Anastasius IV, Pope

ANASTASIO IV, POPE. — Corrado “de Suburra,” a Roman, cardinal and bishop of Sabina from 1126; during the schism between Innocenzo II and Anacleto II he had supported the former, and was in fact appointed vicar for Italy when Innocenzo had to flee to France. On the death of Eugenio III he was elected Pontiff (12 July 1153) without any opposition, although there was much unrest in Rome: this shows that Corrado was generally well regarded. He was by then old, but had much experience in curial affairs; the brief duration of his pontificate did not allow him to exercise effective action, all the more since it took place only at the beginning of the reign of Federico Barbarossa. His charitable activity towards the Romans during a period of famine and the construction of a palace near the Pantheon should be noted. He died on 3 Dec. 1154 and was laid in a porphyry sarcophagus in the Lateran Basilica.