Pope Alexander VIII

About Pope Alexander VIII

Pope Alexander VIII, born Pietro Ottoboni in 1610, served as the 240th Pope of the Catholic Church from 1689 until his death in 1691. Despite a relatively brief pontificate, he was an active figure in the complex European politics of the late 17th century, known for his patronage of the arts and for his significant contribution to the Papal States' economy through the creation of new offices.

MIT's Pantheon project ranks him at #887 in historical importance, reflecting a notable but not top-tier global cultural impact across millennia. His modern digital footprint, however, is significantly smaller. In 2025, Pope Alexander VIII accumulated only 48K annualized Wikipedia views, resulting in an Attention Gap of -7x, meaning his historical importance suggests he should garner seven times more attention than he currently receives online. For comparison, Saint Timothy, ranked similarly at #907, receives over three times his traffic at 156K views.

Interestingly, while his overall attention is low, Pope Alexander VIII is experiencing a volatile period of digital interest. His viewership saw a substantial year-over-year increase of +88.3%, indicating a recent spike in relevance or biographical interest, though this momentum has sharply reversed, with a -47% drop in interest between Q1 and Q3 of 2025.