Breakspear (eBook)

Anacletus II, Pope

When Pope Honorius died in 1130 two popes were elected: Innocent II and Anacletus, who was backed by the German Emperor Lothair III (1125–37). However, supported by Bernard of Clairvaux, Innocent won the recognition of most European countries. Anacletus died in 1138.

Anastasius IV, Pope

The 80-year-old Anastasius was elected pope in 1153 after the death of Pope Eugenius III. He reigned for only seventeen months, succeeded in 1154 by Breakspear as Pope Adrian IV.

Arnold of Brescia

Born in Brescia around 1090, Arnold was a priest who studied under Peter Abelard. He became radicalised and campaigned for the Church to renounce wealth. He became the leader of the rebel Commune of Rome and was hanged in 1155.

Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot

Nobly born in Burgundy in 1090, Bernard founded Clairvaux Abbey in 1115. He defended the Church against heresy and was the driving force behind the Second Crusade. He died in 1153 and was canonised in 1174.

Boso, Cardinal

Boso was an Italian prelate serving in the Curia, and Cardinal of SS Cosma e Damiano from 1156; he died in 1178. He was chamberlain to Pope Adrian and one of his closest advisers.

Conrad III, King of Germany

Born around 1093, Conrad became King of Germany in 1138, using the title of Roman Emperor although he was never crowned as such. He died in 1152 and was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick Barbarossa. Together with Louis VII of France, he had led the disastrous Second Crusade.

Eskil of Lund, Archbishop

Born to an aristocratic Danish family around 1100, Eskil entered Church service in 1131, succeeding his uncle as Archbishop of Lund in 1137. A close follower of St Bernard of Clairvaux, he resigned his archbishopric in 1177, retiring to the Abbey of Clairvaux, where he died in 1181.

Eugenius III, Pope

Bernard of Pisa was born in 1080 and became a Cistercian monk at Clairvaux Abbey in 1138; he was pope from 1145 to 1153. He was a gentle man guided by his mentor, St Bernard of Clairvaux. Eugenius brought Breakspear into the Curia.

Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor

Born in 1122, Frederick was King of Germany 1152–90 and Holy Roman Emperor 1155–90. His forays attempting to restore imperial control in Italy dominated Adrian’s papacy.

Gregory VII, Pope

An Italian, born of peasant stock in 1015, Hildebrand of Sovana became Archdeacon of Rome in 1049 and reigned as pope from 1073 to 1085. He was a champion of papal supremacy, insisting that only the pope could appoint bishops.

Guido of Biandrate

An Italian count who controlled Novara, some 30 miles west of Milan, Guido was among the defenders of Milan in 1158 when it surrendered to Emperor Frederick. Nonetheless, he retained Frederick’s favour.

Henry I, King of England

The fourth son of William the Conqueror, Henry was born c. 1068 and reigned from 1100 to 1135. He seized the throne when William Rufus died in a hunting accident while his elder brother Robert Curthose was away on the First Crusade.

Henry II, King of England

Born in 1133, the son of Geoffrey of Anjou and Empress Matilda, Henry was the first Plantagenet King of England from 1154 until 1189, also ruling much of north-west France. He married Eleanor of Aquitaine after she had divorced King Louis VII of France.

Henry IV, King of Germany

Born in 1050, Henry was King of Germany 1054–1105 and Holy Roman Emperor 1084–1105. He sought to extend his control in Italy, pitting himself against Pope Gregory VII. The struggle between emperor and pope, centred on the power to appoint bishops, was called the ‘Investiture Controversy’.

Henry the Lion

Born c. 1129, Henry was Duke of Saxony from 1142 to 1180 and Duke of Bavaria from 1156 to 1180. A cousin of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and a noted soldier, he married Matilda, the daughter of King Henry II of England. He died in 1195.

Inge, King of Norway

One of the three sons of King Harald of Norway, (1130–36) he was born in 1135 and nicknamed ‘Inge the Hunchback’. He ruled mostly alongside his brothers Eystein and Sigurd but outlived them both. He died in 1161 during a battle with his brother Sigurd’s son, who succeeded him as King Haakon.

Innocent II, Pope

Innocent II was one of two popes elected in 1130, and, with the support of Bernard of Clairvaux, eventually prevailed over his rival Antipope Anacletus II. He reigned from 1130 to 1143, spending much of this time in exile in France.

John of Salisbury

John Little, born in Salisbury around 1110, moved to France in 1136 to study in Paris and Chartres. He was a noted writer and philosopher and became a close friend to Breakspear. After 1148 he became secretary to Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury, and later Thomas Becket. He became Bishop of Chartres in 1176 and died in 1180.

Jon Birgensson, Archbishop

Jon was the Bishop of Stavanger when Breakspear arrived in Norway, and was chosen by the cardinal as the first Archbishop of Nidaros. He died in 1157.

Louis VII, King of France

Born in 1120, Louis was King of France from 1137 to 1180. His first wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, later married King Henry II of England. He was joint leader of the failed Second Crusade.

Manuel Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor

Manuel was born in 1118 and ruled as Byzantine Emperor from 1143 to 1180. He was keen to restore the Byzantine Empire to its former glories and in particular to re-establish a hold on the Italian mainland and to oust the Normans from Sicily.

Matilda, Empress

Born in 1102, Matilda was the daughter of King Henry I of England and the widow of Emperor Henry V of Germany (1111–25). She later married Geoffrey of Anjou. She contested the English crown with King Stephen but it was her son, Henry II, who succeeded Stephen in 1154. She died in 1167.

Michael Palaeologus

A scion of a noble Byzantine family, Michael was sent to Italy by Emperor Manuel to regain former Byzantine holdings in Apulia on the Italian mainland. He died of natural causes during the fighting against King William I at Bari in 1155.

Octavian, Cardinal

Octavian was a member of the powerful Tusculum family in Italy, which had long supported the German emperors. He was appointed Cardinal of Santa Cecilia in 1151. After the death of Pope Adrian in 1159 a minority of the cardinals elected him Antipope Victor IV, with the strong support of Emperor Frederick. He died in 1164.

Otto of Freising

A German Cistercian and chronicler, Otto lived from 1114 to 1158. He was noble born, an uncle of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and his biographer.

Otto of Wittelsbach

Otto was one of Emperor Frederick’s most loyal and leading knights. After Henry the Lion’s fall from grace in 1180, Frederick appointed Otto the new Duke of Bavaria.

Rainald of Dassel

Born around 1120 to the noble family of Dassel in Saxony, Rainald was a younger son who embarked on a career in the Church. Emperor Frederick appointed Rainald to be his chancellor in 1156. He always took a hard line in supporting Frederick.

Ramon Berenguer IV

Born c. 1114, Ramon Berenguer ruled as the Count of Barcelona from 1131 to 1162. In 1158 he became the effective ruler of the union of Aragon and Catalonia. In the Iberian part of the Second Crusade he led his forces in the capture of Tortosa from the Moors in 1148. He died in 1162.

Richard d’Aubeney, Abbot

Abbot of St Albans 1097–1119, Richard was probably the abbot who rejected Breakspear’s attempt to join St Albans monastery.

Robert de Gorham, Abbot

Abbot of St Albans 1151–66, Robert visited Pope Adrian at Benevento in 1155.

Robert Pullen

Robert was perhaps born in Poole in Dorset...