 |
|
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
(GIROLAMO MASCI)
Born atAscoli in theMarch of Ancona; died inRome, 4 April, 1292. He was ofhumble extraction, and at an early age entered theFranciscan Order. In 1272 he was sent as a delegate to Constantinople to invite the participation of the Greeks in theSecond Council of Lyons. Two years later he succeededSt. Bonaventure in the generalship of his order. While he was on a mission toFrance to promote the restoration of peace between that country and Castile, he was createdcardinal-priest with the title of Santa Pudenziana (1278) and in 1281Martin IV appointed himBishop ofPalestrina. After the death ofHonorius IV (3 April, 1287), theconclave held atRome was for a time hopelessly divided in its selection of a successor. When fever had carried off six of the electors, the others, with the sole exception of Girolamo, leftRome. It was not until the following year that they reassembled and on 15 February, 1288, unanimously elected him to thepapacy. Obedience and a second election however (22 February) were alone capable of overcoming his reluctance to accept the supreme pontificate. He was the firstFranciscanpope, and in loving remembrance ofNicholas III he assumed the name of Nicholas IV.
The reign of the newpope was not characterized by sufficient independence. The undue influence exercised atRome by the Colonna is especially noteworthy and was so apparent even during his lifetime that Roman wits represented him encased in a column — the distinctive mark of the Colonnafamily — out of which only his tiara-covered head emerged. The efforts ofRudolf of Habsburg to receive the imperial crown at the hands of the newpope were not successful. His failure was partly due to the estrangement consequent upon the attitude assumed by thepope in the question of theSicilian succession. Asfeudal suzerain of the kingdom, Nicholas annulled the treaty, concluded in 1288 through the mediation of Edward I ofEngland, which confirmed James ofAragon in the possession of the island, He lent his support to the rival claims of the House of Anjou andcrowned Charles II King ofSicily andNaples atRieti, 29 May, 1289, after the latter had expressly acknowledged the suzerainty of theApostolic See and promised not to accept any municipal dignity in theStates of the Church. The action of thepope did not end the armed struggle for the possession ofSicily nor did it secure the kingdom permanently to the House of Anjou.Rudolf of Habsburg also failed to obtain from thepope the repeal of the authorization, granted the French king, to levytithes in certain German districts for the prosecution of thewar against the House ofAragon. When he appointed his son Albert to succeed Ladislaus IV ofHungary (31 August, 1290), Nicholas claimed the realm as apapal fief and conferred it uponCharles Martel, son of Charles II ofNaples.
In 1291 the fall of Ptolemais put an end toChristian dominion in the East. Previous to this tragic event, Nicholas had in vain endeavoured to organize acrusade. He now called upon all theChristian princes to take up arms against theMussulman and instigated the holding of councils to devise the means of sending assistance to the Holy Land. Thesesynods were to discuss likewise the advisability of the union of theKnights Templars and Knights of St. John, as the dissensions among them had partly caused the loss of Ptolemais. Thepope himself initiated the preparations for thecrusade and fitted out twenty ships for thewar. His appeals and his example remained unheeded, however, and nothing of permanent value was accomplished.
Nicholas IV sent missionaries, among them the celebratedJohn of Montecorvino, to theBulgarians,Ethiopians, Tatars, and Chinese. By his constitution of 18 July, 1289, thecardinals were granted one half of the revenues of theApostolic See and a share in the financial administration. In 1290 he renewed the condemnation of thesect known as the Apostolici. Nicholas waspious and learned; he contributed to the artistic beauty ofRome, building particularly a palace beside Santa Maria Maggiore, the church in which he was buried and whereSixtus V erected an imposing monument to his memory.
LANGLOIS,Les Registres de Nicolas IV (Paris, 1886-93); POTTHAST,Regesta pontificum Romanorum, II (Berlin, 1875), 1826-1915; KALTENBRUNNER,Aktenstücke zur Gesch, des Deutschen Reiches unter Rudolf I und Albrecht I (Vienna, 1889); REUMONT,Gesch, der Stadt Rom, II (Berlin, 1867), 611-14; SCHIFF,Studien zur Gesch. Papst Nikolaus, IV (Berlin, 1897); MASSI,Niccolò IV (Sinigaglia, 1905); SCHAFF,History of the Christian Church, V, pt. I (New York, 1907), 207, 287, 410.
APA citation.Weber, N.(1911).Pope Nicholas IV. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11057a.htm
MLA citation.Weber, Nicholas."Pope Nicholas IV."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 11.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1911.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11057a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Douglas J. Potter.Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmasterat newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.