Pope Innocent VIII

About Pope Innocent VIII

Pope Innocent VIII (born Giovanni Battista Cybo) served as the 213th Pope from 1484 until his death in 1492. His pontificate is historically significant for presiding over the final years of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Age of Exploration, marked by his controversial Papal Bull *Summis desiderantes affectibus*, which authorized inquisitorial action against witchcraft in Germany. He was also responsible for appointing the first Black cardinal and lived during the early years of the Italian Renaissance, making his historical presence notable enough for an HPI Rank of #873.

Despite this historical placement, Pope Innocent VIII is currently experiencing a significant internet attention gap, under-represented by a factor of -3x compared to his importance. In 2025, he garnered approximately 98K Wikipedia views, a figure substantially lower than contemporaries in the religious category, such as Saul (754K views) or Methuselah (560K views), despite similar historical importance rankings. This suggests a relative decline in online interest for this late 15th-century religious figure.

Interestingly, interest in Innocent VIII is not entirely stagnant; his profile saw a considerable year-over-year growth of +41.5%. However, this growth is showing signs of waning as indicated by a -6% momentum drop when comparing the first quarter to the third quarter of 2025.