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Papal styles of
**Pope Innocent IX**
Papal styles of; Pope Innocent IX
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	None

Pope

Innocent IX
Pope; Innocent IX
Bishop of Rome
	Portrait engraving by Agostino Carracci, 1591
Church	Catholic Church
Papacy began	29 October 1591
Papacy ended	30 December 1591
Predecessor	Gregory XIV
Successor	Clement VIII
Previous post(s)	Governor of Parma (1556–1558); Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura (1559–1560); Bishop of Nicastro (1560–1575); Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (1572–1585); Cardinal-Priest of Santi Quattro Coronati (1584–1591); Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura (1591);
Orders
Ordination	11 March 1544
Consecration	1560
Created cardinal	12 December 1583; by Gregory XIII
Personal details
Born	Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti; 20 July 1519; Bologna, Papal States
Died	30 December 1591 (aged 72); Rome, Papal States
Education	University of Bologna
Signature
Coat of arms
	Other popes named Innocent

Pope Innocent IX (Latin: Innocentius IX; Italian: Innocenzo IX; 20 July 1519 – 30 December 1591), born Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 October to 30 December 1591.

Prior to his short papacy, he had been a canon lawyer, diplomat, and chief administrator during the reign of Pope Gregory XIV (r. 1590–1591).

He entered the service of the influential Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. As papal legate to Venice, he helped negotiate the formation of the Holy League, an alliance of Spanish and Italian maritime powers to challenge the Ottoman Empire’s control of the eastern Mediterranean, and which resulted in victory at the Battle of Lepanto.

Biography

Early life and priesthood

Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti was born in Bologna on 22 July 1519,^[1] son of Antonio Facchinetti and wife Francesca Cini. From the younger sister, Antonia, married to Antonio Titta of Trento, originated the descendants of the future pope's grandchildren and great-grandchildren, later adopted with the surname Facchinetti.^{[citation needed]} His father's family was originally from Cravegna, in the Val d'Ossola (where his birthplace still stands).^{[citation needed]} The surname of his family seems to have actually been Nocetti (or de Nuce), but in fact the future pontiff was called Facchinetti after the humble job carried out by his father, who was a porter.^{[citation needed]}

Giovanni studied at the University of Bologna - which was pre-eminent in jurisprudence — where he obtained a doctorate in both civil and canon law in 1544. He was later ordained to the priesthood on 11 March 1544 and was appointed a canon of the church of Saints Gervasio and Protasio of Domodossola in 1547.^[2]

Giovanni traveled to Rome and he became the secretary to Cardinal Niccolò Ardinghelli.^[3] He entered the service of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the Archbishop of Avignon, who sent Facchinetti to Avignon as his ecclesiastical representative and subsequently recalled him to the management of his affairs at Parma.^[4] He was also made the Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura in 1559 and held that post for a year.

Episcopate and cardinalate

In 1560, Facchinetti was named as the Bishop of Nicastro,^[2] in Calabria, and in 1562 was present at the Council of Trent. He was the first bishop to actually reside in the diocese in three decades. Pope Pius V (1566–1572) sent him as papal nuncio to Venice in 1566^[2] to further the papal alliance with Spain and Venice against the Turks, which ultimately resulted in the victory of Lepanto in 1571. He was recalled from Venice in 1572 and was made the Prior Commendatario of Sant'Andrea di Carmignano in the diocese of Padua from 1576 to 1587.^[5]

Relinquishing his see to pursue his career in Rome in 1575 and also because of health reasons, he was named the Titular Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem in 1572.^[3] He occupied that post until he was made a cardinal. Pope Gregory XIII made him a cardinal on 12 December 1583 as the Cardinal-Priest of Santi Quattro Coronati and he was to receive the red hat and title on 9 January 1584. Pope Gregory XIV made him the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in 1591.

Papacy

Even before Pope Gregory XIV died, Spanish and anti-Spanish factions were electioneering for the next pope. Philip II of Spain's (r. 1556–1598) high-handed interference at the previous conclave was not forgotten: he had barred all but seven cardinals. This time the Spanish party in the College of Cardinals did not go so far, but they still controlled a majority, and after a quick conclave they raised Facchinetti to the papal chair as Pope Innocent IX. It took three ballots to elect him as pope. Facchinetti received 24 votes on 28 October but was not successful. He received 28 votes on 29 October in the second ballot while the third saw him prevail.^[6] Facchinetti took his papal name to honor Pope Innocent III.

The cardinal protodeacon Andreas von Austria crowned Innocent IX as pontiff on 3 November 1591. He elevated two cardinals to the cardinalate in the only papal consistory of his papacy on 18 December 1591.

Mindful of the origin of his success, Innocent IX supported, during his two months' pontificate, the cause of Philip II and the Catholic League against Henry IV of France (r. 1589–1610) in the French Wars of Religion (1562–1598), where a Papal army was in the field.^[7]

His grandnephew Giovanni Antonio Cardinal Facchinetti de Nuce Jr., was one of two cardinals appointed during the weeks of Innocent IX's pontificate. A later member of the cardinalate was his great-grandnephew Cesare Facchinetti (made a cardinal in 1643).

Death

On 18 December, despite being ill, the pope made a pilgrimage of Rome's seven pilgrimage churches and caught a cold as a result. This became a heavy cough combined with a fever that led to his death shortly after he received Extreme Unction.^[6]

Innocent IX died in the early morning of 30 December 1591. He was buried in the Vatican Grottoes in a simple tomb.

References

^ Germe-Tizon 2002, p. 800.
^ ^a ^b ^c Martin 1993, p. 183.
^ ^a ^b Weber 1910.
^ Grendler 1971, p. 449.
^ McBrien 2000, p. 295.
^ ^a ^b Adams, John Paul (24 July 2015). "Sede Vacante 1591". Retrieved 21 January 2019.
^ McBrien 2000, p. 296.

Sources

Germe-Tizon, Anne-Cecile (2002). "Innocent IX". In Levillain, Philippe; O'Malley, John W. (eds.). The Papacy. Vol. 2: Gaius-Proxies. Routledge. p. 800.
Grendler, Paul F. (1971). "The Concept of Humanist in Cinquecento Italy". In Molho, Anthony; Tedeschi, ‎John A. (eds.). Renaissance: Studies in Honor of Hans Baron. Northern Illinois University Press.
Martin, John (1993). Venice's Hidden Enemies: Italian Heretics in a Renaissance City. University of California Press.
McBrien, Richard P. (2000). Lives of the Popes. HarperCollins.
Weber, Nicholas (1910). "Pope Innocent IX". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. Robert Appleton Company.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope Innocent IX". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

External links

The Cardinals
Cravegna official website (in Italian)

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by unknown	Titular Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem 1572–85	Succeeded by Scipione Gonzaga
Preceded by Gregory XIV	Pope 29 October – 30 December 1591	Succeeded by Clement VIII