INNOCENT. 



he wa§ uhanimoudy diofen pope, and took the name of In- 

 nocent Vr. He made it his burinefs to corredl abufes, and 

 alfo aboliihed the heavy impoiitions laid upon the clergy, 

 when prefcn-ed to any new benefice or dignity. He re- 

 trenched all the unnecefiiiry cxpcnces of the papal covirt, con- 

 tenting himfelt even with a fmall number of attendants : he 

 obliged the cardinals to follow his example, urging them to 

 beilow the fuperabundance of their weidth in relieving the 

 'neccfiities of the poor. Innocent maintained the decrees of 

 his predeceiTors againft thofe Minorite friars who affumed 

 .the title of " Spiritual Bi-othren,' ' and who contended againil 

 the right of tlie clergy poffefllng any property. Two of 

 this defcription were arrelled at Montpelier in the year 1 354 ; 

 the pope attempted to convert them from the error of their 

 ways, but finding th.em obitinate, he gave them up to the 

 inquifitors to be burnt alive. In the following year he fent 

 a legate a latere to Home to crown Charles, king of Ger- 

 many, and his quceii Anne with the iinperial crown, but not 

 before that prince h;',d fubfcribed to the molt humiliating 

 conditions. After this, nothing occurs during the remainder 

 of Innocent's pontificate which requires to be noticed. He 

 died at Avignon in 1362, after he had filled the papal chair 

 nearly ten years. He has been highly commended for his 

 ■probity and the fanClity of his life : he was generous to the 

 wants of the poor : an enemy to vice, the patron and pro- 

 tector of virtue in every condition of hfe; He left behind 

 him many cpilUes, fome of which have been printed, and 

 others ar^ preferved in the Vatican. 



lN>foci;>rT VII., pope, was born at Salmona, in Abruzzo, 

 about the year 1339, obtained a high reputation for his 

 knowledge of the civil and canon law, was made clerk of the 

 apoftolic cliamber by pope Urban VI., and was afterwards 

 employed to colled the revenues of the apoilolic fee of 

 England. As a reward for his fervices in thofe fituations 

 lie obtained confiderable church preferment, and was at 

 length raifed to the fiicred college under the title of car- 

 dinal pfelbyter of Santa Croce. On the death of Boni- 

 face IX. he was choien to the popedom, and took the name 

 of Innocent VII. Scarcely had he been coniecrated, when 

 a dt-eadful tumult broke out in Rome between the Gibel- 

 iines and the Guelphs : this led to other difturbanccs, which 

 lailed during the pontificate of Innocent, who died in about 

 two years after his elevation. He is reprefented as of a mild 

 and pacific difpofition ; of a generous and beneficent temper ; 

 an enemy to all pomp and fliovv ; free from pride and ambi- 

 tion, and of great addrefs in ilate affairs. He is much blamed 

 for having been the occafion of elevating unworthy perfons 

 to the highell po fs of dignity and trull. He is author of a 

 difcourfe " On Church Union," and fome " Letters." 



Innocent VIII., pope, was born at Genoa in the year 

 1432 : at an early age he was fent to the court of Naples, 

 where he lived feveral years during the reigns of Alphonfo 

 and his fon Ferdinand, and received fubitantial marks of 

 favour from both princes. After this he removed to Rome, 

 and obtained coniiderable church preferment, till at length 

 b& was raifed to the pnrple by the title of cardinal of 

 i>t. Balbina in ihe year 1473. Upon the death of Sixtus IV. 

 in 1484, he was elciled his fucce/for, and took the name 

 of Innocent VIU., having been previoufly known by that 

 .of John Baptilt Cibo. As foon as he was feated in his 

 government, he attempted to procure another crufade, but 

 Without fu-.-cefs. Hiselforls, however, contributed to bring 

 liiuchHvealth into the apoilulic treafury, part of whicli the 

 pope appropriated to his own ufe ; and the rcll he expended 

 on the repair of ancient y/orks of art, or in fupport of a war 

 in which he foon became involved with Ferdinand, king of 

 Njplcs. Imiooent fpent ihe concluding years of his ponti- 



ficate in endeavouring to maintain Order and good govcrrr* 

 ment in the church, and in cvdtivating th.- arts of peace. He 

 cleared the country of robbers and aflaffir.s, with which it was 

 at that time much infefled ; adopted meafures for the regular 

 fupply of Rome with provilions, and adorned it with many 

 magniliceiit buildings. He died in llij y ;ir 1492, aged 6c, 

 after he had filled the papal tluo I. . ' -ars. He 



was poffeffed of a very moderate ^ - ;;d talents, 



but fecured the attachment of -.'M .■ . ■ .eetnels of 



his temper and the gentlenefs of his r-i;ir.ncr. His character, 

 in a moral point of view, will not bear examination : he uili 

 blufhingly acknowledged himfeif the father of a numerous 

 progeny of natui-al children, and is faid to have been the lirft 

 of the popes who introduced that new and exiraordinary 

 proceeding of owning publicly his fpurious iflue, heaping 

 upon them riches without meafure. He left behind him 

 fome letter.'!, and one to Henry VII., king of England, 

 againft citing the clerical orders before fecular tribunals. 



I.NXOCDXT IX., pope, known originally under the nama 

 of John-Anthony-Facchinetti, was born at Bologna in the 

 year ijig, where he received his education, and was ad- 

 mitted to the degree of doftor in 1544. He now became a 

 domeftic in the family of cardinal Farnefe, who fent him in 

 the capacity of vicar to Avignon, and again to Parma. In 

 ijGC, he was fent by Pius V. as nuncio to Venice, whera 

 he had a principal concern in eftablidiing the confederacy 

 between the pope, the king of Spain, and the repubhc 

 againft the Turks. After this he vi^as created patriarch of 

 Jerufalem, prefident of the inquifition, and cardinal. In 

 1591, he was unanimoufly elefted to the popedom, when he 

 took the name of Innocent IX. He immediately projcfted 

 grand plans of improvement, of an eccleiiaftical and econo- 

 mical nature, none of which did he hve to execute. He 

 died in the fecond month of his pontificate, at the age of 

 feventy-two. 



Innoc E.XT X., pope, was born at Rome about the year 

 1575, where he was educated and brought up to the pro- 

 feffion of the civil law, of which he was adniitted doctor 

 when he was only in his twentieth year. He obtained many 

 inftances of preferment in the church, and, in 1627, a car- 

 dinal's hat was prefented to him by pope Urban VIII. He 

 was next made prefeft of the ecclefiaftical immunities, fu- 

 preme judge of the inquifition, and protedtor of the king- 

 dom of Poland. On the death of Urban he was elefted 

 pope ; he had already carried on an illicit commerce with 

 his brother's widow. Donna Olympia Malilachini, to whoia 

 he now abandoned himfeif, the adminiftration of his tem- 

 poral aftaivs, and the government of the church. All be- 

 nefices, all employments, whether ecclefiaftical, civil, or 

 military, ivere difpofed of by her to tlie higheft bidders^ 

 without any regard to friendihip or merit, or to the cha- 

 raifter of the piirchaferb. She induced the pope to forget 

 all fenfe of right and wrong when it interfered with her 

 wifiies. In 1645, upon the apphcation of the Dcminicanii, 

 who were aflbciated wiih the Jefuits in the million to China* 

 Innocent condemned the indulgence whicli the Jciuits had 

 (hewn to the Chinefe fupcrftitions. The moft remarkable 

 tranfadtion of his pontificate, was his condemning, by a bull, 

 in '.he year l65'3, the five propofitions feleited by the Jefuits 

 from .lanfenius's " Auguitinus." He died in 1655, about 

 the age of eighty-one, iiaving filled tlie papal throne little 

 more than ten yeai-s. 



Innocent XI. was l)orn at Como, in the duchy of 

 Milan, in the year i6l 1. He v«s the fon of a rich banker, 

 and liis firft profelTion was that of a foldier, in whidi he 

 dillinguilhed himfeif by iiis gallantry. Quitting the mili- 

 tary cliarader he embraced the ecclefiaftical proieffion, and 



