(22) 1. CONTI, Michelangelo (1655-1724)

Birth. May 13, 1655, Poli, diocese of Palestrina. Son of Carlo II, duke of Poli. Descended of the family dei Conti di Segni that had given the Church Popes Innocent III, Gregory IX and Alexander IV. Grand-nephew of Cardinal Carlo Conti (1604). Nephew of Cardinal Giannicolò Conti (1664). Brother of Cardinal Bernardo Maria Conti, O.S.B.Cas. (1721). Other cardinals of the family were Giovanni dei conti di Segni (1200); Ottaviano dei conti di Segni (1205); Lucido Conti (1411) (pseudocardinal); Giovanni Conti (1480); and Francesco Conti (1517).

Education. Studied in Ancona and then with the Jesuit in Rome. Collegio Romano, Rome; La Sapienza University, Rome (doctorate in utroque iure, both canon and civil law).

Early life. Privy chamberlain of Pope Alexander VIII. Internuncio to Venice to present Doge Francesco Morosini lo stocco e l'elmo, the dagger and the helmet blessed by the pope, 1690. Domestic prelate. Referendary of the Supreme Tribunals of the Apostolic Signature of Justice and Grace, August 14, 1691. Governor of Ascoli, August 17, 1691. Governor of Frosinone. Commisary general contra banditos in the Papal States, August 18, 1691. Governor of the province of Campania e Maritima, December 6, 1692. Governor of Viterbo, May 6, 1693.

Priesthood. Ordained (no information found).

Episcopate. Elected titular archbishop of Tarso, June 13, 1695. Consecrated, June 16, 1695, Gesù church, Rome, by Cardinal Galeazzo Marescotti, assisted by Prospero Bottini, titular archbishop of Mira, and by Sperello Sperelli, bishop of Terni. Assistant at the Pontifical Throne, June 28, 1695. Nuncio in Switzerland, July 1, 1695. Nuncio in Portugal, March 24, 1698.

Cardinalate. Created cardinal priest in the consistory of June 7, 1706, in replacement of Cardinal Gabriele Filippucci, who declined the cardinalate in the consistory of May 17, 1706. Received the red hat and the title of Ss. Quirico e Giulitta, February 23, 1711. Transferred to the see of Osimo, with personal title of archbishop, January 28, 1709. Transferred to the see of Viterbo e Toscanella, August 1, 1712. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals, January 13, 1716 until January 4, 1717. Resigned the government of the diocese because of illness, March 14, 1719. Participated in the conclave of 1721 and was elected pope.

Papacy. Elected pope, May 8, 1721. Took the name Innocent XIII in memory of Pope Innocent III. Crowned May 18, 1721, by Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili, protodiacono of S. Maria in Via Lata. He created three cardinals in two consistories.

Death. March 7, 1724, Rome. Exposed and buried, on March 12, 1724, in the patriarchal Vatican basilica, Rome.

Bibliography. Benzoni, Gino. "Innocenzo XIII." Enciclopedia dei papi. 3 vols. Roma : Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 2000, III, 420-429; Fink, Urban. Die Luzerner Nuntiatur 1586-1873 : Zur Behördengeschichte und Quellenkunde der päpstlichen Diplomatie in der Schweiz. Luzern ; Stuttgart : Rex Verlag, 1997. (Collectanea Archivi Vaticani ; Bd. 40) (Luzerner Historische Veröffentlichungen ; Bd. 32).

Links. Biography, in English; portrait, arms and biographical information, in English; and his episcopal lineage, in English.

©1998-2008 Salvador Miranda.