Pope Alexander VIII, born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, was Pope from 6 October 1689 to his death in 1691. He is to date the last pope to take the pontifical name of "Alexander" upon his election to the papacy.
Pope Julius II, born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or the Fearsome Pope, he chose his papal name not in honour of Pope Julius I but in emulation of Julius Caesar. One of the most powerful and influential popes, Julius II was a central figure of the High Renaissance and left a significant cultural and political legacy.
Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni was an Italian Baroque composer. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera composer, he is known today for his instrumental music, especially his concertos. He is also remembered today for a work called "Adagio in G minor", attributed to him but said to be written by Remo Giazotto, a modern musicologist and composer, who was a cataloger of the works of Albinoni.
Pope Paul V, born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a member of the Papal Accademia dei Lincei and supported his discoveries. In 1616, Pope Paul V instructed Cardinal Bellarmine to inform Galileo that the Copernican theory could not be taught as fact, but Bellarmine's certificate allowed Galileo to continue his studies in search for evidence and use the geocentric model as a theoretical device. That same year Paul V assured Galileo that he was safe from persecution so long as he, the Pope, should live. Bellarmine's certificate was used by Galileo for his defense at the trial of 1633.
Paolo Sarpi was a Venetian historian, prelate, scientist, canon lawyer, and statesman active on behalf of the Venetian Republic during the period of its successful defiance of the papal interdict (1605–1607) and its war (1615–1617) with Austria over the Uskok pirates. His writings, frankly polemical and highly critical of the Catholic Church and its Scholastic tradition, "inspired both Hobbes and Edward Gibbon in their own historical debunkings of priestcraft." Sarpi's major work, the History of the Council of Trent (1619), was published in London in 1619; other works: a History of Ecclesiastical Benefices, History of the Interdict and his Supplement to the History of the Uskoks, appeared posthumously. Organized around single topics, they are early examples of the genre of the historical monograph.
The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and by several other names, was a major conflict in the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, fought from 1508 to 1516, were France, the Papal States and the Republic of Venice, joined at various times by nearly every significant power in Western Europe, including Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, England, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, the Duchy of Ferrara and Swiss mercenaries.
The Patriarch of Venice is the ordinary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. The bishop is one of the few patriarchs in the Latin Church of the Catholic Church. Presently, the only advantage of this purely formal title is the bishop's place of honor in papal processions. In the case of Venice, an additional privilege allows the patriarch, even if he is not a cardinal, the use of the colour red in non-liturgical vestments. In that case, the red biretta is topped by a tuft, as is the custom with other bishops who are not cardinals.
Pietro Ottoboni was an Italian cardinal and grandnephew of Pope Alexander VIII, who was also born Pietro Ottoboni. He is remembered especially as a great patron of music and art. Ottoboni was the last person to hold the curial office of Cardinal-nephew, which was abolished by Alexander's successor, Pope Innocent XII, in 1692. Ottoboni '"loved pomp, prodigality, and sensual pleasure, but was in the same time kind, ready to serve and charitable".
The Palazzo Venezia, formerly Palace of St. Mark, is a palazzo (palace) in central Rome, Italy, just north of the Capitoline Hill. The original structure of this great architectural complex consisted of a modest medieval house intended as the residence of the cardinals appointed to the church of San Marco. In 1469 it became a residential papal palace, having undergone a massive extension, and in 1564, Pope Pius IV, to win the sympathies of the Republic of Venice, gave the mansion to the Venetian embassy to Rome on the terms that part of the building would be kept as a residence for the cardinals, the Apartment Cibo, and that the republic would provide for the building's maintenance and future restoration. The palace faces Piazza Venezia and Via del Plebiscito. It currently houses the National Museum of the Palazzo Venezia.
The Republic of Venice, traditionally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice, was a sovereign state and maritime republic in northeastern Italy, which existed for a millennium between the 8th century and 1797.
Gregorio Giovanni Gaspare Barbarigo was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal who served as the Bishop of Bergamo and later as the Bishop of Padua. He was a frontrunner in both the 1689 and 1691 papal conclaves as he had distinguished himself for his diplomatic and scholastic service. He became a noted scholar for his distinguished learning and as an able pastor for his careful attention to pastoral initiatives and frequent parish visitations.
Francesco Trevisani was an Italian painter, active in the period called either early Rococo or late Baroque (barochetto).
Ludovico Giovanni Manin was a Venetian politician, a Patrician of Venice and the last Doge of Venice. He governed the Venetian Republic from 9 March 1789 until 1797, when he was forced to abdicate by Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Squadrone Volante was a 17th-century group of independent and liberal cardinals within the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church. It attempted to influence the outcome of a number of papal conclaves.
Pietro Bellotti (1625–1700) was an Italian painter active in the Baroque period.
Antonio Ottoboni (1646–1720) was a Neapolitan general, nephew of Pope Alexander VIII and the father of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni.
The papal conclave of 1689 was convened after the death of Pope Innocent XI. It led to the election of Pietro Vito Ottoboni as Pope Alexander VIII. The conclave saw previous factions join together because they lacked numerical strength, and saw the rise of the zelanti as a political force in the election of the next pope. Ottoboni was eventually unanimously elected with the consent of the secular monarchs, becoming the first Venetian in over 200 years to be elected pope.
Maffeo Gherardi (1406–1492) was an Italian Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal.
The Palazzo Donà-Ottobon is a palace located at Calle della Madonna on the Fondamenta di San Severo, corner with and Calle Larga San Lorenzo, in the Sestiere of Castello in Venice, Italy. The remains of this Venetian Gothic architecture palace are a small corner facade, alongside a canal, with two and a half walled-up gothic arcades in the piano nobile. The portal has an equally awkward marble relief of the Virgin with St Francis, St Claire de Montefalco, and a donor of reduced size. Earlier authors do not mention this portal.
