ADRIANO V, PAPA

ADRIAN V, POPE. – Pontiff in 1276. At the death of Innocent V a conclave was held in Rome under the surveillance of Charles of Anjou in his capacity as senator of the city; after eight days he put the cardinals on bread and water to hasten their decision, and thus, through the influence of Cardinal Orsini, Ottobuono Fieschi was elected on 11 July 1276. He belonged to the well-known Genoese family of the counts of Lavagna and was a nephew of Innocent IV, who had created him cardinal of Naples and had sent him as legate to England to reconcile King Henry III and the barons, to preach the crusade, and to collect tithes. He was not even a priest, however; immediately after his election as Pope, he left Rome and settled in Viterbo. The brevity of his rule prevented him from undertaking any action of particular importance; he did, however, have time to abolish the strict regulations on the conclave laid down by Gregory X, regulations which he himself had experienced. He died on 18 August of the same year and was buried in the church of the Dominicans in Viterbo. The citizens of that city, despite the suppression, applied the law on the conclave and elected John XXI.