Innocenzo Cybo
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Innocenzo Cibo (25 August 1491 – 13 April 1550) was an Italian
cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
and
archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
.


Family and education

From the Genoese family Cibo, in 1488 the Cybo family purchased Florentine citizenship for a considerable sum of money   Innocenzo was born in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
on 25 August 1491 to Franceschetto Cybo and Maddalena di Lorenzo de' Medici. His father was the illegitimate son of Giovanni Battista Cibo, who became
Pope Innocent VIII Pope Innocent VIII (; ; 1432 – 25 July 1492), born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death, in July 1492. Son of the viceroy of Naples, Cybo spent his ea ...
(1484–1492), and had five additional children: Lorenzo, Caterina, Ippolita, Giovanni Battista and Pietro. Francesco's sister, Theodorina, married Gerardo Usumari, a rich Genoese.   Innocenzo's mother was the daughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent and sister of Piero de' Medici, Giovanni de' Medici, who became Pope Leo X (1513–1520), Giulio de' Medici, and three other sisters. Her first cousin, Giulio de' Medici, became
Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...
(1523–1534). He was presumably educated at the Medici court. When his uncle Giovanni de' Medici was elected pope in March 1513, benefits flowed even more abundantly to the Cybo.


Cardinal and archbishop

On 17 March 1513, the day on which Leo X was consecrated a bishop, he made Innocenzo a Protonotary Apostolic In Pope Leo's first consistory, 23 September 1513, he was made cardinal deacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano. He exchanged this deaconry for Santa Maria in Domnica on 26 June 1517. On 11 May 1520, he was made archbishop of Genoa by the favour of his uncle Pope Leo X. For a brief three months in 1521 he was Cardinal Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church but was 'allowed' to sell the office for the sum of 35,000 ducats to another of Leo's favourites, Cardinal Francesco Armellino de' Medici He accumulated the rights of administration over episcopal sees, e.g. St Andrews (13 October 1513—13 November 1514), Marseille, Aleria in Corsica (19 June 1518 – 19 December 1520), Ventimiglia (27 July 1519 – 8 August 1519) and numerous others, most for brief periods of time. He participated in the 1521–1522 papal conclave, and, even though (or perhaps because) he was ill and had to cast his vote from his sickbed, he came close to being elected pope. Once his name was suggested he managed about twenty votes, apparently from the younger cardinals, those desirous of continuing the habits of the court of Leo X. King Francis I of France appointed him Abbot of Saint-Victor of Lerins in 1522, hoping, no doubt, to strengthen the French interest in the College of Cardinals after the election of the minister of Emperor Charles V to the papal throne as Adrian VI. He was also granted the Abbey of St Ouen in Rouen. In 1524 he was made Legate of Bologna and the Romagna. In 1529 and 1530, he was the host of both Emperor Charles V and Pope Clement VII in Bologna, and he participated in the coronation of the Emperor on 24 February as Archdeacon. At the conclusion of the ceremonies, he and Cardinal Ippolito de' Medici accompanied the Emperor on his homeward journey as far as Mantua. Just before the Sack of Rome of 1527, he took refuge in Massa Carrara, host of his sister-in-law and mistress Ricciarda Malaspina, by whom he had four children, who were later naturalized. A report to the Venetian Senate, written by Antonio Sorano, its ambassador at Rome, on 18 July 1531, provides an analysis of Cardinal Cibo, as his assignment required. He stated that Cibo was not a person of grand affairs nor of deep thought, but too immediately given over to worldly pleasures and to some lasciviousness. Pope Clement did not seek his counsel on matters of state. In 1532 and 1533 Cardinal Cybo was sent by his first cousin Clement VII, to govern Florence during the absence of Duke Alessandro de' Medici. He was one of the four Cardinals appointed executors of Pope Clement's Will At the conclave following Clement's death, he had hopes of the papacy, but was eclipsed by Paul III, and subsequently he decided to return to Florence. But here his relationships with the Grand Duke
Cosimo I de' Medici Cosimo I de' Medici (12 June 1519 – 21 April 1574) was the second and last duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first grand duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death. Cosimo I succeeded his cousin to the duchy. ...
deteriorated, and he moved again to Massa Carrara in 1540. Two years later his loyalty to the Imperial cause was rewarded with the title of Cardinal Protector of Germany. In Rome, the Cardinal had his residence in Palazzo Altemps. He returned to that city in 1549 to take part in the Conclave following the death of Pope Paul III (Farnese). The favoured candidate was Reginald Pole, but Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, Julius III, was elected.Notes on Conclave of 1549-1550, Dr. J. P. Adams.
/ref> As senior Cardinal Deacon Innocenzo Cibo crowned Pope Julius III on 22 February 1550. On 28 February 1550, he exchanged the Deaconry of Santa Maria in Domnica for that of Santa Maria in Via Lata. He died on 13 April 1550, according to his tombstone, at the age of 59 and having been a cardinal for 37 years. He was buried in the Basilica of
Santa Maria sopra Minerva Santa Maria sopra Minerva is one of the major Church (building), churches of the Order of Preachers (also known as the Dominicans) in Rome, Italy. The church's name derives from the fact that the first Christian church structure on the site was b ...
, in the centre of the Choir, behind the High Altar, between the monuments of his uncle Leo X and his cousin Clement VII.


Notes


Further reading

* Dowden, John, ''The Bishops of Scotland'', ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cybo, Innocenzo 16th-century Italian cardinals 1491 births 1550 deaths Cardinal-nephews Innocenzo Cybo Archbishops of St Andrews Roman Catholic archbishops of Genoa House of Medici Clergy from Florence Scottish abbots Camerlengos of the Holy Roman Church 16th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Bishops of Aléria 16th-century Christian abbots