here - Nobility Associations

one of the wealthiest families in Italy and Europe, heavily involved in the Guelphs -
- the political faction of noble and Papal families supporting hereditary Papal
selection versus ongoing intervention from the Holy Roman Emperors
(Ghibellines).
Until Sinisbaldo Fieschi, the Counts of Lavagna had traditionally not involved
themselves in the business of purchasing Cardinals hats and the Papacy, nor the
continuing feud between the powerful Papal bloodline families of the Colonna and
the Orsini (and allies).
However, on September 18, 1227 under Ugolino di Conti (Pope Gregory IX 1227-
1241) Sinisbaldo Fieschi was made Cardinal Priest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina at aged
32. The next year, Cardinal Fieschi was elevated to the position of Vice-Chancellor
of the Holy Roman Church (July 28, 1228) and governor of the March of Ancona
(December 1234 until 1240).
When Pope Gregory IX died on August 22, 1241, the war between Cardinals allied
to the Hohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and the Orsini reached a
new high point. Cardinal Giovanni Colonna had aligned himself with the Emperor,
presumably in the hope of the Papacy, while the all-powerful Matteo Rosso Orsini
(1178–1246) as senator of Rome held control of the remaining curia.
To force the hand of the cardinals that made it to Rome, Matteo Rosso Orsini
(father of future Pope Nicholas III (1277-1280) forced them to be locked away in
one of the last remaining public buildings still standing from ancient pagan Rome-
the Septizodium. In spite of the horrendous conditions, the Cardinals held out for
two months before finally electing Holy Roman Emperor supporter Godfrey
Crivelli- Castiglione, the son of Uberto Crivelli (Pope Urban III) as Pope Celestine
IV.
The first (and last) official act of this Pope was to excommunicate Matteo Rosso
Orsini and strip him of his powers, only to be murdered on November 10, 1241 - 18
days after his election, a new election for a new Pope was called.
Cardinal Sinisbaldo Fieschi, Count of Lavagna was elected Pope Innocent IV on
June 28, 1243 almost eight months after the murder of Pope Celestine IV.
As part of a range of peace offerings in negotiation with the Cardinals allied with
the Emperor, Pope Innocent made Goffredo Castiglioni, the son of the slain Pope
Clement IV a Cardinal on May 28, 1244 --presumably at a very young age.
Then in 1245, Pope Innocent IV issued his Papal bull stating claim to legal control
of the whole world and all peoples. Not content with the Donation of Constantine,
Innocent IV asserted that when Constantine gave to the Church had not belonged
The Hohenstaufen Dynasty - Page 76 of 200