Innocent VIII.
(Giovanni Battista Cibo), pope from the
29th of August 1484 to the 25th of July 1492, successor of
Sixtus IV., was born at Genoa (1432), the son of Arano Cibo,
who under Calixtus III. had been a senator of Rome. His youth,
spent at the Neapolitan court, was far from blameless, and it
is not certain that he was married to the mother of his numerous
family. He later took orders, and, through the favour of
Cardinal Calandrini, half-brother of Nicholas V., obtained from
Paul II. the bishopric of Savona. Sixtus IV. translated him to
the see of Molfetta, and in 1473 created him cardinal-priest of
Sta Balbina, subsequently of Sta Cecilia. As pope, he addressed
a fruitless summons to Christendom to unite in a crusade against
the infidels, and concluded in 1489 a treaty with Bayezid II.,
agreeing in consideration of an annual payment of 40,000 ducats
and the gift of the Holy Lance, to detain the sultan’s fugitive
brother Jem in close confinement in the Vatican. Innocent
excommunicated and deposed Ferdinand, king of Naples, by
bull of the 11th of September 1489, for refusal to pay the papal
dues, and gave his kingdom to Charles VIII. of France, but
in 1492 restored Ferdinand to favour. He declared (1486)
Henry VII. to be lawful king of England by the threefold right
of conquest, inheritance and popular choice, and approved his
marriage with Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV. Innocent,
like his predecessor, hated heresy, and in the bull
Summis
desiderantes
(5th of December 1484) he instigated very severe
measures against magicians and witches in Germany; he
prohibited (1486) on pain of excommunication the reading of the
propositions of Pico della Mirandola; he appointed (1487)
T. Torquemada to be grand inquisitor of Spain; and he offered
plenary indulgence to all who would engage in a crusade against
the Waldenses. He took the first steps towards the canonization
of Queen Margaret of Scotland, and sent missionaries under
Portuguese auspices to the Congo. An important event of his
pontificate was the capture of Granada (2nd of January 1492),
which was celebrated at Rome with great rejoicing and for
which Innocent gave to Ferdinand of Aragon the title of “Catholic
Majesty.” Innocent was genial, skilled in flattery, and popular
with the Romans, but he lacked talent and relied on the stronger
will of Cardinal della Rovere, afterwards Julius II. His Curia
was notoriously corrupt, and he himself openly practised nepotism
in favour of his children, concerning whom the epigram is
quoted: “Octo nocens pueros genuit, totidemque puellas:?Hunc
merito poterit dicere Roma patrem.” Thus he gave to his undeserving
son Franceschetto several towns near Rome and married
him to the daughter of Lorenzo de’ Medici. Innocent died on
the 25th of July 1492, and was succeeded by Alexander VI.
The sources for the life of Innocent VIII. are to be found in L.
Muratori,
Rerum Italicarum Scriptores
, vol. 3, and in Raynaldus,
a. 1484?1492. See also L. Pastor,
History of the Popes
, vol. 5,
trans. by F. I. Antrobus (London, 1898); M. Creighton,
History of
the Papacy
, vol. 4 (London, 1901); F. Gregorovius,
Rome in the
Middle Ages
, vol. 7, trans. by Mrs. G. W. Hamilton (London,
1900?1902); T. Hagen,
Die Papstwahlen von 1484 u. 1492
(Brizen,
1885); S. Riezler,
Die Hexenprozesse
(1896); G. Viani,
Memorie
della famiglia Cybo
(Pisa, 1808); F. Serdonati,
Vita e fatti d’Innocenzo
VIII.
(Milan, 1829).
(
C. H. Ha.
)