Pope Urban IV (Latin:Urbanus; c. 1195 – 2 October 1264), bornJames Pantaleon (French:Jacques Pantaléon), was head of theCatholic Church and ruler of thePapal States from 29 August 1261 to his death three years later. He was elected pope without being acardinal; he was the first to be elected in such a way, and this would occur for only 5 more popes afterwards (Gregory X,Celestine V,Urban V,Clement V, andUrban VI).
Pantaléon returned from Jerusalem, which was in dire straits,[1] and was atViterbo seeking help for the oppressed Christians in the East when Alexander IV died. After athree-month vacancy, the eight cardinals of theSacred College chose him to succeed Alexander IV in apapal election on 29 August 1261. He chose the regnal name of Urban IV, and was crowned in the church ofSanta Maria a Gradi on September 4.[2]
He instituted thefeast ofCorpus Christi ("the Body of Christ") on 11 August 1264, with the publication of the papal bullTransiturus.[6][7] Urban askedThomas Aquinas, the Dominican theologian, to write the texts for the Mass and Office of the feast.[8] This included such famous hymns as thePange lingua, Tantum ergo, andPanis angelicus.
Urban became involved in the affairs ofDenmark.Jakob Erlandsen,Archbishop of Lund, wanted to make the Danish Church independent of the Royal power – which put him in direct confrontation with the Dowager QueenMargaret Sambiria, acting as regent for her son, KingEric V of Denmark. The Queen imprisoned the Archbishop, who responded by issuing aninterdict. Both sides sought the Pope's support. The Pope agreed to several requests from the Queen. He issued adispensation to alter the terms of the Danish succession to allow women to inherit the Danish throne. However, the main reasons of the conflict remained unsolved by Urban's death, with the case continuing at the papal court in Rome. The exiled Archbishop Erlandsen come personally to Italy seeking a solution.
However, the convoluted affairs of Denmark were a minor concern to the Pope. His attention was focussed on Italian affairs. During the previous pontificate, the long confrontation between the pope and the lateHohenstaufenGerman EmperorFrederick II had fed clashes between cities dominated by pro-ImperialGhibellines and those dominated by pro-papalGuelf factions. Frederick II's heirManfred was absorbed in these confrontations.
Urban's military captain was thecondottiere Azzo d'Este, who led a loose league of cities includingMantua andFerrara. The Hohenstaufen in Sicily had claims over the cities ofLombardy. To counter the influence of Manfred, Urban supportedCharles of Anjou in seizing theKingdom of Sicily, because he was amenable to papal control. Charles wasCount of Provence due to marriage and was very powerful.
Urban negotiated with Manfred over two years to seek his support to regain Constantinople in exchange for the papal recognition of his Kingdom. At the same time, the pope promised ships and men to Charles through a crusadingtithe. In exchange, Charles's promised not to lay claims on Imperial lands in northern Italy, nor in thePapal States. Charles also promised to restore the annualcensus or feudal tribute due the Pope as overlord, some 10,000 ounces of gold being agreed upon, while the Pope would work to blockConradin's election toKing of the Germans.
Urban IV died in Perugia on 2 October 1264,[9] before Charles' arrival in Italy. His successor,Pope Clement IV, provided continuity to his agreements.
Tannhäuser, a prominent GermanMinnesänger and poet, was a contemporary of Urban. Two centuries after the respective deaths, Pope Urban IV became a major character in a legend about the Minnesänger, which was first attested to exist in 1430 and became established in ballads from 1450.[10]
According to this account, Tannhäuser was a knight and poet who discoveredVenusberg, the underground home ofVenus, and spent a year there worshipping the goddess. After leaving Venusberg, Tannhäuser was filled with remorse and traveled toRome seeking Pope Urban IV's absolution of his sins. Urban replied that forgiving him would be as impossible as the papal staff growing leaves. Three days after Tannhäuser's departure, Urban's staff began growing leaves. The pope sent messengers seeking the knight, but he had already returned to Venusberg, never to be seen again.[11]
^abcdRunciman, Steven (2000).The Sicilian Vespers: A History of the Mediterranean Word in the Later Thirteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 54.ISBN978-0521437745.
^Torrell, Jean-Pierre (1996).Saint Thomas Aquinas. Catholic University of America Press. pp. 129–136.ISBN978-0813208527.
^Montaubin, Pascal (2004). "Bastard Nepotism: Niccolo di Anagni, a nephew of pope Gregory IX, andcamerarius of pope Alexander IV". In Andrews, Frances; Egger, Christoph; Rousseau, Constance (eds.).Pope, Church and City: Essays in Honour of Brenda M. Bolton. Brill. p. 158.ISBN90-04-14019-0.
^Barbara, Walters (2006).The Feast of Corpus Christi. Pennsylvania State University Press. p. 105.ISBN978-0271076386.
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