NICCOLÒ da Osimo. - Franciscan theologian and preacher, born in Osimo in the second half of the 14th century, died in Rome c. 1453. In 1438, appointed by Eugene IV as Custodian of the Holy Land, he resigned following disputes.
During the general vicariate of St. Bernardino (1438-1441), N. effectively supported him, and while serving as vicar of the province of St. Angelo in Puglia, he composed the *Declaratio super regula Fratrum Minorum*, later approved by the Order’s minister general, Guglielmo da Casale (1439), and sent by St. Bernardino to the provinces of the Friars Minor.
Observant in 1440 (editions in *Speculum Minorum*, Rome 1509; *Monumenta Ordinis Minorum*, Salamanca 1511; *Firmamentum trium Ordinum*, Paris 1512). Within the same observant movement, N. appears to have favored the more rigorous faction, for in 1440 he was working with Eugene IV toward the complete separation from the Conventuals, and when this was granted by the bull *Ut sacra* in 1446, N. tenaciously defended it against attacks by the Conventuals; in 1453 he was part of the commission appointed by Nicholas V to examine and defend the bull *Ut sacra*. He also wrote the *Supplementum Summae Magistratus seu Pisanella* (Genoa 1473 and 1474); the *Quadriga spirituale*, completed in 1442 (posthumous edition, Jesi 1475); and vernacular works (ed. G. Spezi, Rome 1865).
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NICCOLÒ I, POPE, saint. - Son of Theodore, a regional official, deacon under Leo IV, he was elected and consecrated pope on April 24, 858, following the death of Benedict III (April 17), in the presence of Emperor Louis II. He was one of the most eminent pontiffs to govern the Church, distinguished by the major problems he had to resolve, overcoming serious political and ecclesiastical obstacles.
Of particular importance in the public eye was the divorce of Lothar II, king of Lotharingia and brother of Louis II. Desiring to marry Waldrada, Lothar sought grounds to repudiate his legitimate wife Theutberga. Supported by the archbishops Gunther of Cologne and Theutgaud of Trier, he obtained favorable judgments in two synods; a third, held at Metz in June 863 in the presence of papal legates, confirmed the previous decisions. Nicholas annulled these judgments and imposed penance on the two archbishops and their accomplices. They appealed to Louis II, who marched from Benevento against Rome; before his violence, Nicholas did not yield, and Louis had to retreat after making peace with the Pope. The divorce controversy ended only with Lothar’s death in August 869, by which time he had also been excommunicated.
Of immense importance for relations with the Empire and the Byzantine East were the controversy over Photius (q.v.) and the celebration of the Eighth Ecumenical Council.
Nicholas also had to oppose the abuses of the Ravennate authorities, which had persisted since the time of Leo IV, perpetrated by George, duke of Emilia, and his brother John, archbishop of Ravenna, who oppressed soldiers and pilgrims and claimed exemption from papal authority. The archbishop was excommunicated and fled to Louis II in Pavia; Nicholas, however, went to Ravenna to win over the two brothers. John was compelled to appear in Rome, where he had been summoned, and to give an account and satisfaction to the Pope for his conduct (861-62). Another notable episode involved Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, and Nicholas over Rothad, bishop of Soissons, who had appealed to Rome. Nicholas also directed his care to the Danubian provinces, which had long belonged to the Roman patriarchate, and sent the bishops Formosus of Porto (q.v.) and Paul of Populonia to the Bulgars, for whom he wrote the famous *Responsio ad consulta Bulgarorum*. He protested against the missions begun by SS. Cyril and Methodius (q.v.) among the Slavs of Great Moravia and defended those in Denmark by writing to King Horik (864), who seemed receptive to Christianity (Jaffé-Wattenbach, no. 2758). He died on November 13, 867. He was included in the Roman Martyrology by Urban VIII in 1630. Feast: November 13, established in 1681.