On 26 September 1255, Alexander IV canonized SaintClare of Assisi, founder of the religious order for women called thePoor Clares.[2] On 29 October 1255, in thepapal bullBenigna Operatio, Alexander declared "his own knowledge" of thestigmata attributed to SaintFrancis of Assisi.[3][4]
In 1256, Alexander IV condemned theories ofJoachim of Fiore,[5] amillenarian prophet who had died in 1202 and whose ideas were taken up by theFraticelli strand of theFranciscan Order. On the basis of his interpretation of theBook of Revelation, Joachim had postulated that 1260 would see the beginning of aThird 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 theCult of the Holy Spirit which had a major impact inPortugal and its colonies.
The pontiff also, on 27 September 1258, declared in the bullQuod super nonnullis that "divination or sorcery" was not to be investigated by Inquisitors of the Church, who were tasked with investigatingheresy. 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,[9] shortly before his death, Innocent IV had granted Sicily, a papal fiefdom, toEdmund, second son ofKing Henry III of England. Alexander confirmed the grant on 9 April 1255,[10] in return for 2,000 troy ounces (62 kg) of gold per annum, the service of 300 knights for three months when required, and 135,541marks (about 32 tonnes ofsilver) to reimburse the pope for the money he had expended attempting to oustManfred 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 theSecond Barons' War.[12] In 1256, when relations between the two men were strained, Alexander firmly rejected Henry's choice ofArchbishop 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 theProvisions of Oxford, which was instrumental in the War.[13]
Alexander IV succeeded Innocent IV as guardian ofConradin, the last of theHohenstaufens, promising him protection; but in less than three weeks he conspired against him[clarification needed] and bitterly opposed Conradin's uncleManfred.[14] Alexander IV threatenedexcommunication andinterdict against the party of Manfred without effect. Nor could he enlist the kings of England and Norway in a crusade against the Hohenstaufens. Rome itself became tooGhibelline for the Pope, who withdrew toViterbo, where he died on 25 May 1261.[15] He was buried inViterbo Cathedral, buthis tomb was destroyed during sixteenth-century renovations.
^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.
^A. Tomassetti (ed.),Bullarum, Diplomatum et Privilegiorum Sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum Taurensis editio (Turin 1858), pp. 620–624, no. XX.
^A. Tomassetti (ed.),Bullarum, Diplomatum et Privilegiorum Sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum Taurensis editio (Turin 1858), pp. 626–627, no. XXII.
^Knox-Little, W.J. (1897).St. Francis of Assisi: His Times, Life and Work: Lectures Delivered in Substance in the Ladye Chapel of Worcester Cathedral in the Lent of 1896. London: Isbister.OCLC228784312.
^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.
^J. R. Maddicott,The Origins of the English Parliament, 924–1327, Oxford University press, 2010, p. 235
^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.
^P. Touron, "Alexandre IV contre Manfred,"Le Moyen Âge 69 (1963), pp. 391–399.
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.].
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.ISBN978-8473590471.
Raoul Manselli, "Alessandro IV,"Dizionario dei Papi (2000).
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