Pope Innocent VIII

Papal styles of
**Pope Innocent VIII**
Papal styles of; Pope Innocent VIII
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	None

Pope

Innocent VIII
Pope; Innocent VIII
Bishop of Rome
	Innocent VIII on a medal
Church	Catholic Church
Papacy began	29 August 1484
Papacy ended	25 July 1492
Predecessor	Sixtus IV
Successor	Alexander VI
Orders
Ordination	c. 1450
Consecration	28 January 1467
Created cardinal	7 May 1473; by Sixtus IV
Personal details
Born	Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo); 1432; Genoa, Republic of Genoa
Died	25 July 1492 (aged 59–60); Rome, Papal States
Previous post(s)	Bishop of Savona (1466–1472); Bishop of Molfetta (1472–1484); Cardinal-Priest of Santa Balbina (1473–1474); Cardinal-Priest of Santa Cecilia (1474–1484); Camerlengo of the College of Cardinals (1482; 1484);
Coat of arms
	Other popes named Innocent

Pope Innocent VIII (Latin: Innocentius VIII; Italian: Innocenzo 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 early years at the Neapolitan court. He became a priest in the retinue of Cardinal Calandrini, half-brother to Pope Nicholas V (1447–55), Bishop of Savona under Pope Paul II, and with the support of Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere. After intense politicking by Della Rovere, Cybo was elected pope in 1484. King Ferdinand I of Naples had supported Cybo's competitor, Rodrigo Borgia. The following year, Pope Innocent supported the barons in their failed revolt.

During his papacy, Pope Innocent issued a papal bull on witchcraft named Summis desiderantes affectibus. In March 1489, Cem, the captive brother of Bayezid II, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, came into Innocent's custody. Viewing his brother as a rival, the Sultan paid Pope Innocent not to set him free. The amount he paid to Pope Innocent was 120,000 crowns (an amount equal to all of the annual revenue to the Vatican) in addition to some holy relics and another sum of money to be paid annually. Any time the Sultan threatened war against the Christian Balkans, Innocent threatened to release his brother. On 28 January 1495, Cem was released by Innocent's successor, Pope Alexander VI, into the custody of King Charles's army.