Pope Innocent IX


Innocent IX
Bishop of Rome
Portrait engraving by Agostino Carracci, 1591
ChurchCatholic Church
Papacy began29 October 1591
Papacy ended30 December 1591
PredecessorGregory XIV
SuccessorClement VIII
Previous post(s)
Orders
Ordination11 March 1544
Consecration1560
Created cardinal12 December 1583
by Gregory XIII
Personal details
Born
Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti

20 July 1519
Died30 December 1591(1591-12-30) (aged 72)
Rome, Papal States
EducationUniversity of Bologna
Coat of armsInnocent IX's 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,[1] 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.

  1. ^ Martin, John Jeffries. Venice's Hidden Enemies: Italian Heretics in a Renaissance City, (University of California Press, 1993), 183.