Editing Pope Alexander VIII (section)

===Consistories===
{{main|Cardinals created by Alexander VIII}}
The pope created 14 cardinals in three consistories and elevated individuals such as his grandnephew [[Pietro Ottoboni (cardinal)|Pietro Ottoboni]] in a restoration of nepotism that had not been seen in his predecessor's reign. Among those whom he named was Gianfrancesco Albani, the future [[Pope Clement XI]].

The pontiff also named [[Toussaint de Forbin-Janson]] to the cardinalate in 1690 despite his immediate predecessor having firmly refused to do so. While Innocent XI had refused to name him as a cardinal due to Forbin-Janson's support for the [[Gallicanism|Gallican]] proposals in 1682, Alexander VIII opted to name him a cardinal in an attempt to smooth over tense relations with King Louis XIV who had been on relatively poor terms with Innocent XI. As a further overture to the French monarch, Alexander VIII also named two more French cardinals, a move that largely irked [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor]] and saw the emperor withdraw his ambassador to the Holy See. Moreover, the pontiff was less concerned with the emperor's actions primarily because the emperor had primarily been indifferent to defending against the Ottoman Empire in favor of hostility with the French.