ADRIANO VI, PAPA. - Pontiff from 1522 to 1523. Born in Utrecht on 2 March 1459, he was the son of Florenz Boeyens and Gertruda. The family was neither rich nor poor. After his father’s death, his mother entrusted his education to the Brethren of the Common Life, at Deventer or Zwolle. Enrolled at the University of Louvain in 1474, he studied philosophy for two years and theology and canon law for ten. Having completed his studies, he obtained a chair of philosophy. In 1490 he was licensed, and the following year he became a doctor of theology. With the revenues from his benefices, he gave generous alms and founded a college for poor students. He was also parish priest of Goederee, personally fulfilling his duties during the holidays. Appointed professor of theology, he had among his pupils Erasmo da Rotterdam and other notable men of letters. A series of his lectures was published by one disciple (1515); another published his lectures on the Most Holy Sacrament (1516), in which he showed himself a supporter of frequent Communion. These two works went through many editions. Elected dean of the church of S. Pietro in 1497, he had to assume the duties of rector of the university.
Because of his blameless life, his high conception of duty, his reforming zeal regarding morals, especially among the clergy, and his great erudition, wisdom, and prudence, he became the trusted adviser of many, including the court. The Emperor Massimiliano made him tutor to his nephew Carlo, for whom A. secured full hereditary right to the Spanish throne.
From 1516, together with Ximénez and, after the latter’s death, alone, he governed Spain. In 1516 he was elected bishop of Tortosa; in 1517 he became inquisitor of Aragon and Navarre, and in 1518 also of Castile and León. In 1517 he was created cardinal. During Carlo V’s coronation journey, he quelled, more through prudence than arms, the general rebellion that had broken out in Spain. He was elected Pontiff on 9 January 1522.
A. wished to achieve two things: the abolition of abuses in the Curia and in the Church, and the union of the Christian princes against the danger posed by the Turks. He began by eliminating the accumulation of benefices, took severe measures against simony, struck at the nepotism of prelates and, in general, at all the vices of the clergy and the people, and sought to improve the financial situation of the Church and the Papal States by making substantial economies, also in order to be able to provide subsidies to the States that were to resist the Turkish invasion.
He incurred the hatred of all those accustomed to the magnificent festivities, favors, and easygoing life of his predecessor’s court; this hatred erupted in pamphlets and pasquinades. He was nevertheless at fault for alienating good elements as well, owing to his sometimes reserved character, particularly toward the Italian prelates. This was an error which he later sought to remedy.
He sent Chieregati as the first apostolic nuncio to the Diet of Nuremberg to present his plans for reform, hoping to avert the danger of Lutheranism and to reconcile the German princes (1522-1523). He did not obtain the implementation of the Edict of Worms. Nor did he succeed in calming the conflict between Carlo V and Francesco I. Wishing to remain faithful to a policy of neutrality between the parties, he was compelled by the hostility of Francesco I to make a defensive pact with Carlo V (1523). In his efforts for the spiritual welfare of Switzerland, Poland, and other countries, he experienced not a few disappointments.
He died on 14 September 1523 and was provisionally buried in the chapel of S. Andrea in S. Pietro. The epitaph read: Hadrianus sextus hic situs est qui nihil sibi infelicius in vita duxit quam quod imperaret. On 12 August 1533, the body was transferred to the church of S. Maria dell’Anima, where Cardinal Enckevoirt erected a worthy monument to him. Although much calumniated in life and in death, no one ever dared to attack the blamelessness of this Pontiff or his intentions. - Vedi Tav. XXIV.