Pope Martin IV

Pope Martin IV
Papacy began	22 February 1281
Papacy ended	28 March 1285
Predecessor	Nicholas III
Successor	Honorius IV
Orders
Created Cardinal	17 December 1261 by Urban IV
Personal details
Birth name	Simon de Brion
Born	c. 1210–1220 Touraine, Kingdom of France
Died	28 March 1285(1285-03-28) Perugia, Papal States
Previous post	Cardinal-Priest of Santa Cecilia (1261-1281)
Coat of arms
Other popes named Martin

Papal styles of Pope Martin IV
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	None

Pope Martin IV, (Latin: Martinus IV; c. 1210/1220 – 28 March 1285), born Simon de Brion, was Pope from 22 February 1281^[1] to his death in 1285.

Simon de Brion, son of Jean, sieur de Brion, was born at the château of Meinpincien,^[2] Île-de-France, France, in the decade following 1210. The seigneurial family of Brion, who took their name from Brion near Joigny, flourished in the Brie français.^[3] He spent time at the University of Paris, and is said to have then studied law at Padua and Bologna. Through papal favour he received a canonry at Saint-Quentin in 1238 and spent the period 1248–1259 as a canon of the cathedral chapter in Rouen, finally as archdeacon.^[4] At the same time he was appointed treasurer of the church of St. Martin in Tours by King Louis IX of France, an office he held until he was elected pope in 1281. In 1259, he was appointed to the council of the king, who made him keeper of the great seal, chancellor of France, one of the great officers in the household of the king.

In December 1261,^[5] the new French Pope, Urban IV made him cardinal-priest, with the titulus of the church of St. Cecilia. This entailed Simon de Brion's residence in Rome.

He returned to France as a legate for Urban IV and also for his successor Pope Clement IV in 1264–1269 and again in 1274–1279 under Pope Gregory X. He became deeply involved in the negotiations for papal support for the assumption of the crown of Sicily by Charles of Anjou. As legate he presided over several synods on reform, the most important of which was held at Bourges in September 1276.

Six months after the death of Pope Nicholas III in 1280, Charles of Anjou intervened in the papal election at Viterbo by imprisoning two influential Italian cardinals on the grounds that they were interfering with the election. Without their opposition, Simon de Brion was unanimously elected to the papacy, taking the name Martin IV,^[6] on 22 February 1281.

Viterbo was placed under interdict for the imprisonment of the cardinals and Rome was not at all inclined to accept a hated Frenchman as Pope, so Martin IV was crowned instead at Orvieto on 23 March 1281.

Dependent on Charles of Anjou in nearly everything, the new Pope quickly appointed him to the position of (Western) Roman Senator. At the insistence of Charles, Martin IV excommunicated the Eastern Roman Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus, who stood in the way of Charles's plans to restore the Latin Empire of the East that had been established in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade. He thus broke the tenuous union which had been reached between the Greek and the Latin Churches at the Second Council of Lyons in 1274 and further compromise was rendered impossible.

In 1282, Charles was overthrown in the violent massacre known as the Sicilian Vespers. The Sicilians had elected Peter III of Aragon as their king and sought papal confirmation in vain, though they were willing to reconfirm Sicily as a vassal state of the papacy. Martin IV used all the spiritual and material resources at his command against the Aragonese in order to preserve Sicily for the House of Anjou. He excommunicated Peter III, declared his kingdom of Aragon forfeit, and ordered a crusade against him,^[7] but it was all in vain.

With the death of his protector Charles of Anjou on 7 January 1285, Martin was unable to remain at Rome. He died at Perugia on 28 March 1285.

Among the seven cardinals created by Martin IV was Benedetto Gaetano, who afterwards ascended the papal throne as Pope Boniface VIII.

In the Divine Comedy, Dante sees Martin IV in Purgatory, where the reader is reminded of the former pontiff's fondness for Lake Bolsena eels and Vernaccia wine.

Notes

References

• Catholic Encyclopedia "Pope Martin IV"
• Salvador Miranda, "The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church": Martin's seven cardinals

Popes of the Catholic Church List of popes canonised Tombs extant non-extant Antipope Pope emeritus Papal resignation Pope-elect 1st–4th centuries Peter Linus Anacletus Clement I Evaristus Alexander I Sixtus I Telesphorus Hyginus Pius I Anicetus Soter Eleuterus Victor I Zephyrinus Callixtus I Urban I Pontian Anterus Fabian Cornelius Lucius I Stephen I Sixtus II Dionysius Felix I Eutychian Caius Marcellinus Marcellus I Eusebius Miltiades Sylvester I Mark Julius I Liberius Damasus I Siricius Anastasius I 5th–8th centuries Innocent I Zosimus Boniface I Celestine I Sixtus III Leo I Hilarius Simplicius Felix III Gelasius I Anastasius II Symmachus Hormisdas John I Felix IV Boniface II John II Agapetus I Silverius Vigilius Pelagius I John III Benedict I Pelagius II Gregory I Sabinian Boniface III Boniface IV Adeodatus I Boniface V Honorius I Severinus John IV Theodore I Martin I Eugene I Vitalian Adeodatus II Donus Agatho Leo II Benedict II John V Conon Sergius I John VI John VII Sisinnius Constantine Gregory II Gregory III Zachary Stephen II Paul I Stephen III Adrian I Leo III 9th–12th centuries Stephen IV Paschal I Eugene II Valentine Gregory IV Sergius II Leo IV Benedict III Nicholas I Adrian II John VIII Marinus I Adrian III Stephen V Formosus Boniface VI Stephen VI Romanus Theodore II John IX Benedict IV Leo V Sergius III Anastasius III Lando John X Leo VI Stephen VII John XI Leo VII Stephen VIII Marinus II Agapetus II John XII Benedict V Leo VIII John XIII Benedict VI Benedict VII John XIV John XV Gregory V Sylvester II John XVII John XVIII Sergius IV Benedict VIII John XIX Benedict IX Sylvester III Benedict IX Gregory VI Clement II Benedict IX Damasus II Leo IX Victor II Stephen IX Nicholas II Alexander II Gregory VII Victor III Urban II Paschal II Gelasius II Callixtus II Honorius II Innocent II Celestine II Lucius II Eugene III Anastasius IV Adrian IV Alexander III Lucius III Urban III Gregory VIII Clement III Celestine III Innocent III 13th–16th centuries Honorius III Gregory IX Celestine IV Innocent IV Alexander IV Urban IV Clement IV Gregory X Innocent V Adrian V John XXI Nicholas III Martin IV Honorius IV Nicholas IV Celestine V Boniface VIII Benedict XI Clement V John XXII Benedict XII Clement VI Innocent VI Urban V Gregory XI Urban VI Boniface IX Innocent VII Gregory XII Martin V Eugene IV Nicholas V Callixtus III Pius II Paul II Sixtus IV Innocent VIII Alexander VI Pius III Julius II Leo X Adrian VI Clement VII Paul III Julius III Marcellus II Paul IV Pius IV Pius V Gregory XIII Sixtus V Urban VII Gregory XIV Innocent IX Clement VIII 17th–20th centuries Leo XI Paul V Gregory XV Urban VIII Innocent X Alexander VII Clement IX Clement X Innocent XI Alexander VIII Innocent XII Clement XI Innocent XIII Benedict XIII Clement XII Benedict XIV Clement XIII Clement XIV Pius VI Pius VII Leo XII Pius VIII Gregory XVI Pius IX Leo XIII Pius X Benedict XV Pius XI Pius XII John XXIII Paul VI John Paul I John Paul II 21st century Benedict XVI Francis Book Category Pope portal Catholicism portal

Catholic Church Organizations, papacy, teachings and liturgical traditions History Jesus Twelve Apostles Early Christianity History of the papacy Ecumenical Councils Missions Great Schism of East Crusades Great Schism of West Protestant Reformation Counter-Reformation Catholic Church by country Vatican City index Hierarchy Pope Cardinals Patriarchs Major Archbishops Primates Metropolitans Archbishops Diocesan Bishops Coadjutor Bishops Auxiliary Bishops Titular Bishops Bishops Emeriti Theology Body and Soul Divine Grace Dogma One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church Original sin Salvation Sermon on the Mount The Ten Commandments Trinity Worship Sacraments Anointing of the Sick Baptism Confirmation Eucharist Holy Orders Matrimony Penance Mariology Roman Catholic Mariology Assumption History of Mariology Immaculate Conception Mariology of the popes Mariology of the saints Mother of God Perpetual Virginity Veneration Doctors of the Church Gregory the Great Ambrose Augustine of Hippo Jerome John Chrysostom Basil of Caesarea Gregory of Nazianzus Athanasius of Alexandria Cyril of Alexandria Cyril of Jerusalem John of Damascus Bede the Venerable Ephrem the Syrian Thomas Aquinas Bonaventure Anselm of Canterbury Isidore of Seville Peter Chrysologus Leo the Great Peter Damian Bernard of Clairvaux Hilary of Poitiers Alphonsus Liguori Francis de Sales Peter Canisius John of the Cross Robert Bellarmine Albertus Magnus Anthony of Padua Lawrence of Brindisi Teresa of Ávila Catherine of Siena Thérèse of Lisieux John of Ávila Hildegard of Bingen Gregory of Narek Pope Francis Conclave Inauguration Theology Canonizations Visits Preceding popes Pope Benedict XVI Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul I Pope Paul VI Pope John XXIII Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XI Pope Benedict XV Pope Pius X Pope Leo XIII Religious institutes and similar Assumptionists Augustinians Benedictines Capuchin Order Carmelites Carthusians Congregations of Holy Cross Dominican Order Franciscan orders Jesuits Oratory of Saint Philip Neri Vatican II Definition of the Church Dei verbum Gaudium et spes Lumen gentium Nostra aetate Sacrosanctum Concilium Particular Churches and liturgical rites Alexandrian Coptic Ethiopic Eritrean Ethiopian Antiochian Maronite Syriac Syro-Malankara Armenian Armenian Byzantine Albanian Belarusian Bulgarian Croatian Greek Hungarian Italo-Albanian Macedonian Melkite Romanian Russian Ruthenian Slovak Ukrainian East Syrian Chaldean Syro-Malabar Latin Roman Anglican Use Sarum Ambrosian Mozarabic Catholicism portal Pope portal