Pope Adrian II ( la, Adrianus II; also Hadrian II; 79214 December 872) was the
bishop of Rome and ruler of the
Papal States from 867 to his death. He continued the policy of his predecessor,
Nicholas I. Despite seeking good relations with
Louis II of Italy
Louis II (825 – 12 August 875), sometimes called the Younger, was the king of Italy and emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 844, co-ruling with his father Lothair I until 855, after which he ruled alone.
Louis's usual title was ''impera ...
, he was placed under surveillance, and his wife and daughters were killed by Louis' supporters.
Family
Adrian was a member of a noble Roman family. In his youth, he married a woman named Stephania and had a daughter with her. Adrian was
selected to become
pope on 14 December 867. He was already at an advanced age, and objected to assuming the papacy. His wife and daughter moved with him to the
Lateran Palace.
Pontificate
Adrian II maintained, but with less energy, the policies of his predecessor,
Nicholas I. King
Lothair II of Lotharingia, who died in 869, left Adrian to mediate between the
Frankish kings with a view to secure the imperial inheritance to Lothair's brother,
Louis II of Italy
Louis II (825 – 12 August 875), sometimes called the Younger, was the king of Italy and emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 844, co-ruling with his father Lothair I until 855, after which he ruled alone.
Louis's usual title was ''impera ...
. Adrian sought to maintain good relations with Louis, since the latter's campaigns in southern Italy had the potential to free the papacy from the threat posed by the Muslims.
Patriarch
Photius I of Constantinople, shortly after the council in which he had pronounced sentence of deposition against
Pope Nicholas I
Pope Nicholas I ( la, Nicolaus I; c. 800 – 13 November 867), called Nicholas the Great, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 858 until his death. He is remembered as a consolidator of papal authority, exerting dec ...
, was driven from the patriarchate by a new
Byzantine emperor,
Basil the Macedonian, who favoured Photius' rival,
Ignatius. The
Fourth Council of Constantinople was convoked to decide this matter. At this council, Adrian was represented by
legates who presided at the condemnation of Photius as a heretic, but did not succeed in coming to an understanding with Ignatius on the subject of jurisdiction over the
Bulgarian Church
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church ( bg, Българска православна църква, translit=Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria ( bg, Българска патриаршия, links=no, translit=Balgarsk ...
.
Like Nicholas I, Adrian was forced to submit in temporal affairs to the interference of Emperor Louis II, who placed him under the surveillance of Bishop Arsenius of
Orte, his confidential adviser, and Arsenius' nephew,
Anastasius the Librarian. In 868, Adrian's wife and daughter were carried off and murdered by Arsenius' son Eleutherius, who had forcibly married the daughter.
[Riche, Pierre, ''The Carolingians'']
Adrian died on 14 December 872, after exactly five years of pontificate.
See also
*
List of sexually active popes
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adrian 02
Popes
Italian popes
Adrian II
Adrian II
9th-century archbishops
Married Roman Catholic bishops
9th-century popes
Burials at St. Peter's Basilica