Olimpia Maidalchini
Encyclopedia
Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X , born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj , was Pope from 1644 to 1655. Born in Rome of a family from Gubbio in Umbria who had come to Rome during the pontificate of Pope Innocent IX, he graduated from the Collegio Romano and followed a conventional cursus honorum, following his uncle...
(Pamphili
Pamphili
The Pamphili are one of the papal families deeply entrenched in Roman Catholic Church, Roman and Italian politics of the 16th and 17th centuries ....
) (1644–1655).
Early life
Maidalchini was born in ViterboViterbo
See also Viterbo, Texas and Viterbo UniversityViterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It is approximately 80 driving / 80 walking kilometers north of GRA on the Via Cassia, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and...
, daughter of Sforza Maidalchini, a condottiere, and Vittoria Gualterio, patrician of Orvieto
Orvieto
Orvieto is a city and comune in Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff...
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, noble of Viterbo (illegitimate daughter of Sebastiano Gualterio, Bishop of Viterbo, Papal Nuncio
Nuncio
Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy." This article addresses this title as well as derived similar titles, all within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church...
to France and the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
). Her family was only moderately wealthy, but she married two wealthy men. Her first lasted only a year or two, with Paolo Nini, one of the wealthiest men in Viterbo, but he died prematurely. Her second marriage was with Pamphilio Pamphilj, brother of Cardinal Giambattista, the future Pope Innocent X.
Influence
After Pamphilio's death, she became Innocent X's effective advisor. The pope elevated to the office of Cardinal NephewCardinal-nephew
A cardinal-nephew is a cardinal elevated by a Pope who is that cardinal's uncle, or, more generally, his relative. The practice of creating cardinal-nephews originated in the Middle Ages, and reached its apex during the 16th and 17th centuries. The word nepotism originally referred specifically to...
the son, nephew and cousin of Olimpia Maidalchini: Camillo Francesco Maria Pamphilj, Francesco Maidalchini
Francesco Maidalchini
Francesco Maidalchini was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.-Early life:Maidalchini was born 12 April 1631 in Viterbo, the son of Andrea Maidalchini and Pacifica Feliziani...
, and Camillo Astalli
Camillo Astalli
Camillo Astalli was an Italian cardinal, elevated on 19 September 1650 by Pope Innocent X, who simultaneously adopted him into the Pamphili family and appointed him Cardinal-Nephew...
, respectively. On November 14, 1644, Innocent X made Camillo Pamphilj cardinal-nephew, general of the church, legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
to Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
, secretary of briefs
Apostolic Chancery
The Chancery of Apostolic Briefs , is a former office of the Roman Curia, merged into the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs by Pope Pius X on June 29, 1908 with the apostolic constitution Sapienti Consilio...
, and prefect of the judicial tribunal known as the Segnatura di Giustizia; Camillo Pamphilj de facto shared the role of Cardinal Secretary of State
Cardinal Secretary of State
The Cardinal Secretary of State—officially Secretary of State of His Holiness The Pope—presides over the Holy See, usually known as the "Vatican", Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia...
with Giovanni Giacomo Panciroli
Giovanni Giacomo Panciroli
Giovanni Giacomo Panciroli was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and Cardinal Secretary of State.Panciroli was born in 1587 in Rome and was educated there, receiving a doctorate utroque iure in 1605....
. However, on January 21, 1647, Camillo renounced the cardinalate to marry Olimpia Aldobrandini
Olimpia Aldobrandini
Olimpia Aldobrandini was a member of the Aldobrandini family of Rome, and the sole heiress to the family fortune.-Biography:...
, the grand-niece of Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII , born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was Pope from 30 January 1592 to 3 March 1605.-Cardinal:...
and widow of Paolo Borghese
Paolo Borghese (1622-1646)
Paolo Borghese was an Italian nobleman of the Borghese family. He was the son of Marcantonio II Borghese and his wife Camilla Orsini.Paolo was the first husband of Olimpia Aldobrandini, whom he married in 1638...
, on February 10.
Afterwards, Innocent X promoted Francesco Maidalchini, the cousin of Olimpia Maidalchini, to replace Camillo Pamphilj, but Francesco was viewed as incompetent and his appointment as disgraceful. Thereafter, Innocent X adopted Camillo Astalli, and gave him the prerogatives of the cardinal-nephew on September 19, 1650, including the Palazzo Pamphilj
Palazzo Pamphilj
Palazzo Pamphilj, also spelled Palazzo Pamphili, is a palace facing onto the Piazza Navona in Rome. It was built between 1644 and 1650.Since 1920 the palace has housed the Brazilian Embassy in Italy, and in 1964 it became the property of the Federative Republic of Brazil.-History:In 1644, Cardinal...
. However, Olimpia had Astalli deposed and sent away from Rome, making herself the "absolute mistress in the house".
Titles
Like other Popes of the same era, Pope Innocent XPope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X , born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj , was Pope from 1644 to 1655. Born in Rome of a family from Gubbio in Umbria who had come to Rome during the pontificate of Pope Innocent IX, he graduated from the Collegio Romano and followed a conventional cursus honorum, following his uncle...
, as Monarch of the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
, bestowed royal titles on some of his closest confidants and family. On 7 October 1645, Maidalchini received the honourific title, Princess of San Martino, effectively turning the small enclave of San Martino al Cimino into her personal principality. The title came with no more power or responsibility than that which she already held as Pamphilj matriarch.
Decline
Maidalchini's influence waned after Innocent X recalled Fabio ChigiPope Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII , born Fabio Chigi, was Pope from 7 April 1655, until his death.- Early life :Born in Siena, a member of the illustrious banking family of Chigi and a great-nephew of Pope Paul V , he was privately tutored and eventually received doctorates of philosophy, law, and theology from...
from Germany, made him secretary of state and subsequently a cardinal on February 10, 1652; Chigi succeeded Innocent X as Pope Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII , born Fabio Chigi, was Pope from 7 April 1655, until his death.- Early life :Born in Siena, a member of the illustrious banking family of Chigi and a great-nephew of Pope Paul V , he was privately tutored and eventually received doctorates of philosophy, law, and theology from...
.
According to papal historian Ludwig von Pastor
Ludwig von Pastor
Ludwig Pastor, later Ludwig von Pastor, Freiherr von Campersfelden , was a German historian and a diplomat for Austria. He became one of the most important Roman Catholic historians of his time and is most notable for his History of the Popes...
, "the misfortune of Pope Pamphilj was that the only person in his family who would have had the qualities necessary to fill such a position
Cardinal-nephew
A cardinal-nephew is a cardinal elevated by a Pope who is that cardinal's uncle, or, more generally, his relative. The practice of creating cardinal-nephews originated in the Middle Ages, and reached its apex during the 16th and 17th centuries. The word nepotism originally referred specifically to...
was a woman."
Legacy
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
by Alessandro Algardi
Alessandro Algardi
Alessandro Algardi was an Italian high-Baroque sculptor active almost exclusively in Rome, where for the latter decades of his life, he was the major rival of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.-Early years:...
(circa 1650), currently in the Doria Pamphilj Gallery
Doria Pamphilj Gallery
The Doria Pamphilj Gallery is a large art collection housed in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy. It is situated between the Via del Corso and Via della Gatta. The principal entrance is on the Via del Corso...
. Maidalchini was notorious for guarding access to Innocent X, and utilizing it to her own financial benefit. Her wired widow's hood in the bust was interpreted by Ann Sutherland as a jab at the fact that neither Maidalchini nor her family provided for the burial of Innocent X after his death in 1655, which was paid for by Innocent X's former butler.
Eleanor Herman says that Olimpia locked the Pope alone in his chamber on the night from December 26 to December 27 and she went to her palace in fear that the Pope died that night and that her palace was sacked and burned. The morning of the 27, she was barred access to Innocent X's chamber, much to her chagrin since she was expecting to steal the two chests full of gold that were hidden under Innocent's bed. Right after Innocent's body was removed on December 29, she entered the chamber, she removed the chests, and she ran to her palace to lock herself in fear of what angry mobs could do to her. Olimpia, and many other people, removed papal treasures from the papal palace during the convalescence of Innocent, to the point where he died in absolute poverty since everything had already been stolen from him by his last days of life. Olimpia allowed the pontiff's body to stay unburied for three days, and to be buried in "the simplest of forms imaginable". claiming that she was a poor widow that couldn't arrange a proper burial.
Some historians describe Innocent X as "entirely under the control" of Maidalchini.
This legacy is tied up in the accounts of the Roman Pasquinade
Pasquinade
Pasquino or Pasquin is the name used by Romans to describe a battered Hellenistic-style statue dating to the 3rd century BC, which was unearthed in the Parione district of Rome in the 15th century...
as well as French (Innocent X had shunned France in favor of Spain and Protestant sources. The Catholic Encyclopedia
Catholic Encyclopedia
The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
refers to Maidalchini as the "great blemish" on the pontificate of the "blameless" Innocent X, whom it styles a "lover of justice." Maidalchini is sometimes referred to as "the papessa
La Papessa
La Popessa, also written as La Papessa, is a term used in tarot to refer to The Papess or The High Priestess playing card...
" ("lady pope"), a variant of a title also applied to Pasqualina Lehnert
Pasqualina Lehnert
Madre Pascalina Lehnert , born Josefina Lehnert, was a German Roman Catholic nun who served as Pope Pius XII's housekeeper and secretary from his period as Nuncio to Bavaria in 1917 until his death as pope in 1958. She managed the papal charity office for Pius XII from its beginning in 1944 to 1958...
(confidant of Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
), and (the legendary) Pope Joan
Pope Joan
Pope Joan is a legendary female Pope who, it is purported, reigned for a few years some time in the Middle Ages. The story first appeared in the writings of 13th-century chroniclers, and subsequently spread through Europe...
. Some sources even allege that Maidalchini was Innocent X's lover, an accusation which goes back to Gregorio Leti
Gregorio Leti
Gregorio Leti was an Italian historian and satirist from Milan, who sometimes published under the pseudonym Abbe Gualdi, L'abbé Gualdi, or Gualdus known for his works about the Roman Catholic Church, especially the papacy...
's Vita di Donna Olimpia Maidalchini (1666), written under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Gualdus, and that she poisoned cardinals (with the help of her pharmacist, Exili) to open up additional vacancies for simony
Simony
Simony is the act of paying for sacraments and consequently for holy offices or for positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus , who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:9-24...
. German historian Leopold von Ranke
Leopold von Ranke
Leopold von Ranke was a German historian, considered one of the founders of modern source-based history. Ranke set the standards for much of later historical writing, introducing such ideas as reliance on primary sources , an emphasis on narrative history and especially international politics .-...
concluded that she was not Innocent X's lover.