Pope Innocent IV |
|
---|---|
Pope Innocent IV sends Dominicans and Franciscans out to the Tartars (Mongols)
|
|
Papacy began | 25 June 1243 |
Papacy ended | 7 December 1254 |
Predecessor | Celestine IV |
Successor | Alexander IV |
Orders | |
Consecration | 28 June 1243 |
Created Cardinal | 18 September 1227 by Gregory IX |
Personal details | |
Birth name | Sinibaldo Fieschi |
Born | c. 1195 Genoa or Manarola, Republic of Genoa, Holy Roman Empire |
Died | 7 December 1254 Naples, Kingdom of Sicily |
(aged 59)
Previous post |
|
Coat of arms | |
Papal styles of Pope Innocent IV |
|
---|---|
Reference style | His Holiness |
Spoken style | Sanctitas vestra |
Religious style | Holy Father |
Posthumous style | None |
Pope Innocent IV (Latin: Innocentius IV; c. 1195 – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254.
Born in Genoa (although some sources say Manarola) in an unknown year, Sinibaldo was the son of Beatrice Grillo and Ugo Fieschi, Count of Lavagna. The Fieschi were a noble merchant family of Liguria. Sinibaldo received his education at the universities of Parma and Bologna and, for a time, taught canon law at Bologna. It is pointed out by Agostino Paravicini-Bagliani, however, that there is no documentary evidence of such a professorship. From 1216-1227 he was Canon of the Cathedral of Parma. He was considered one of the best canonists of his time, and was called to serve Pope Honorius III in the Roman Curia as Auditor causarum, from 11 November 1226 to 30 May 1227. He was then promoted to the office of Vice-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church (from 31 May to 23 September 1227), though he retained the office and the title for a time after he was named Cardinal.
Vice-Chancellor Sinibaldo Fieschi was created Cardinal Priest of San Lorenzo in Lucina on 18 September 1227 by Pope Gregory IX (1227-1241). He later served as papal governor of the March of Ancona, from 17 October 1235 until 1240.
It is widely repeated, from the 17th century on, that he became bishop of Albenga in 1235, but there is no foundation to this claim.