Editing Pope Alexander VII (section)

== Foreign relations ==
[[File:Andrea Sacchi Pope Alexander VII Drawing.jpg|thumb|right|Drawing of Pope Alexander VII by [[Andrea Sacchi]]]]

=== Malta ===
Before being elected as Pontiff, Chigi served as Inquisitor on the Island of Malta where he resided mostly at the [[Inquisitor's Palace]] in [[Birgu]] (alias Città Vittoriosa). At that time [[Hospitaller Malta|Malta]] was a fiefdom of the Knights Hospitallers of the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta, from which he bought one hundred slaves in 1662 for his naval squadron. <ref name="nih">{{cite journal|title=A medical service for slaves in Malta during the rule of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.|pmc = 1033829|year = 1968|last1 = Cassar|first1 = P.|journal = Medical History|volume = 12|issue = 3|pages = 270–277|pmid = 4875614|doi = 10.1017/s0025727300013314}}</ref>

=== Sweden ===
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The conversion of Queen [[Christina of Sweden]] (1632–1654) occurred during Alexander VII's reign. After her abdication the queen came to reside in Rome, where she was confirmed in her [[baptism]] by the Pope, in whom she found a generous friend and benefactor, on [[Christmas Day]], 1655. She was described by the Pope as 'a queen without a realm, a Christian without faith, and a woman without shame.'<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lindsay |first=Ivan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TsG7BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA17-IA80 |title=The History of Loot and Stolen Art: from Antiquity until the Present Day |date=2 June 2014 |publisher=Andrews UK Limited |isbn=978-1-906509-57-6 |language=en}}</ref> He was also said to have accused her of being 'a woman born of a barbarian, barbarously brought up and living with barbarous thoughts', therefore indicating that their relationship might have been contentious at best.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 September 2015 |title=PIERRE SIGNAC (FRENCH, 1623 or 1624-1684) {{!}} An important enamel miniature of Christina (1626-1689), Queen of Sweden 1632-1654, in white robes with black ribbon tied at neck, black cloak draped around her shoulders, her long light brown hair falling in curls |url=http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/LotDetailsPrintable.aspx?intObjectID=4197142 |access-date=1 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923203106/http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/LotDetailsPrintable.aspx?intObjectID=4197142 |archive-date=23 September 2015 }}</ref>

Shortly after her arrival in Rome, she quickly became the centre of Roman fashion and parties. However, following the pre-Lenten Carnival in 1656, Alexander VII quickly regretted having invited her to Rome since there existed an atmosphere of immorality which was linked to the Carnival. While the pontiff had originally hoped that Christina would become an inspiration for those considering conversion to the faith, he was dismayed that her interests were primarily political, even to the point that she helped plot the conquest of Naples with [[Cardinal Mazarin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.papalartifacts.com/portfolio-item/pope-alexander-vii/|title=Pope Alexander VII|publisher=Papal Artefacts|date=|accessdate=13 December 2022}}</ref>

=== France ===
In foreign policy his instincts were not as [[Humanism|humanist]] or as successful. Alexander VII's pontificate was shadowed by continual friction with Cardinal Mazarin, adviser to and effectively [[Chief minister of France|chief minister]] of [[Louis XIV of France]] (1643–1715), who had opposed him during the negotiations that led to the Peace of Westphalia and who defended the prerogatives of the [[Catholic Church in France|Gallican Church]]. During the conclave, Mazarin had been hostile to Chigi's election, but was in the end had been compelled to accept him as a compromise. However, he prevented Louis XIV from sending the usual embassy of obedience to Alexander VII, and, while he lived, foiled the appointment of a French ambassador to Rome, diplomatic affairs being meantime conducted by cardinal protectors, generally personal enemies of the Pope. In 1662, Louis XIV made the equally hostile [[Duc de Crequi]] his ambassador. By his abuse of the traditional right of asylum granted to ambassadorial precincts in Rome, Crequi precipitated a [[Corsican Guard Affair|quarrel between France and the papacy]], which resulted in Alexander VII's temporary loss of [[Avignon]] and his forced acceptance of the humiliating [[Treaty of Pisa]] in 1664.<ref>Paul Sonnino, ''Louis XIV's View of the Papacy (1661–1667)'' (Berkeley-Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1966), p. 53.</ref>

=== Spain and Portugal ===
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Alexander VII favored the [[Habsburg Spain|Spanish]] in their claims against [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]], which had [[Portuguese Restoration War|reestablished its traditional independence]] in 1640. His pontificate was also marked by protracted controversies with Portugal.