Innocent VIII.
Innocent VIII (* 1432 in Genoa , † July 25, 1492 in Rome ), originally Giovanni Battista Cibo , was Pope from August 29, 1484 until his death. The pope's name refers to Innocent IV , who also came from Genoa.
Life & pontificate
Cibo worked for Cardinal Filippo Calandrini around 1460 . In 1467 he became Bishop of Savona and in 1472 Bishop of Molfetta . He was elevated to cardinal by Pope Sixtus IV on May 7, 1473 with the titular church Santa Balbina all'Aventino . In 1474 Santa Cecilia in Trastevere became his titular church.
His election as Pope on August 29, 1484 was largely determined by simony . Papal policy largely determined Giuliano della Rovere , who had pushed through his election. This nephew of the Pope's predecessor Sixtus IV later became Pope himself and called himself Julius II.
Innocent was a weak and dependent Pope, which was not only attributed to his poor health. Due to ongoing financial problems, he was sometimes even forced to pledge the miter and tiara as well as parts of the papal crown treasure.
Innocent VIII became known primarily through the promotion of the Inquisition and witch persecution with the bull Summis desiderantes affectibus from 1484. It caused a strong increase in witch trials, especially in Germany, reinforced by Heinrich Institoris in 1487 with alleged involvement Hexenhammer published by Jakob Sprenger . The foreword to the numerous editions of this book was the bull Innocent VIII.
But his policy was also tough towards the Jews , as he promoted the Alhambra edict of the Spanish kings and thus helped initiate the great emigration of Spanish Jews.
He maintained good relations with the Sublime Porte , but these were mainly aimed at improving the financial situation. In return for annual tribute payments and gifts, including a holy lance , Sultan Bayezid II's brother Cem was held prisoner. At the same time, however, he had a new crusade advertised in the Holy Roman Empire at the Reichstag in Frankfurt , but it never came about.
The philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola wanted to give his speech on humanity (lat. De hominis dignitate ) in Rome in 1486 at the first world congress of philosophy, which he himself wanted to convene to defend his 900 theses in a disputation . He did not arrive in Rome until November 1486, where he published the theses on December 7, 1486. The public disputation planned for January 1487 did not take place, however, because Pope Innocent VIII set up a sixteen-member commission to test the orthodoxy of the Should examine theses represented views. Pico was not ready to appear before the commission. After a heated debate, the commission came to the conclusion that thirteen of the theses were heretical and should therefore be condemned. At first this did not result in any action against Pico, but when he defended himself in a justification, the Apologia , without waiting for a statement from the Pope, he was resented in the Curia. In a bull dated August 4, 1487, the Pope condemned the theses in their entirety and ordered the burning of all copies, but he postponed the publication of the bull. But when he found out that Pico had had the Apologia printed, he saw its spread as an open rebellion, which he never forgave Pico. In this threatening situation, Pico left Rome in November, which was interpreted by his critics as a flight, because he was now under suspicion of heresy . Since the Pope asked for his arrest, he was arrested near Lyon on the way to Paris .
Politically, Innocent's tenure was also shaped by the dispute with King Ferrante of Naples , who had refused him the loan interest , but was militarily overpowering. In addition, the French King Charles VIII did not come to the Pope's aid as agreed. Innocent had to make peace with Ferrante in August 1486, which he broke again. Only through the festive double wedding of his 35-year-old son Franceschetto Cibo (whom he had fathered with a simple girl at the age of 16) with a Medici , the 14-year-old Maddalena , daughter of Lorenzo il Magnifico (1449-1492), and at the same time his granddaughter with an uncle Ferrantes, the war that broke out again in 1492 was finally settled. The Pope held his daughter-in-law in high esteem, he generously gave her valuable jewelry and, because of her, loosened the customs of the Vatican, so secular women were now allowed to enter the Pope's rooms without being asked.
His son Francesco Cibo came from his father's great love for a Neapolitan and was recognized by him as a biological son. Franceschetto (Fränzchen), as the Romans called the almost forty-year-old, lived financially on his father. He was a drinker and gambler who spent his money with Girolamo Tuttavilla, the son of the French Cardinal d'Estouteville, at courtesans and whose debts were always paid by Innocent VIII. The marriage was unhappy, however, Franceschetto neglected his young wife and continued his former life soon after the wedding. He moved again with Girolamo Tuttavilla through disreputable neighborhoods, they broke into houses, raped women and ruined themselves in the game. Franceschetto lost 14,000 ducats in one night, which was the value of a palace.
Death, legacy, tomb
Innocent VIII died in Rome on July 25, 1492. The medical circumstances were often distorted in a legendary way and passed down into the 20th century. The chronicler Stefano Infessura reported in his Roman diary that three healthy young men were bled to death by a Jewish doctor and that their warm blood was given to the Pope to drink. Nevertheless, he died soon afterwards, and so did the three boys. The story was told and adorned many times, not least by anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic authors of the 19th century. Scientific essays from 1954 and 1991 have turned the legend out to be fiction.
The fact that his date of death of Girolamo Savonarola correctly predicted, was led to this charismatic preacher , the abuses of the Papal States was violently lashed out, an even larger inflow.
Innocent left behind many children ( Octo nocens pueros genuit, totidemque puellas; hunc merito poterit dicere Roma patrem - "He fathered eight boys uselessly , just as many girls; Rome can rightly call him father") and his nepotism in their favor was so wasteful how shameless. His descendants became dukes of Massa and Carrara .
Innocent VIII was buried in a monumental bronze tomb in Alt-St. Peter buried, which Antonio Pollaiuolo had completed in 1498. It consists of a sarcophagus with the dead man lying on it and a figure enthroned above it. In the 17th century the wall tomb was transferred to the new St. Peter's Basilica . It is the only tomb from the Alt-St. Peter was transferred to the new church.
monument
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On February 24, 1995, at the suggestion of the Davensberg Heimatverein, a memorial for Pope Innocent VIII was inaugurated next to the church, probably the only memorial for himself in Germany. The sculpture shows how he holds in his hands a certificate approving the construction of St. Anne's Church in Davensberg.
literature
- Marco Pellegrini: Innocenzo VIII. In: Massimo Bray (ed.): Enciclopedia dei Papi. Volume 3: Innocenzo VIII, Giovanni Paolo II. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2000 ( treccani.it ).
- Marco Pellegrini: Innocenzo VIII, papa. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 62: Iacobiti-Labriola. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2004, text revised, more extensive sources and literature .
Web links
- Works by and about Innocent VIII in the German Digital Library
- Cibo, Giovanni Battista. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website, English)
- Entry in the Catholic Encyclopedia , Robert Appleton Company, New York 1913.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans Kühner: Lexicon of the Popes. Fourier, Wiesbaden 1977, ISBN 3-925037-59-4 , p. 258 f.
- ↑ Peter de Rosa: God's first servant. The dark side of the papacy. Droemer & Knaur, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-426-26411-0 , p. 228 f.
- ↑ Hans Kühner: Lexicon of the Popes. Wiesbaden 1977, p. 259.
- ↑ Peter de Rosa: God's first servant. The dark side of the papacy. Munich 1989, p. 129.
- ↑ Hans Kühner: Lexicon of the Popes. Wiesbaden 1977, p. 260.
- ↑ Hans Kühner: Lexicon of the Popes. Wiesbaden 1977, p. 259.
- ^ GA Lindeboom: The Story of blood transfusion to a pope. In: Journal of the history of medicine and allied sciences. Volume 9, No. 4, October 1954, pp. 455-459, doi: 10.1093 / jhmas / ix.4.455 .
- ↑ AM Gottlieb: History of the first blood transfusion but a fable agreed upon: The transfusion of blood to a pope. In: Transfusion Medicine Reviews. Vol. 5, No. 3, July 1991, pp. 228-235, doi: 10.1016 / s0887-7963 (91) 70211-3
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Sixtus IV. |
Pope 1484–1492 |
Alexander VI. |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Innocent VIII. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cibo, Giovanni Battista |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Pope (1484–1492) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1432 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Genoa |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 25, 1492 |
| Place of death | Rome |