Pope Martin IV

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Pope Martin IV (c. 1210 – March 28, 1285), born Simon de Brie (or Brion), held the papacy from February 21, 1281 until his death.

Simon de Brie was born in France at Château Montpensier in the province of Touraine (near Tours), in about 1210. He spent a brief period as a priest in Rouen, then served as canon and treasurer at the church of St. Martin in Tours.

In 1260, he was made chancellor of France by Louis IX of France (1226–70).

In December 1262, he was made cardinal-priest (with the titulus of the church of St. Cecilia) by Pope Urban IV (1261–64).

He returned to France as a legate for Urban IV and also for his successor Pope Clement IV (1265–68) in the negotiations for papal support for the assumption of the crown of Sicily by Charles of Anjou, with whom he became deeply politically entwined. Later, Pope Gregory X (1271–76) sent him again to France as legate to stem the abuses of the Catholic Church there; there 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 (1277–80) in 1280, Charles of Anjou intervened in the papal conclave at Viterbo by imprisoning two influential Italian cardinals, on the grounds that they were interfering with the election. Without their opposition, Simon de Brie was unanimously elected to the papacy, taking the name Martin IV, on February 22, 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 March 23, 1281. Though he was only the second Pope to choose the name Martin, in the 13th century the papal chancery misread the names of the two popes Marinus as Martin (EB, "Brie") so he is now known as Martin IV, the Popes Marinus I (882–884) and Marinus II (942–946) being listed as Martins.

Dependent on Charles of Anjou in nearly everything, the new Pope quickly appointed him to the position of Roman Senator. At the insistence of Charles, Martin IV excommunicated the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus (1261–82), who stood in the way of Charles' 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 (1276–85) 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, trying to preserve Sicily for the House of Anjou. He excommunicated Peter III, declared his kingdom of Aragon forfeit, and ordered a crusade against him, but it was all in vain.

With the death of his protector Charles d'Anjou, Martin was unable to remain at Rome. Pope Martin IV died at Perugia on March 28, 1285.

Among the seven cardinals created by Martin IV was Benedetto Gaetano, who afterwards ascended the papal throne as the famous Pope Boniface VIII (1294–1303).

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

(Note on numbering: When the second Pope to take the name Martin was elected, there was confusion over how many Popes had taken the name before. It was believed at the time that there were three, so the second Pope named Martin was called IV. But really, those believed to be Martin II and Martin III were actually called Marinus I and Marinus II, though they are sometimes still known as Martin II and Martin III. This has advanced the numbering of all subsequent Popes Martin by two. Popes Martin IV-V are really the second through third popes by that name.)

References

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

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