INNOCENT IX, POPE

Pontificate: Oct. 29 to Dec. 30, 1591; b. Giovanni Antonio Fachinetti, Bologna, Italy, July 20, 1519. His Veronese family had transferred to Bologna. There he studied law, and after receiving his doctorate at 25 went to Rome in the service of Cardinal Alessandro farnese. He represented Farnese at Avignon for four years, and later served as governor of Parma. paul iv made him refendary of the Segnatura di Grazia e Giustizia. In 1560 Pius IV made him bishop of Nicastro, and as bishop he took an active part in the Council of Trent in 1562. piusv made him nuncio to Venice in 1566, and he continued to hold that post under Gregory XIII until 1575. At Venice he was instrumental in the formation of the league against the Turks, which he led to the naval victory at Lepanto (1571). For health reasons, he resigned his diocese in 1575 and was named patriarch of Jerusalem by Gregory XIII, Nov. 12, 1576. He was employed by Gregory in the Consulta, Inquisition, and the Segnatura and on Dec. 12, 1583, was named by the same pope, Cardinal of the Four Crowned Martyrs. During the reign of the infirm Gregory XIV much of the burden of government fell upon him. Upon the death of Gregory XIV he was elected as a stop-gap pope, a choice that was expected because he had been a popular candidate at the previous conclave and because of his favor with the Spanish party, which procured his election. Realizing his indebtedness to philip ii, he supported Spain against Henry IV of France.

Innocent was active in repressing bandits in the vicinity of Rome, in improving the morals of the city, in regulating the course of the Tiber and the sanitation of the Borgo, in restoring the port of Ancona, and in completing the dome of St. Peter's. He gave his attention to the reform of the clergy and the manner of papal elections. On Nov. 4, 1591, he confirmed the bull of Pius V forbidding the sale of ecclesiastical property, imposing severe penalties for violations. One of his most important works was the distribution of responsibility within the Secretariate of State, dividing the work into three sections: one for France and Poland, one for Italy and Spain, and one for Germany. He established the German Congregation, and intended to revive the economic system of Sixtus V, being concerned with an orderly administration of finance. He appointed his great-nephew, Antonio Fachinetti to the Sacred College, in accordance with custom, and shortly afterward (Dec. 18, 1591) he fell ill but nevertheless made the pilgrimage to the Seven Churches, which gave him a cold and made him take to bed. On Dec. 29, 1591, he made his nephew Cesare Fachinetti general of the Church and commander in chief of the fleet. He died the next day after receiving the Last Sacraments. Considered an authority on Plato and Aristotle, and he wrote a work on the "Politics," and a treatise on ethics, and one against Macchiavelli, none of which have been published. He was justly esteemed for his piety and knowledge of public affairs. The Romans venerated him as a saint.

Bibliography: a. ciccarelli, "Vita Innocentii IX," in B. Sacchi de Platina, Historia … de vitis Pontificum Romanorum (Cologne 1626). p. pecchiai, Roma nel Cinquecento (Bologna 1948). l. pastor, The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages (London–St. Louis 1938–61) 22:409–427 and passim. g. schwaiger, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 5:692, bibliog. m.r. o'connell, The Counter Reformation, 1559–1610 (New York 1974). j. dulumeau, Catholicism between Luther and Voltaire (London 1977).

[r. l. foley]