Adrian III

Adrian III
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Papacy began	May 17, 884
Papacy ended	September, 885
Predecessor	Marinus I
Successor	Stephen V
Born	??? Rome, Italy
Died	September, 885 Modena, Italy
Other popes named Adrian

Styles of Pope Adrian III
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	Saint

Pope Adrian III (also known as Hadrian III) was Pope from May 17, 884 to September, 885.

Biography

The paucity of information on Adrian III is typical of the lack of detailed biographical data on many of the Popes from this period. He was born in Rome. At this time, Popes were elected by the people and clergy of Rome and almost all of them served from a young age within the papal establishment. Presumably, Adrian worked his way up through the ranks. He may or may not have been a Cardinal before his election. He was obviously popular enough to be a candidate for the papacy, although money was not uninvolved in the process at this time. There is, however, no evidence that he engineered the election. One source refers to his "having aided the Romans during a famine," which could explain his election to the papacy

Election as Pope

We do know that he was elected Pope May 17th, 884. His pontificate of less than two years was set firmly in the context of the political reality of the day. When Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor in 800C.E., in theory, he did this as successor to the Roman Emperors under the terms of the alleged will of Constantine I. In reality, however, the Pope reigned under the patronage of the Emperor, not vice-versa yet the Emperor also needed the Pope's recognition, so the relationship between Pope and Emperor was complex. Certainly, the Pope was vulnerable to attack, lacking his own army. However, the title 'Emperor" had been gifted by the Pope, and required papal sanction. At this time, kingship was itself understood as a sacred trust, thus only a sacramental act could confirm a king's right to succeed. The major problem at this period was that Charlemagne was a Frankish king, and under Frankish law the kingdom did not pass to one son, but was sub-divided among all of them. Succession to the title of Emperor was not regarded as an automatic right on behalf of the elder son but was open to competition. In the years following the death of Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pius, who died in 814, the territory ruled by his heirs grew smaller and competition among them for land and for the imperial title, grew stronger. Most of the Popes from Leo III onwards spent much of their time supporting one rival against another and trying to position the Papacy in the most advantageous position, that is, one that strengthened the papal claim to temporal as well as spiritual authority. Almost immediately after his election, it fell to Adrian III to confirm or to deny Charles III's imperial claim. Charles III, or Charles the Fat, a grandson of Louis the Pious by his third son, Louis the German.

Intervention and Death

Sources indicate that it was Charles who "summoned" the Pope to attend him at Worms, in modern Germany. This itself indicates who considered himself to be in the superior position. Sources also suggest that in addition to comfirming his imperial title, the threat represented by the Saracens, who by this time had a foothold in Spain, was on the agenda. . Adrian died while en route to Worms. He died in September, 885, at Modena. Mystery surrounds the circumstances. He may have been assassinated. Source says that Adrian had attempted to rid the Roman system of curruption, and arrested the leader of the aristocratic faction, Bishop Formosus. Since the Roman aristocrats at the time saw the papacy as their's by right, to be shared around the patrician families, this could have been reason enough for Adrian's murder. . Indeed, one source says that Adrian had George of the Aventine, a member of the Formosun group and notorious for several murders he committed, tried, condemned, and blinded, and had a widow of one of the opposing nobility whipped naked through the streets of Rome".

Legacy

Adrian III was buried in a monastery at Nonatula, where, writes Loughlin, "his memory has ever since been held in local veneration" although the reason for this is unclear.. Possibly, the fact that he was Pope was sufficent reason.

Adrian III held the highest office in Western Christianity at a time when Europe was internally vulnerable due to rivalry between the heirs of Charlemagne, and when the threat of invasion by the newly emerging Muslim empire was also on the horizen. Given that the record books tell us very little about Adrian III, it is difficult to assess his legacy. However, he was canonized on June 2, 1891. His feast day is july 8. If Adrian did treat his opponents as harshly as the source cited above describes, it is difficult to understand why he is considered a saint. On the other hand, such punishments were commom place at the time. The source cited says that little is known as to "why he is venerated as a saint".

Roman Catholic Popes
Preceded by: Marinus I	Bishop of Rome 884–885	Succeeded by: Stephen V

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• 9th edition (1880s) of the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Cheetham, Sir Nicolas Keepers of the Keys: a history of the popes from St Peter to John Paul II, NY: Scribner, 1983 ISBN 9780684178639
• Duffy, Eamon Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997 ISBN 9780300073324
• Walsh, Michael J An Illustrated History of the Popes: St Peter to John Paul II, NY: St Martin's Press, 1980 ISBN 9780312408176

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