Pope Alexander IV

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Jenne, Papal States
Died(1261-05-25)25 May 1261
Viterbo, Papal States
Previous post(s)
  • Cardinal-Deacon of Sant'Eustachio (1227–1232)
  • Cardinal-
    Bishop of Ostia
    (1232–1254)
SignatureAlexander IV's signature
Coat of armsAlexander IV's coat of arms
Other popes named Alexander
Plaque in the church of Santi Luca e Martina commemorating Alexander IV's 1256 consecration of the building
Fresco in San Marco, Milan depicting Alexander IV founding the Augustinians

Pope Alexander IV (1199 or c. 1185 – 25 May 1261) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 December 1254 to his death.

Early career

He was born as Rinaldo di Jenne in

elected pope at Naples
on 12 December 1254.

Pontificate

Alexander's pontificate was signalled by efforts to reunite the

mendicant orders, and by an attempt to organize a crusade against the Mongols after the second Mongol raid against Poland
in 1259.

On 26 September 1255, Alexander IV canonized Saint Clare of Assisi, founder of the religious order for women called the Poor Clares.[2] On 29 October 1255, in the papal bull Benigna Operatio, Alexander declared "his own knowledge" of the stigmata attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi.[3][4]

In 1256, Alexander IV condemned theories of

Franciscan Order. On the basis of his interpretation of the Book of Revelation, Joachim had postulated that 1260 would see the beginning of a Third Age, an age governed by the Holy Spirit, in which the hierarchy of the Church would become unnecessary - an idea which was obviously unwelcome to the Pope. In the event, 1260 – still in Alexander IV's lifetime – came and went with no such Third Age materializing, but Joachim's ideas would in later centuries be taken up by the Cult of the Holy Spirit which had a major impact in Portugal
and its colonies.

The pontiff also, on 27 September 1258, declared in the bull Quod super nonnullis that "divination or sorcery" was not to be investigated by Inquisitors of the Church, who were tasked with investigating heresy. Crimes involving magic should be left to local authorities unless they had "knowledge of manifest heresy to be involved", wherein "manifest heresy" included "praying at the altars of idols, to offer sacrifices, to consult demons, [or] to elicit responses from them". At this period in Church history, the use of magic was not seen as inherently heretical, but rather rooted in superstition or erroneous beliefs.[6][7][8]

On 14 May 1254,

King Henry III of England. Alexander confirmed the grant on 9 April 1255,[10] in return for 2000 ounces of gold per annum, the service of 300 knights for three months when required, and 135,541 marks to reimburse the pope for the money he had expended attempting to oust Manfred from Sicily.[11] Henry's unsuccessful attempts to persuade his subjects to pay the taxes required to meet Alexander's demands were one of the factors in the conflict between the king and parliament which culminated in the Second Barons' War.[12] In 1256, when relations between the two men were strained, Alexander firmly rejected Henry's choice of Archbishop of Dublin. On 12 April 1261, shortly before his death, Alexander issued a papal bull for King Henry that absolved him and the magnates of his realm from the oaths taken in the Provisions of Oxford, which was instrumental in the War.[13]

Alexander IV succeeded Innocent IV as guardian of

Viterbo Cathedral, but his tomb
was destroyed during sixteenth-century renovations.

See also

References

  1. ^ A. Coulon (ed.), Les Registres d' Alexandre IV Tome 3, fascicle 7 (Paris 1953), p. 137, no. 3246 (9 September 1260). Division of the castle of Jenna between two of Alexander's nephews.
  2. ^ A. Tomassetti (ed.), Bullarum, Diplomatum et Privilegiorum Sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum Taurensis editio (Turin 1858), pp. 620–624, no. XX.
  3. ^ A. Tomassetti (ed.), Bullarum, Diplomatum et Privilegiorum Sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum Taurensis editio (Turin 1858), pp. 626–627, no. XXII.
  4. OCLC 978482977.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  5. ^ Maria Santos Montez (2007), p. 170
  6. OCLC 244766270
    .
  7. ^ A. Tomassetti (ed.), Bullarum, Diplomatum et Privilegiorum Sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum Taurensis editio (Turin 1858), pp. 663–666, no. XLVI.
  8. OCLC 652466611
    .
  9. ^ August Potthast, Regesta pontificum Romanorum II (Berlin 1875), no. 15364. Thomas Rymer, Foedera, Conventiones, Literae et cujuscunque generis Acta Publica inter Reges Angliae et alios... I. 1, edition tertia (Hagae Comitis: apud Joannem Neaulme 1745), p. 181.
  10. ^ Potthast, ii. nos. 15784–5. Rymer I .1, p. 196.
  11. ^ Rymer,Foedera, I.i. 316–318, Simon Lloyd, Edmund Crouchback, Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography, 2004. Rymer I. 2, pp. 12–13: a letter of King Henry to Cardinal Riccardo Annibaldi de Molaria, Cardinal Deacon of Sant' Angelo.
  12. ^ J. R. Maddicott, The Origins of the English Parliament, 924–1327, Oxford University press, 2010, p. 235
  13. ^ Thomas Rymer, Foedera, Conventiones, Literae et cujuscunque generis Acta Publica inter Reges Angliae et alios... I. 2, edition tertia (Hagae Comitis: apud Joannem Neaulme 1745), pp. 62–63. Harding, Alan. England in the Thirteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 290.
  14. ^ P. Touron, "Alexandre IV contre Manfred," Le Moyen Âge 69 (1963), pp. 391–399.

Bibliography

  • Nicolaus de Curbio, OFM, "Vita Innocentii Papae IV," Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores Tomus Tertius (Mediolani 1723) pp. 592–592e.
  • Bernardus Guidonis, "Vita Alexandri Papae IV," Ludovico Antonio Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores Tomus Tertius (Mediolani 1723) pp. 592–593.
  • Alexis François Artaud de Montor, Histoire des souverains Pontifes Romains Tome III (Paris 1851), pp. 1–11.
  • Augustinus Theiner (Editor), Caesaris S. R. E. Cardinalis Baronii, Od. Raynaldi et Jac. Laderchii Annales Ecclesiastici Tomus Vigesimus Primus 1229–1256 (Barri-Ducis: Ludovicus Guerin 1870).
  • August Karst, Geschichte Manfreds vom Tode Friedrichs II. bis zu seiner Krönung (1250–1258) (Berlin: E. Ebering 1897) [Historische Studien, Heft VI.].
  • C. Bourel de la Roncière (editor) Les Registres d' Alexandre IV Tome premier (Paris: Thorin-Albert Fontemoing 1902) [BEFAR].
  • F. Gregorovius, History of Rome in the Middle Ages, Volume V. 2, 2nd ed., revised (London: George Bell, 1906) Book X, Chapter 1, pp. 335–358.
  • F. Tenckhoff, Papst Alexander IV. (Paderborn 1907).
  • S. Andreotta, "La famiglia di Alessandro IV e l'abbazia di Subiaco," Atti e Memorie della Società Tiburtina di Storia ed Arte 35 (1962) 63–126; 36 (1963) 5–87.
  • de Lama, Ildefonso Rodríguez (1976). La documentación pontificia de Alejandro IV (1254–1261) (in Spanish). Rome: Instituto Español de Historia Eclesiástica.
    ISBN 978-8473590471
    .
  • Raoul Manselli, "Alessandro IV," Dizionario dei Papi (2000).
  • ISBN 978-0-521-62566-1
    .
  • Harding, Alan (1993). England in the Thirteenth Century. Cambridge University Press.
    ISBN 978-0521316125
    .
  • Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope Alexander IV" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Attribution

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Ugolino di Conti
Cardinal-bishop of Ostia

1231–54 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Innocent IV
 Pope
1254–61 		Succeeded by
Urban IV


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