Adrian IV elected pope
December 4, 1154
Nicholas Breakspear, a poor English priest who had worked his way to the top of a Provencal monastery and been used as a papal diplomat, was elected the first and so far only English pope. He would spend his reign wrestling with Barbarossa and a Roman republic. Adrian's remarkable ascent from a Hertfordshire village to the throne of St. Peter remains one of the most improbable careers in medieval ecclesiastical history.
In context
Also in 1154 (3 other events on record)
- Henry II crowned King of England · Europe · Politics
- Al-Idrisi completes the Book of Roger · Europe · Science
- Adrian IV grants Ireland to Henry II · Europe · Religion
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Religion
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources