Progress" is published in London by Nathaniel Ponder

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on September 21, 1676?
Pope Innocent XI (Latin: Innocentius XI; Italian: Innocenzo XI; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 until his death on 12 August 1689. Political and religious tensions with Louis XIV of France were a constant preoccupation for Innocent XI. Within the Papal States, he lowered taxes, produced a surplus in the papal budget and repudiated nepotism within the Church.
Why is Benedetto Odescalchi elected as Pope Innocent XI significant?
Pope Innocent XI (Latin: Innocentius XI; Italian: Innocenzo XI; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 until his death on 12 August 1689.

Explore More

September 21 in HistoryYear 1676