Pope Alexander IV
ALEXANDER IV (Rinaldo) (?-
May 25,
1261,
pope from
1254, was, like
Innocent III and
Gregory IX, a member of the family of the
counts of Segni. His uncle Gregory IX made him cardinal deacon
in
1227 and cardinal bishop of
Ostia in
1231. On the death of
Innocent IV he was elected pope at
Naples on
December 12,
1254. He is described as a stout man, kindly, cheerful, but of no great brilliancy. He succeeded Innocent IV as guardian of
Conradin, the last of the
Hohenstaufen, promising him his benevolent protection; but in less than a fortnight he conspired against him and bitterly opposed Conradin's uncle
Manfred. Alexander fulminated with
excommunication and interdict against the party of Manfred, but in vain; nor could he enlist the kings of
England and
Norway in a
crusade against the Hohenstaufen.
Rome itself became too
Ghibelline for the pope,
who withdrew to
Viterbo, where he died in
1261. His pontificate was signalized by efforts to unite
the
Eastern Orthodox and
Roman Catholic churches, by the establishment of the
Inquisition in
France, by favours shown to the mendicant orders,
and by an attempt to organize a crusade against the
Tatars.
Reference
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