November 1154
YE OLDEN TIMES CORONATION OF ENGLISH POPE – ADRIAN IV
Following the death of ninety year old Pope Anastasius IV this month, the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Empire unanimously voted the highly successful Bishop and Cardinal Nicholas Breakspear to the position of Pope, leader of the Catholic Church, born 1100 in Bedmond, Hertfordshire, England.
King Henry II of England, son of French King William I has sent his sincere best wishes to the new Pope and his family in Abbots Langley. The proud father is local man Richard de Camera, monk at our Benedictine Abbey of St. Albans. Nicholas studied at St. Albans School. The Archdeacon of Canterbury, Thomas Beckett who some say will be the future head of the Catholic church in England, has expressed his delight that such an honest and accomplished diplomat as Nicholas has achieved such heights. Nicholas left England in 1120 for France. He eventually became Abbot of the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Ruf in Avignon. It was at St. Ruf where he adopted the Latin name Hastifragus or Breakspear. In 1149, Pope Eugenius III invited Nicholas to Rome where he became Bishop of Albano. This made him the second English Cardinal ever. From 1152 – 1154, with the Pope’s authority, he went to Scandinavia where for the first time the Norwegian church was allowed to organise themselves independently of Germany. Messages of congratulations have been sent from Frederick I of Germany, William of Sicily, Henry II of England and from all over the world. ___________________________________________________________