Pope Adrian VI

Adrian VI
Birth name	Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens
Papacy began	January 9, 1522
Papacy ended	September 14, 1523
Predecessor	Leo X
Successor	Clement VII
Born	March 2 1459(1459-03-02) Utrecht, Holy Roman Empire
Died	September 14 1523 (aged 64) Rome, Papal States
Other popes named Adrian

Pope Adrian VI (Utrecht, March 2, 1459 – September 14, 1523), born Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens, served as Bishop of Rome from January 9, 1522 until his death some 18 months later. The only Dutchman to become pope, he was the last non-Italian pope until John Paul II, 456 years later.

Born in the Netherlands, he at the University of Louvain in France. After being ordained as a priest he rose at the University to the position of professor of theology, then chancellor and finally rector. In 1507, he became the tutor of the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who later trusted him as both his emissary and his regent.

In 1516, Adrian became bishop of Tortosa, Spain and was soon appointed grand inquisitor of the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. He was appointed cardinal by Leo X in 1517 and elected pope in 1522 as a compromise candidate after Leo's death.

Adrian came to the papacy in the midst of one of its greatest crises, threatened not only by Lutheranism to the north by by the advance of the Ottoman Turks to east. He is noted for having attempting to reform the Catholic Church administratively in response to the Protestant Reformation. He refused to compromise with Lutheranism theologically, however, and demanded Luther's condemnation as a heretic. His efforts to reform corruption within the Roman Church were also fruitless, as they were resisted by most of his Renaissance ecclesiastical contemporaries, and he did not live long enough to see his efforts through.

Early life and career

Adrian IV was born Adriaan Florisz Boeyens under modest circumstances in the city of Utrecht, which was then the capital of the bishopric of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Utrecht was at that time part of the Holy Roman Empire, which was largely populated by Germans was largely inhabited by Germans, and for this reason he is sometimes regarded as a German pope, although culturally and ethnically he was clearly a Dutchman.

Adrian was probably born in a house on the corner of the Brandsteeg and Oude Gracht that was owned by his grandfather Boudewijn (Boeyen for short). His father was Floris/Florens Boeyens van Utrecht, also born in Utrecht, and his mother's name was Gertruid. His father, a carpenter and likely shipwright, died when Adrian was 10 years or younger.

Adrian studied from a very young age under the Brethren of the Common Life, either at Zwolle or Deventer. He was also a student of the Latin school (now Gymnasium Celeanum) in Zwolle. In June 1476, he started his studies at the University of Louvain, where he pursued philosophy, theology and Canon Law, due to a scholarship granted by Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy. He earned a Doctor of theology in 1491, becamedean of St. Peter's church in Louvain, and later vice-chancellor of the university. His lectures were recreated and published from the notes of his students one of whom was the young Erasmus of Rotterdam.

In 1507 Adrian was appointed tutor to Emperor Maximilian I's (1493 – 1519) seven year old grandson, Charles, who was later to become Emperor Charles V (1519 – 56). In 1515 Adrian was sent to Spain on a diplomatic errand, and after his arrival at the imperial court in Toledo became bishop of Tortosa. November 14, 1516 was commissioned asInquisitor General of the kingdom of Aragon. The following year, Pope Leo X (1513 – 21) created Adrian a cardinal and gave him charge of the basilica of Saints John and Paul.

Pope Adrian VI's birthplace in Utrecht

During the minority of Charles V, Adrian was named to serve with Francisco Cardinal Jimenez de Cisneros as co-regent of Spain. After the death of the Jimenez, Adrian was appointed (March 14, 1518) general of the unified Inquisitions of Castile and Aragon, in which capacity he acted until his departure for Rome.

After being elected emperor in 1519, Charles V left for the Netherlands in 1520 and appointed the future pope regent of Spain. During this time he had to deal with the Revolt of the Comuneros, which lasted nearly a year until the Battle of Villalar on April 23, 1521, after which the rebel leaders were beheaded.

Adrian's papacy

After the death of the Medici Pope Leo X, his cousin, Cardinal Giulio de' Medici was the leading candidate to succeed him. However, with Spanish and French cardinals in a deadlock, the absent Adrian was proposed as a compromise candidate. He was thus elected pope on January 9, 1522 by an almost unanimous vote.

Charles V was delighted upon hearing that his old tutor had been elected to the papacy, but soon realized that Adrian VI was determined to reign impartially. Francis I of France, who feared that Adrian would become a tool of the emperor, and threatened a schism but soon relented and sent an embassy to present his homage. Adrian left Spain for Italy at the earliest opportunity, making his solemn entry into Rome on August 29, 1522. He was crowned in St. Peter's Basilica on August 31 at the age of 63.

After arrive in Rome, Adrian immediately instituted reforms with a very resistant papal court. He also had to contend with the Lutheran revolt in Germany, while at the same time dealing with the threat of the Turks, who already controlled Belgrade and now threatened Hungary.

Adrian's plan was to attack notorious abuses one by one, beginning with the practice of selling indulgences. In this attempt, however, he was hampered by his cardinals, who needed the money. He also found that reducing the number of dispensations to divorce and remarry was impossible as the income from these had been already advanced Pope Leo X by local authorities.

The Italian nobility, meanwhile, tended to view Adrian a pedantic foreign professor and even as a bit of a barbarian who was blind to the beauty of classical antiquity. Musicians such as Carpentras, the composer and singer from Avignon who was master of the papal chapel under Leo X, left Rome due to Adrian VI's indifference to the arts.

Adrian was also unsuccessful as a peacemaker among Christian princes, whom he hoped to unite in a war against the Turks. In August 1523, he was forced into an alliance with the Empire, England, and Venice against France. Meanwhile, in 1522 the Sultan Suleiman I (1520 – 66) had conquered Rhodes, giving the Ottomans strategic dominance in the eastern Mediterranean.

In his reaction to the early stages of the Lutheran revolt, Adrian apparently did not full comprehend the gravity of the situation. At the Diet of Nuremberg, which opened in December 1522, instructed his emisary, Francesco Chiericati, to the effect that the Roman Church was indeed in need of reform on administrative issues like indulgences and the corruption of the clergy. However, as a former head of the Inquisition, he refused any compromise on doctrinal issues, and demanded that Luther be punished for teaching heresy.

Death and legacy

Adrian VI died on 14 September 1523, after a somewhat brief tenure. He was succeeded by Clement VII, one of the Medici pope under whom the Adrian's attempts at reform would not be continued and the Protestant Reformation would win many adherents and lands in northern Europe.

Most of Adrian's official papers were lost after his death. However, the statement in one of his works that a pope may err, privately or in a minor decree, including matters of faith, attracted attention. Catholics claim that it was a private opinion, not an official pronouncement and therefore does not conflict with the dogma of papal infallibility. Catholic apologists point to the fact that Adrian VI merely theoreticised about the issue.

Adrian plays a minor role in The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, a famous play by Christopher Marlowe. Italian writer Luigi Malerba used the confusion among the leaders of the Catholic Church, which was created by Adrian's unexpected election, as backdrop for his 1995 novel, Le maschere (The Masks), about the struggle between two Roman cardinals for a well-endowed church office.

See also

• Pasquinade
• The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Luther Martin. Luther's Correspondence and Other Contemporary Letters, 2 vols., tr.and ed. by Preserved Smith, Charles Michael Jacobs, The Lutheran Publication Society, Philadelphia, Pa. 1913, 1918. vol.I (1507-1521) and vol.2 (1521-1530) from Google Books. Reprint of Vol.1, Wipf & Stock Publishers (March 2006). ISBN 1-59752-601-0
• Gross, Ernie. This Day In Religion. New York:Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc, 1990. ISBN 1-55570-045-4.
• Malerba Luigi. e maschere, Milan: A. Mondadori, 1995. ISBN 88-04-39366-1

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Hadrianus VI

• Pope Adrian VI Catholic Encyclopedia
• Pope Adrian VI to Francesco Chieregati, Nov. 25, 1522[1] Re: Luther, corruption in the Catholic Church, the need for reform, etc.
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Roman Catholic Popes
Preceded by: Leo X	Pope 1522–23	Succeeded by: Clement VII

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