ADRIANO IV, POPE. — He is the only Englishman to have ascended the papal throne; his name was Nicholas Breakspear and he was the son of Robert, a cleric of Bath.
Having failed to gain admission to the monastery of St Alban in his homeland, he went to France and studied in Paris, despite his extremely poor financial circumstances. He then became a canon regular of St Rufus near Avignon and in 1137 was made prior of the canonry and perhaps later general abbot. However, he was denounced in Rome and had to go there to justify himself; Eugenius III, recognizing his fine personal qualities, kept him at his side, made him cardinal bishop of Albano, and in 1150 sent him as legate of the Holy See to the Scandinavian countries to reorganize the ecclesiastical hierarchy there. The mission was entirely successful, and Nicholas also brought back many offerings to St Peter’s. Thus, shortly after his return, which took place in 1154, Anastasius IV having died in December, he was elected pope on 4 December under the name of Adrian IV.
At that moment the condition of the city of Rome was very sad, for Arnold of Brescia was dominating it, inflaming the people with classical memories and inciting them against papal rule; violence was frequent and even a cardinal had been wounded. Adrian, who held a high view of papal rights, laid the city under interdict to force it to expel Arnold, but the Senate refused to yield. However, the people, who did not wish to forgo the celebration of religious functions, rose up and drove Arnold out; thus the pope was able to celebrate Easter in the Lateran. Meanwhile, Frederick Barbarossa had come down into Italy, and Adrian saw the opportunity for an understanding with him; the meeting took place at Sutri and gave rise to some incident, but then the two came to Rome, where on 18 June 1155 the imperial coronation took place. As a result, Arnold of Brescia was arrested, handed over to the city prefect, and burned; a scuffle then occurred between Romans and Germans in which the pope acted as peacemaker.
The first relations between Adrian and the king of Sicily, William the Bad, were not friendly, because the sovereign had not sought from the Holy See the investiture of his states, as was obligatory given the feudal dependence on the Church, and for this reason the pope did not recognize him. William tried to detach Barbarossa from his friendship with Adrian and carried out raids in the lands of the Church; in turn, the pope tried to stir up the lords of the kingdom against him and then routed him. After rejecting a peace overture made by the king, open war resulted, ending in disaster for the pope, who was besieged in Benevento; on 18 June 1156 Adrian was forced to accept the two conditions imposed on him, namely recognition of the king and his right to grant or
Adrian III, pope = Silver coin.
(from Serafini, Monete e Bolle Pontificali)