He inherited an ongoing dispute over lands seized by the Holy Roman Emperor, and the following year he traveled to France to escape imperial plots against him in Rome.

[2] Born in Genoa (although some sources say Manarola) in an unknown year, Sinibaldo was the son of Beatrice Grillo and Ugo Fieschi, Count of Lavagna.

The choice fell upon Cardinal Sinibaldo de' Fieschi, who very reluctantly accepted election as Pope on 25 June 1243, taking the name of Innocent IV.

During the session, Frederick II's position was defended by Taddeo of Suessa, who renewed in his master's name all the promises made before, but refused to give the guarantees the pope demanded.

The tension subsided only with Frederick's death in December 1250: this removed the threat to Innocent's life and allowed his return to Italy.

In both instances, Innocent continued Pope Gregory IX's policy of opposition to the Hohenstaufen, supporting whatever opposing party could be found.

Innocent IV himself, following the papal army which was seeking to destroy Frederick's son Manfred, died in Naples on 7 December 1254.

The Pope even sided with King Henry III against both nobles and bishops of England, despite the king's harassment of Edmund Rich, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of All England, and the royal policy of having the income of a vacant bishopric or benefice delivered to the royal coffers, rather than handed over to a papal Administrator (usually a member of the Curia) or a Papal collector of revenue, or delivered directly to the Pope.

[citation needed] Shortly after Innocent IV's election to the papacy, the Teutonic Order sought his consent for the suppression of the Prussian rebellion and for their struggle against the Lithuanians.

In response the Pope issued on 23 September 1243 the papal bull Qui iustis causis, authorizing crusades in Livonia and Prussia.

[22] In 1250 Innocent similarly proclaimed the pious Queen Margaret (died 1093), wife of King Malcolm III of Scotland, a saint.

[23] The Dominican priest Peter of Verona, martyred by Albigensian heretics in 1252, was canonized, as was Stanislaus of Szczepanów, the Polish Archbishop of Cracow, both in 1253.

At the time, this allowed monasteries, universities and other bodies to act as a single legal entity, facilitating continuity in their corporate existence.

[27] Possibly prompted by the persistence of heretical movements such as the Albigensians, an earlier pope, Gregory IX (1227–1241), had issued letters on 9 June 1239, ordering all the bishops of France to confiscate all Talmuds in the possession of the Jews.

[29] On 20 June 1239, there was another letter, addressed to the Bishop of Paris, the Prior of the Dominicans and the Minister of the Franciscans, calling for the burning of all copies of the Talmud, and any obstructionists were to be visited with ecclesiastical censures.

Despite opposition from figures such as Odo of Châteauroux,[35] Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum and former Chancellor of the University of Paris, Innocent IV's policy was nonetheless continued by subsequent popes.

[37] In April 1250 (5 Iyar[38]), Innocent IV ordered the Bishop of Córdoba to take action against the Jews who were building a synagoguewhose height was not acceptable to the local clergy.

Documents from the reign of Pope Innocent IV recorded resentment toward a prominent new congregational synagogue:[39] The Jews of Cordoba are rashly presuming to build a new synagogue of unnecessary height thereby scandalizing faithful Christians, wherefore ... we command [you] ... to enforce the authority of your office against the Jews in this regard....[40]Innocent IV was responsible for the eventual deposition of King Sancho II of Portugal at the request of his brother Afonso (later King Afonso III of Portugal).

[41] The warlike tendencies of the Mongols also concerned the Pope, and in 1245, he issued bulls and sent a papal nuncio in the person of Giovanni da Pian del Carpine (accompanied by Benedict the Pole) to the "Emperor of the Tartars".

The Khan Güyük replied in 1246 in a letter written in Persian mixed Turkic that is still preserved in the Vatican Library, demanding the submission of the Pope and the other rulers of Europe.

In the letter, Guyuk demanded that the Pope appear in person at the Mongol imperial headquarters, Karakorum, so that “we might cause him to hear every command that there is of the jasaq”.

Despite other concerns, the later years of Innocent's life were largely directed to political schemes for encompassing the overthrow of Manfred of Sicily, the natural son of Frederick II, whom the towns and the nobility had for the most part received as his father's successor.

Therefore, after a failed agreement with Charles of Anjou, he invested Edmund Crouchback, the nine-year-old son of King Henry III of England, with that kingdom on 14 May 1254.

In the same year, Innocent excommunicated Frederick II's other son, Conrad IV, King of Germany, but the latter died a few days after the investiture of Edmund.

Manfred submitted, although probably only to gain time and counter the menace from Edmund, and accepted the title of papal vicar for southern Italy.

Innocent overplayed his hand, however, by accepting the fealty of the city of Amalfi directly to the Papacy instead of to the Kingdom of Sicily on 23 October.

Manfred immediately, on 26 October, fled from Teano, where he had established his headquarters, and headed to Lucera to rejoin his Saracen troops.

Supported by his faithful Saracen troops, he began using military force to make rebellious barons and towns submit to his authority as Regent for his nephew.