ALEXANDER VIII: (1610-1691) Pope of the Roman Catholic Church 1689-91. Last Pope taking this ...

ALEXANDER VIII: (1610-1691) Pope of the Roman Catholic Church 1689-91. Last Pope taking this Pontifical name. His Papacy only last 15 months. A good L.S., `Il Card.le Ottoboni´, with a full holograph line in his hand `Aff.mo per Ser.la sempre di tutto cuore´, one page, folio, Brescia, 24th March 1664, to Ottavio Labia, in Italian. Cardinal Ottoboni in his capacity as bishop of Brescia, refers to the situation of a person `E stato condotto via da Brescia e fatto soldato Giacomo figliolo di… giovane di tredeci anni..´ (`He was taken away from Brescia and made a soldier, Giacomo son of… a young man of thirteen..´), further saying `… confidando egli che medianto le mie intercession, la bonta di Vs. Ill[ustrissi]ma si compiacera di farlo… essendo il giovane piccolo e di bassa statura..), (`… trusting that through my intercession Your Illustrious will be pleased to… being the young man small and low..´) The document contains to the third page the autograph response of Ottavio Labia to Alexander VIII. Very small overall creasing. G

Ottavio Labia was a patron of the arts and high official of the Doge´s republic. Count of Zara. He died few years later when the ship Redemptor sank in the Adriatic; Labia was on his way to meet the Grand Sultan Ottoman Mehmed IV, to sign a peace treaty for commerce after the capture of Crete by the Turks.