NICHOLAS IV, POPE. - NICHOLAS IV, POPE. - Girolamo, born of humble stock at Lisciano near Ascoli Piceno, entered the Friars Minor while still very young and among them held the office of provincial in Dalmatia. In 1272 St. Bonaventure immediately entrusted him with three companions to conduct negotiations with Michael VIII Palaeologus, Emperor of Constantinople, for the reunion of the Eastern Church.
Meanwhile, with the death of St. Bonaventure, Friar Girolamo was elected to succeed him as Minister General (20 May 1274), and at the Council of Lyons on 24 June he reported on the accomplished union with the East. Employed in peace missions, he was created cardinal of S. Pudenziana by Nicholas III (12 March 1278). After the death of Honorius IV, following a ten-month interregnum during which Friar Girolamo worked courageously to bring the election of a successor to a conclusion, he himself was elected on 22 February 1288 and took the name of Nicholas IV. He labored with great zeal for missions among the Mongols in Persia and among the Chinese and Tartars, and for the reunion of the Catholic Church with the dissidents of the East. He also attempted to stem with armed force the invasion of the Mamluks of Egypt against what remained of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but could not prevent the fall of St. Jean d’Acre, the last bastion of Christendom (1291). Named senator by the Romans, he hastened to bring peace to Rome, relying especially on Giovanni Colonna. He crowned Charles II of Anjou at Rieti (29 May 1289), issuing him the diploma of investiture, and took care not to favor the factionalism of the Guelphs. At Orvieto he laid the first stone of the Duomo; in Rome he built a palace at S. Maria Maggiore and resided there; under his care that Basilica was adorned with music, as were repairs made to those of the Lateran. He died in Rome on 14 April 1292; Sixtus V later erected a monument to him at S. Maria Maggiore.