The papacy of Clement IX lasted only thirty months, from the summer of 1667 to December 1669. His papacy is primarily remembered if at all for a truce of sorts in the Jansenist controversy, discussed later in this exhibit, but Clement IX was also active in the less spiritual elements of the papal office throughout the Early Modern period, serving as head of state of the Papal States, as well as a leading political ruler in Europe at a time of constant warfare and fighting across the continent. Yet Clement IX is not remembered as a “Warrior Pope” like Julius II of the sixteenth century; his involvement with this century of wars comes as a peacemaker. The War of Devolution between France and Spain (with support from a Triple Alliance of the Dutch Republic, England, and Sweden) started weeks before Guilio Rospigliosi became Clement IX, and a year later the Bishop of Rome was chosen to mediate the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle between the two sides. Voltaire, hardly the papacy’s most enthusiastic cheerleader, noted that the pope served as a figure trusted to bring peace, although he characteristically claimed in the next paragraph the “Court of Rome… left no means untried to gain the honor of being arbitrator… in order to hide its weakness under an appearance of power” (Voltaire, 114). The short reign of Clement IX thus illustrates the papacy’s continued relevance in European political life through the seventeenth century. It further shows the unity the papacy could bring amongst Catholic nations, along with division and schism. Finally, it shows that this authority was hardly predicated on the individual worth or longevity of any other pontiff.
Portret van paus Clemens IX, Gerard Edelinck, 1666 - 1668, from Rijksmuseum. Original image here.
Public Domain, with full license available here.