Problematic Interactions. Spanish “Theological” Diplomacy and Roman Curia in the Genesis of the Alexander Vii’s Bulla "Sollicitudo (1661)"

Abstract

In the first half of the Seventeenth century the Spanish Monarchy employedmassive diplomatic energies towards the Holy See in favour of the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin. In particular, starting from the pontificates of Urban VIII and Innocent X, the article analyses the path that led to the emanation of the Papal bull "Sollicitudo omnium Ecclesiarum" (1661, under Alexander VII). In the two decades here examined it appears clear both the ductility of the indications that Philip IV gave to his extraordinary ambassadors, and the importance of the political and ecclesiological implications of the arguments used by the Habsburg Monarchy in favour of the proclamation of the dogma: the concept of orthodoxy, the role of the general council, the uniformity of liturgy, cults and devotions within the catholicity, the possibilities of intervention of the secular powers in matters of doctrine.