Editing Pope Innocent XII (section)

===Papal election===
{{main|Papal conclave, 1691}}
[[File:Médaille annuelle en or du Vatican à l'effigie du Pape Innocent XII, 1695.jpg|thumb|left|Innocent XII, 1695.]]
[[Pope Alexander VIII]] died in 1691 and the [[College of Cardinals]] assembled to hold a [[Papal conclave|conclave]] to select his successor. Factions loyal to the [[Kingdom of France]], [[Habsburg Spain|Spain]] and the broader [[Holy Roman Empire]] failed to agree on a [[Consensus decision-making|consensus]] [[candidate]].

After five months, Cardinal Pignatelli emerged as a compromise candidate between the cardinals of France and those of the Holy Roman Empire, particularly after Cardinal [[Gregorio Barbarigo]] was no longer considered a viable candidate for the papacy.<ref name=miranda/> Having received 53 out of 61 votes, Pignatelli took his new name in honour of [[Pope Innocent XI]] and was crowned on 15 July 1691 by the [[protodeacon]], Cardinal Urbano Sacchetti. He took possession of the [[Basilica of Saint John Lateran]] on 13 April 1692.