First English Pope Is Chosen
Nicholas Breakspear, who became Pope Adrian IV on December 4, 1154, is notable for being the first and only Englishman to hold the papacy in the Roman Catholic Church. Born in Hertfordshire around 1100, he dedicated himself to the clergy and eventually became the abbot of a monastery in France. His career included significant roles such as Bishop of Albano and papal envoy to Scandinavia, where he played a crucial role in establishing church structures in newly Christianized regions. Upon his election to the papacy, Breakspear faced intense challenges, including internal conflicts in Rome and power struggles with Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. His reign was marked by political turmoil, including a failed military engagement against King William of Sicily and controversial decisions such as sanctioning King Henry II of England's invasion of Ireland. Breakspear's papacy is often viewed as a difficult period in the church's history, ultimately concluding with his death on September 1, 1159, in Anagni, Italy. His legacy remains complex, reflecting both the ambitions and the tribulations of the medieval church.
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First English Pope Is Chosen
First English Pope Is Chosen
On December 4, 1154, Nicholas Breakspear was appointed pope. As Adrian IV he became the first, and to date only, Englishman chosen as supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
Breakspear was born in Hertfordshire, England, on an uncertain date sometime in the year 1100. He entered the clergy as a youth, traveling to France to become a monk, and eventually became the abbot of the monastery of St. Rufus near Avignon in 1137. Breakspear earned a reputation as a reformer, and Pope Eugene III made him the Bishop of Albano in 1150. He also served as a papal envoy to Scandinavia, where he organized church affairs in the Norwegian city of Trondheim and the Swedish city of Uppsala. This was pioneering work in a day when Christianity was still relatively new to this part of Europe, and Breakspear's task involved some delicate negotiations with the clergy in Denmark, which was still the seat of Scandinavian power. Breakspear's assignment ended in 1154 and he left for Rome, where he was elected pope after the death of Anastasius IV, who had only taken office the year before.
As pope, Breakspear faced many difficulties and is said to have stated publicly that he wished he had never left England. Almost immediately after taking office there were problems with Arnold of Brescia, who led an anti-papal movement within Rome itself that ended in a rebellion which Breakspear put down with the help of German ruler Frederick Barbarossa. Breakspear officiated over Barbarossa's coronation as Holy Roman Emperor on June 18, 1155, which led to riots within Rome that forced the pope to leave the city for over a year. Nor did relations with the new emperor, head of what was probably the most powerful state in Europe at the time, fare well. Conflicts between their respective claims to authority, spiritual and temporal, and their various interests within Italy almost caused Breakspear to excommunicate the emperor. However, Breakspear died on September 1, 1159, in Anagni, Italy, before he could take this course of action.
Other problems during Breakspear's papacy included warfare with King William of Sicily, who defeated the pope in battle and forced him to make territorial cessions. There was also Breakspear's extremely questionable decision to give King Henry II of England permission to conquer Ireland and subjugate the Irish people in the name of the church. This papal sanction led to centuries of conflict and misery for the Irish which in many respects have not been resolved to this day. Overall, it can safely be said that as Adrian IV, Breakspear served during one of the most unfortunate periods of papal history.