Papal conclave, 1669–70
Coat of arms during the vacancy of the Holy See
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| Dates and location | |
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| 20 December 1669 – 29 April 1670 Apostolic Palace, Papal States |
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| Elected Pope | |
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Emilio Bonaventura Altieri Name taken: Clement X |
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The papal conclave of 20 December 1669 to 29 April 1670 was convened on the death of Pope Clement IX and ended with the election of Emilio Altieri as Pope Clement X. The election saw deference within the College of Cardinals to Louis XIV of France, and a freeing of the cardinals loyal to Spain to vote according to their conscience. Eventually the elderly Altieri was elected with support of the major factions within the College.
Clement IX had primarily named Italian cardinals to the college, only appointing one French and one Spanish cardinal when he needed their assistance to fight back an invasion by the Ottoman Empire in Crete. Within days of his death Clement IX had created seven additional cardinals, which brought the number of potential electors to its maximum number of seventy.
Additionally, during the conclave of 1655, a faction of cardinals that was not loyal to any of the Catholic monarchies had developed and were called the Flying Squadron, because of their support of candidates who they believed had the best interest of the papacy in mind rather than candidates supported by the secular monarch.Christina, Queen of Sweden, who had abdicated the Swedish throne and moved to Rome before converting to the Catholic Church, served as the secular supporter of the group, and became particularly close to Decio Azzolino.
The conclave opened on 21 December 1669 with fifty-four of the seventy members of the College of Cardinals present with twelve additional cardinals arriving as the conclave progressed. The factions broke down relatively evenly amongst the cardinals loyal to Spain and France, with each country controlling eight. Clement IX's nephew Jacopo Rospigliosi's influence in the conclave was relatively weak as Clement IX had only created eight cardinals, whereas Flavio Chigi led twenty-four creations of Alexander VII.
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