Adrian IV

English pope (1154-1159)

• Born: c. 1110
• Birthplace: Near St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England
• Died: September 1, 1159
• Place of death: Anagni (now in Italy)

Adrian IV served as Vatican diplomat to Scandinavia and later established policies and direction that led the medieval Papacy to its thirteenth century zenith of power.

Early Life

Few details are available on the early years of Nicholas Breakspear. His father, Robert, was a younger son of a landed family with no hope of receiving an inheritance. A man of meager resources, Robert married and had two sons. Discouraged by his struggles to live, and with the consent of his wife, he entered the monastery of St. Albans to become a monk. Although this practice was by no means common, there were a number of such examples in the medieval church. Robert hoped that his son Nicholas might join him in the cloister as a student and a future cleric.

At his first request for admission to the abbey, Nicholas was refused. The abbot suggested that he be patient, continue his studies, and make himself a worthy candidate. The reasons for the early rejection are unclear, but Robert berated his son for his failure, and they became estranged. Breakspear left England shortly afterward to search for a more congenial atmosphere in France. He achieved considerable success in his studies at Paris, wandered for a period after their completion in the area of Montpellier, studied at Arles, and finally entered the Monastery of St. Rufus near Avignon, an order of canons regular.

Described by contemporaries as an elegant person, of pleasing face, greatly skilled in speech, highly disciplined, and popular with his fellows, Nicholas quickly rose within the monastery. About the year 1137, he was unanimously elected abbot. What occurred to reduce his popularity is unknown, but sharp disagreements between the monks and their superior led to virtual rebellion of the community. Although there were suggestions that the monks regretted having elevated a foreigner to the abbacy, it may be that Breakspear's devotion to discipline eroded the relationship. Charges were brought by the monks against Nicholas, and Pope Eugenius III intervened twice in the dispute.

In 1146, Breakspear went to Rome for discussions with the pope. He never returned to the monastery, but remained in Rome, either because the pope considered resolution of the monastic quarrel hopeless or because he found in Breakspear a man who might serve a different purpose. Eugenius elevated Breakspear to the bishopric of Albano, and in due course he was named cardinal. At that point in his life, he began to earn the reputation that led him to the papal office.

Life's Work

Between 1152 and 1154, Breakspear represented the pope as a diplomat or reformer in reorganizing the Church in Scandinavia. The history of this northern region in the eleventh and twelfth centuries was extremely complex. The kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were taking shape politically, but in terms of ecclesiastical organization, they were subject to the German archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. At the opening of the twelfth century, the Papacy answered many petitions and transferred power of decision making in the Scandinavian area to the Danish archbishopric of Lund. Norway and Sweden, however, continued to demand their own archbishops and autonomy in church affairs. Breakspear's mission was to quiet the growing unrest, resolve increasing political difficulties, and reorganize and reform the Church.

Breakspear successfully resolved many questions and preserved the peace of the area, calling for meetings with powerful men, negotiating, reconciling, and offering his services for arbitration. The Norwegians regarded him as a hero who had quieted an era of unrest. At his return to Rome in 1154, he was honored for his work in the north and became a figure of much admiring attention.

Breakspear and his sixteen fellow cardinals were called to meet within a few months of his return in order to elect a new pope at the death of Pope Anastasius IV. Breakspear's reputation undoubtedly led to his unanimous election to the chair of Peter on December 4, 1154. Taking the name Adrian IV, he soon discovered that the position of vicar of Christ on Earth, a title he is credited with originating or popularizing, was a difficult and lonely one. Yet for the years of his pontificate, he was tireless, firm, and determined to maintain the papal prerogative in European affairs as he understood it.

This was not an easy task, for at the middle of the twelfth century many changes were taking place in the society of Western Europe. A spirit of lay involvement, new dialectics in the schools in the wake of Peter Abelard' teaching, and the growth of feudal monarchy in England, France, and the Germanies seemed to threaten the traditional papal role.

The city of Rome, discontented with the temporal claims of the Papacy and incited by the radical reformer Arnold of Brescia , became openly hostile and menacing toward the new pope. Arnold, one of Abelard's students at Paris, had a long history of activism against the temporal claims of the Papacy. His oratorical powers and impassioned appeals for a return to the greatness of the Roman republic aroused the city to action. Expelled from Rome in 1155, Arnold was captured by the German emperor, who returned him to Rome for trial. Tried and convicted, Arnold was executed the same year but left a legacy of violence that created continuing difficulties for Adrian.

The pope's relationship with other political powers was no less troublesome. Frederick I Barbarossa, the ambitious German monarch, wanted control of the rich cities of northern Italy and the title Holy Roman Emperor, a title historically granted by the Papacy. Yet he wished to avoid the appearance of holding a fief from papal hands. His journey to Italy often had the aspect of an invasion and his relations with Adrian were marked by argument, misunderstanding, maneuvering, and finally uneasy compromise. The iron-willed Adrian, unwilling to surrender the important elements of papal tradition to the German emperor, was challenged by others at the same time.

The Norman state to the south posed threats to the security of the southern boundaries of the papal states as the Germans did to the northern boundaries. William, ruler of the Norman kingdom, which included the southern provinces of Italy and the island of Sicily, had succeeded to an inheritance that contained a strong party of rebellious nobles. This insurgent faction approached Adrian, asking for help against William and papal protection of their persons and property. Hoping that the rebels might become a bulwark against William's threatened encroachment on papal claims, Adrian gathered troops and marched to the south.

At this time, an embassy from Manuel I Comnenus, the Byzantine emperor at Constantinople, sought audience with Pope Adrian. The emperor offered troops and money if Adrian would grant three coastal cities in Norman Italy to him. The Byzantine government considered the Normans usurpers of land and formidable enemies. The possibility of reuniting the Western and Eastern churches, separated in the eleventh century, was offered as an additional incentive.

William, recognizing the threat of combined papal and Byzantine troops, now made overtures to Adrian, conceding on several contested issues and offering to subdue the discordant elements in Rome. Adrian was willing to negotiate but deferred to his cardinals, who believed that further concessions might be wrung from the embattled king. Against his better judgment, Adrian rejected William's offer.

William attacked the Eastern emperor's forces, now on Italian soil and, with courage born of his desperate circumstances, defeated the foreign armies. The rebellious party of Normans seemed to disappear at the remarkable victory, and Adrian found himself at a disadvantage in dealing with the Norman power. Sending most of his cardinals away, only three of the most trusted remaining, Adrian awaited the arrival of William. His diplomatic experience helped the pope salvage a bad situation. The Papacy emerged somewhat restricted in its rights in Sicily, but thanks to Adrian's skill, its power was essentially undiminished. Adrian confirmed William in his possessions. He did not forget the nobles who had asked his help against William, and their freedom and property were protected in the settlement.

Throughout the brief pontificate, all the major protagonists continued to trouble the Papacy. Adrian was vigilant, constantly moving from one part of Italy to another, finding time to solve local problems and build and repair churches. Other powers had to be watched with care. Henry II of England asked the pope's approval to conquer Ireland. It has been suggested that Adrian approved, in the papal bull Laudabiliter. Great controversy has grown up about this episode. There has been a lengthy debate as to the bull's authenticity and, if authentic, to its purpose. At minimum, the bull did reveal the latitude of interest and the energy to meet all challenges that made this brief pontificate noteworthy. Suddenly falling ill at Anagni, Adrian IV died on September 1, 1159.

When the old St. Peter's was demolished in 1607, Adrian's sarcophagus was opened. An archaeologist reported that the pope was small in stature and adorned in a dark silk chasuble. The tomb was closed and placed in the new St. Peter'.

Significance

Adrian IV was an important representative of the Papacy in a momentous era. Not a man of theory but one of action, his efforts were directed toward concretizing the theoretical claims of the Papacy developed from the days of the Gregorian reform movement. The constant turmoil of his pontificate obscures Adrian's moral stature and its effects on his many relationships with contemporary powers. Personally blameless of many of the faults of his Curia, he showed no avarice or meanness of spirit. Despite his early history, he bore no ill will toward the monasteries of St. Albans or St. Rufus but received their abbots in friendship and granted them several requests. Spiritually oriented, he believed deeply in the church that he represented. His contemporaries, even his greatest enemies, respected him.

Adrian's policies played an important part in leading his successors to the culmination of power in the reign of Innocent III. Innocent III clearly recognized the importance of the only Englishman to wear the papal tiara. In many ways, Adrian IV was an able feudal monarch.

Bibliography

Bolton, Brenda, and Anne J. Duggans, eds. Adrian IV, the English Pope, 1154-1159: Studies and Texts. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2002. A collection of sources and documents related to Adrian’s role as pope. Includes a bibliography and an index.

Boso. Life of Alexander III. Translated by G. M. Ellis. Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1973. Accessible translation of an original source that contains significant material on Adrian IV and his biographers.

Mann, Horace K. “Hadrian IV.” In The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages. Vol. 9. Wilmington, N.C.: Consortium Books, 1979. Complete coverage in English. Though dated and uncritical of sources, a useful work.

Munz, Peter. Frederick Barbarossa: A Study in Medieval Politics. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1969. Excellent discussion of the struggle between pope and emperor.

Southern, Robert W. “Pope Adrian IV.” In Medieval Humanism. New York: Harper and Row, 1970. First-rate interpretation of Adrian and his career set against the background of the period.

Ullmann, Walter. “The Pontificate of Adrian IV.” Cambridge Historical Journal 11 (1955): 234-251. An excellent discussion that possibly exaggerates the importance of symbolism and ceremony.