Adrian II (also known as
Hadrian II), (792–872),
popeThe pope is the Bishop of Rome and, as such, is leader of the worldwide Catholic Church...
from December 14, 867 to December 14, 872, was a member of a noble Roman family, and became pope in 867, at an advanced age.
He maintained, but with less energy, the attitude of his predecessor
Nicholas IPope Saint Nicholas I, , or Nicholas the Great, reigned from April 24, 858 until his death. He is remembered as a consolidator of papal authority and power, exerting decisive influence upon the historical development of the papacy and its position among the Christian nations of Western Europe, and...
.
Lothar IILothair II , was the second son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. He was married to Teutberga, daughter of Boso the Elder...
, king of
LotharingiaLotharingia was a region in northwest Europe, comprising the Low Countries, the western Rhineland, the lands today on the border between France and Germany, and what is now western Switzerland. It was born of the tripartite division in 855 of the kingdom of Middle Francia, itself formed of the...
, who died in 869 leaving Adrian to mediate between the
FrankishThe Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul...
kings with a view to assuring to the Emperor,
Louis IILouis II the Younger was the King of Italy from 844 and then Emperor from 855 until his death.He was the eldest son of the Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. He was designated King of Italy in 839 and took up his residence in that country and was crowned king at Rome by Pope Sergius II on...
, the heritage of Lothar II, Louis's brother.
Photius, the
Patriarch of Constantinople-Current Ecumenical Patriarch:The current Ecumenical Patriarch is His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople.-General Introduction:...
, shortly after the council in which he had pronounced sentence of deposition against
Pope Nicholas IPope Saint Nicholas I, , or Nicholas the Great, reigned from April 24, 858 until his death. He is remembered as a consolidator of papal authority and power, exerting decisive influence upon the historical development of the papacy and its position among the Christian nations of Western Europe, and...
, was driven from the patriarchate by a new emperor,
Basil the MacedonianBasil I, called the Macedonian was Byzantine emperor of Armenian origin from 867 to 886. Born a simple peasant in Thrace, he rose in the imperial court, and usurped the imperial throne from Michael III...
, who favoured his rival
IgnatiusIgnatius was a Russian Orthodox bishop of Greek descent who was the second Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia in 1605-1606, even though his status is now disputed and he is frequently omitted from the list of Patriarchs of Moscow by the Russian Orthodox Church.Ignatius was reported to be of...
. An ecumenical council (called by the Latins the 8th Ecumenical Council) was convoked as the
Fourth Council of ConstantinopleThe Fourth Council of Constantinople of 879-880 is believed to have been the Eighth Ecumenical Council by some Eastern Orthodox. Photios, a noble layman, had been appointed Patriarch of Constantinople but deposed by a Council of Constantinople called in 869 by Emperor Basil I the Macedonian and...
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 the jurisdiction over the
Bulgarian churchThe Bulgarian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6.8 million members in the Republic of Bulgaria and between 2.5 and 3.0 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas and Australia...
.
Like his predecessor Nicholas I, Adrian was forced to submit, in temporal affairs, to the interference of the emperor, Louis II, who placed him under the surveillance of Arsenius, bishop of
OrteOrte is a comune in the province of Viterbo, in the Italian region Latium Lazio, located about 60 km north of Rome and about 24 km east of Viterbo...
, his confidential adviser, and Arsenius's nephew
AnastasiusAnastasius Bibliothecarius was a librarian and supposed antipope of the Roman Catholic Church.- Family and education :He was a nephew of Bishop Arsenius of Orte, who executed important commissions as Papal legate....
, the librarian.
Adrian had in his youth married a woman named Stephania, by whom he had a daughter, and both were still living at his election, following which they lived with him in the Lateran Palace. They were carried off and assassinated by Anastasius's brother, Eleutherius, in 868.
Adrian died in 872 after exactly 5 years as pope.
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