POPE INNOCENT VIII

(Giovanni Battista Cybo)


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Pope Innocent VIII

We therefore, desiring, as is our duty, to remove all impediments by which in any way the said inquisitors are hindered in the exercise of their office, and to prevent the taint of heretical pravity and of other like evils from spreading their infection to the ruin of others who are innocent, the zeal of religion especially impelling us, in order that the provinces, cities, dioceses, territories, and places aforesaid in the said parts of upper Germany may not be deprived of the office of inquisition which is their due, do hereby decree, by virtue of our apostolic authority, that it shall be permitted to the said inquisitors in these regions to exercise their office of inquisition and to proceed to the correction, imprisonment, and punishment of the aforesaid persons for their said offences and crimes …
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Giovanni Battista Cibo. This quotation is one of the proofs that the Inquisition was not a rogue group of zealots but represented the mainstream of the Catholic Church of the time. Note the tone whereby having a zealous inquisition is perceived almost as a “right” of which no community ought be deprived.

Pope Innocent VIII

Men and women straying from the Catholic faith have abandoned themselves to devils, incubi and succubi, and by incantations … have slain infants in the mother’s womb …. They hinder men from performing the sex act and women from conceiving …
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Giovanni Battista Cibo. This was quoted in the Malleus Maleficarum, the man legal handbook used for centuries for the discovery and punishment of witches.

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Pope Innocent VIII
© Niccolò di Forzore Spinelli (1430–1514)
Pope Innocent VIII
  • Born:
  • Died: July 25, 1492
  • Nationality: Italian
  • Profession: Pope
Biography

Pope Innocent VIII, born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death. Son of the viceroy of Naples, Battista spent his early years at the Neapolitan court. He became a priest in the retinue of Cardinal Calandrini, half-brother to Pope Nicholas V (1447–55), Bishop of Savona under Pope Paul II, and with the support of Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere. After intense politicking by Della Rovere, Cibo was elected pope in 1484. King Ferdinand I of Naples had supported Cybo's competitor, Rodrigo Borgia. The following year, Pope Innocent supported the barons in their failed revolt.