Squadrone Volante

The Squadrone Volante ("Flying Squad") was a 17th-century group of independent and liberal cardinals within the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church. It attempted to influence the outcome of a number of papal conclaves.

The papal conclave of 1644 to elect Pope Urban VIII's successor had been a matter of divided loyalties. Many of the cardinals created by Pope Urban VIII had formed a faction loyal to the Kingdom of France, controlled by Urban's Cardinal-Nephew, Antonio Barberini. Others had formed a faction loyal to the Kingdom of Spain. French envoy Cardinal Mazarin had not arrived in time to exercise France's jus exclusivae and Innocent, an ally of Spain, was elected.

At the death of Pope Innocent X, the College of Cardinals came together for the papal conclave of 1655. While Pope Urban's Barberini nephews and supporters still pushed for Giulio Cesare Sacchetti to be elected, Innocent had created a large number of cardinals; some with loyalties to Spain, others with no loyalty to any particular monarchy. Many of these cardinals refused to support the Barberini. Making matters worse, Urban's reign (only 11 years earlier) had been famous for its rampant nepotism, much of which had benefited those same nephews. Innocent's reign had been little better and so cardinals were inclined to elect a pope who would bring repute back to the papacy.

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