Summary

Detail from “Papa Innocenzo X” by Diego Velázquez. Circa 1650.

Pope Innocent X (May 1574 – January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was Pope from 15 September 1644 to his death in 1655.

Born in Rome of a family from Gubbio in Umbria who had come to Rome during the pontificate of Pope Innocent IX, he graduated from the Collegio Romano and followed a conventional cursus honorum, following his uncle Girolamo Pamphilj as auditor of the Rota, and like him, attaining the dignity of Cardinal-Priest of Sant’Eusebio, in 1629.  Trained as a lawyer, he succeeded Pope Urban VIII (1623–44) on 15 September 1644, as one of the most politically shrewd pontiffs of the era, who greatly increased the temporal power of the Holy See.

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Further reading

Sources

  • Wikipedia.