Contemporary portrait of Olimpia
Maidalchini by an unknown artist
Olimpia Maidalchini (May 26, 1594 - September 27,
1657), also spelled
Olympia and known as
Donna Olimpia, was the sister-in-law of
Pope Innocent X Pamphilj (1644-1655).
Life
Maidalchini was born in Viterbo
, daughter of
capitano Sforza Maidalchini, a contractor, and Vittoria Gualterio,
patrician of Orvieto
and Rome
, noble of
Viterbo and granddaughter of Sebastiano Gualterio, Bishop of Viterbo, Papal Nuncio to France and the Council of Trent. Her family was not
wealthy, but she married two wealthy men. Her second marriage was
with
Pamphilio Pamphilj, brother
of Cardinal Giambattista, the future Pope Innocent X.
After Pamphilio's death, she became Innocent X's effective advisor.
The pope elevated to the office of
Cardinal Nephew the son, nephew, and cousin
of Olimpia Maidalchini:
Camillo Francesco Maria
Pamphilj,
Francesco
Maidalchini, and
Camillo
Astalli, respectively.
On November 14, 1644, Innocent X made Camillo
Pamphilj cardinal-nephew, general of the church, legate to Avignon
, secretary of briefs, and prefect of the
judicial tribunal known as the Segnatura di Giustizia;
Camillo Pamphilj de facto shared the role of secretary of
state with Cardinal Giovanni
Giacomo Panciroli. However, on January 21, 1647, Camillo
renounced the cardinalate to marry
Olimpia Aldobrandini, the grand-niece
of
Pope Clement VIII and widow of
Paolo Borghese, on
February 10.
Afterwards, Innocent X promoted Francesco Maidalchini, the
17-year-old 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
. However, Olimpia had Astalli deposed and
sent away from Rome, making herself the "absolute mistress in the
house." Maidalchini's influence waned after Innocent X recalled
Fabio Chigi from Germany, made
him cardinal on February 10, 1652, and then
Cardinal Secretary of State;
Chigi succeeded Innocent X as
Pope
Alexander VII.
According to papal historian
Ludwig
von Pastor, "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 was a
woman."
Legacy
Maidalchini's reputation can be seen in her
unflattering bust by Alessandro Algardi (circa 1650),
currently in the Doria Pamphilj Gallery
. Maidalchini was notorious for guarding
access to Innocent X, and utilizing it to her own financial
benefit. Her veiled attire in the bust is 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. In fact, after the death of Innocent X,
Maidalchini removed treasures from the papal palace for three days,
while the pontiff's body was hidden in a corner.
Some historians describe Innocent X as "entirely under the control"
of Maidalchini.
This legacy is tied up in the accounts of the
Roman Pasquinade
as well as French (Innocent X had shunned France in
favor of Spain and Protestant sources. The
Catholic Encyclopedia 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" ("lady pope"), a variant of a title also applied to
Pasqualina Lehnert (confidant of
Pope Pius XII), and (the legendary)
Pope Joan. Some sources even allege that
Maidalchini was Innocent X's lover, an accusation which goes back
to
Gregorio Leti's
Vita di Donna
Olimpia Maidalchini (1666), written under the
pseudonym Gualdus, and that she poisoned cardinals
(with the help of her pharmacist, Exili) to open up additional
vacancies for
simony. German historian
Leopold von Ranke concluded that
she was not Innocent X's lover.
References
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- Williams, 2004, p. 110.
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- Williams, 2004, p. 109.
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