Pope Innocent X


Innocent X
Bishop of Rome
ChurchCatholic Church
Papacy began15 September 1644
Papacy ended7 January 1655
PredecessorUrban VIII
SuccessorAlexander VII
Previous post(s)
Orders
Consecration25 January 1626
by Laudivio Zacchia
Created cardinal19 November 1629
by Urban VIII
Personal details
Born
Giovanni Battista Pamphilj or Pamphili

6 May 1574
Died7 January 1655(1655-01-07) (aged 80)
Rome, Papal States
MottoAllevitæ sunt aquæ super terram ("The Waters are Lifted Above the Earth")
Coat of armsInnocent X's coat of arms
Other popes named Innocent

Pope Innocent X[a] (6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death, in January 1655.[1]

Born in Rome of a family from Gubbio in Umbria who had come to Rome during the pontificate of Pope Innocent IX, Pamphili was trained as a lawyer and graduated from the Collegio Romano. He followed a conventional cursus honorum, following his uncle Girolamo Pamphili as auditor of the Rota, and like him, attaining the position of cardinal-priest of Sant'Eusebio. Before becoming pope, Pamphili served as a papal diplomat to Naples, France, and Spain.

Pamphili succeeded Pope Urban VIII (1623–44) on 15 September 1644 as Pope Innocent X, after a contentious papal conclave that featured a rivalry between French and Spanish factions.

Innocent X was one of the most politically shrewd pontiffs of the era, greatly increasing the temporal power of the Holy See. Major political events in which he was involved included the English Civil War, conflicts with French church officials over financial fraud issues, and hostilities with the Duchy of Parma related to the First War of Castro.

In theology, Innocent X issued a papal bull condemning the beliefs of Jansenism.


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  1. ^ Dictionnaire Général pour la maîtrise de la langue française la culture classique et contemporaine. Larousse. 1993. p. 812. ISBN 978-2-03-320300-9.