Pope Innocent X

Who was Pope Innocent X?

Pope Innocent X, born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj, was the head of the Catholic Church 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 on 15 September 1644, as one of the most politically shrewd pontiffs of the era, who much increased the temporal power of the Holy See.