Adrian IV or Hadrian, originally Nicolas Breakspear 1100-59
English cleric and pope

Born in Abbots Langley, near St Albans, Hertfordshire, he was educated at Merton Priory and Avignon. He became a monk himself in the monastery of St Rufus, near Avignon, and in 1137 was elected its abbot. Complaints about his strictness led to a summons to Rome, where the pope, Eugenius III, recognized his qualities and appointed him Cardinal-Bishop of Albano in 1146. In 1152 he was sent as Papal Legate to Scandinavia to reorganize the Church, where he earned fame as the 'Apostle of the North'. He was elected pope in 1154, the only Englishman to attain the title. One of his early acts is said to have been the issue of a controversial Bull granting Ireland to Henry II. Faced with rebellion in Rome fomented by Arnold of Brescia, he excommunicated the whole city until Arnold was expelled (he was later executed). He also excommunicated the powerful William I, the Bad, of Sicily, but was later glad to accept him as an ally. In 1155 he crowned Frederick I, Barbarossa as Holy Roman Emperor in front of his massed army in a show of strength in support of the papacy, but their relationship quickly deteriorated when Adrian tried to impose feudal power over him. For the rest of his papacy Adrian was engaged in a bitter struggle with Frederick for supremacy in Europe.