Innocenzo Cybo - Family and Education

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 on 25 August 1491 to Franceschetto Cybo and Maddalena di Lorenzo de' Medici. His father, Francesco (Franceschetto) Cibo, was the illegitimate son of Giovanni Battista Cibo, who became Pope Innocent VIII (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 Maddalena de’ Medici, 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 (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.