URBAN IV, Pope. - Of a family, Giacomo Pantaleon, b. at Troyes ca. 1200, d. at Perugia on 2 Oct. 1264.

In 1240 he was archdeacon at Liège; in 1247-49 legate in Silesia, Poland and Prussia; in 1249 archdeacon at Laon; in 1253 bishop of Verdun, in 1255 patriarch of Jerusalem. On the death of Alexander IV (1261), the cardinals assembled in conclave at Viterbo, through lack of mutual understanding, so scattered their votes that they made it impossible to elect one of their own number, and directed their choice to the patriarch of Jerusalem (29 Aug. 1261), who was consecrated on 4 Sept. The elect, unable to reside in Rome, too disturbed by turmoil, stayed first at Viterbo, then at Orvieto, and ended his days at Perugia.

U. had the merit of settling the thorny question of the Kingdom of Sicily. Setting aside the candidacy of Conradin, son of Conrad, and that of Manfred, natural son of the emperor Frederick II, he thought of offering the throne to a French prince. It was difficult to obtain the acceptance of King Louis IX, and the negotiations were long, but they ended in a definitive agreement (15 Aug. 1264) according to which Charles of Anjou was to conquer the Kingdom within the space of a year. Every precaution had been taken so that the vassal of the Church might not scheme to obtain the empire, nor think of a hegemony in Italy. U. also intervened in the disputes of which England was the theatre, and resolutely took sides with King Henry III against the barons, who wished to impose on him conditions restricting his authority, known under the name of the "Provisions of Oxford." U. rejected them and gave his full support to the arbitral sentence pronounced at Amiens by St. Louis (24 Jan. 1264). His legate, Guido Fulcodi (the future Clement IV), was sent to England to put an end to the disagreement between the King and his subjects; but he had to suffer a mortal affront, because he was forbidden passage through the Strait of Calais.

The pontifical policy followed in the East particularly hindered the cause of the union of the Greek and Latin Churches, because any agreement became impossible from the moment the Pope worked for the restoration of the Latin Empire. In religious matters U. distinguished himself by the institution of the feast of Corpus Christi (v. 11 Aug. 1264).

Bibliography7 works

BIBL.: sources: Potthast, II, pp. 1474-1542; L. Dorez-J. Guiraud, Les registres d'Urbain IV, 4 vols., Paris 1901-29. Studies: W. Norden, Das Papsttum und Byzance, Berlin 1903; E. Jordan, Les origines de la domination angevine en Italie, Paris 1909 (capital work); C. Petit-Dutaillis-P. Guinard, L'essor des Etats d'Occident (France, Angleterre, péninsule Ibérique), in Hist. du moyen-âge (G. Glotz collection), IV, II, Paris 1937; E. Jordan, L'Allemagne et l'Italie au XIIe et XIIIe siècles, ibid., IV, I, ivi 1939; Ch. Diehl - L. Oeconomos - R. Guilland - R. Gousset, L'Europe orientale de 1081 à 1453, ibid., IX, I, ivi 1945; G. Mollat, Clément IV, in DHG, IX (1952), coll. 1109-15.

Guglielmo Mollat

@incollection{ec12_urbano_iv_papa, author = {Mollat, Guglielmo}, title = {Urbano IV, papa}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {907--908}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/urbano-iv-papa} }

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Urban IV, Pope

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