Nicholas IV

Pope (originally Jerome), was born of lowly estate at Ascoli, in the Papal States. At an early age he joined the Franciscans, and became general of the order in 1274. He was made cardinal by Nicholas III, and in 1288 was elected pope three times before he decided on accepting the office. He upheld the pretensions of Charles II of Anjou to the crown of Sicily against Alphonso of Aragon, and crowned the former. In a meeting of the nobility called by his legates at Tarascon in 1289 it was decided that Alphonso should renounce his claims on Sicily, and not recognize his brother James, who actually reigned there; and in exchange Alphonso was to be released from the ban pronounced against him, and Aragon declared a fief of the see of Rome. James, however, having succeeded his brother on the throne of Aragon, refused to recognize the acts of the assembly of Tarascon, and thereupon the ever-ready but now almost powerless bolt of excommunication was hurled against him by the pope. The part which Nicholas played in this whole transaction is dishonorable and discreditable to Romanism, which has never censured it. Not only did he unjustly visit James with the ban of excommunication, but unrighteously absolved Charles from a promise he had made, and which he, more honorable in thought than his ecclesiastical friends, regarded as binding, and was prevented from performing only by the pope's direct command. King Edward of England and Alphonso of Aragon and arranged terms for the release of Charles, then their captive. Within one year Charles was bound by it to procure peace between France and Aragon, and, if not successful, he solemnly swore to return to his captivity. The pope not only crowned Charles king without reference to the result of the mission he had sworn to perform, but when Charles of Valois refused to relinquish his pretensions to Aragon, and king Philip to surrender the cities which he had seized in that kingdom, and Charles of Anjou believed himself bound to return to his captors, the pope interfered, and issued a decree against his return. This was as monstrous an exercise of the absolving power," says Milman justly, "as had ever been advanced in the face of Christendom: it struck at the root of all chivalrous honor, at the faith of all treaties. It declared, in fact, that no treaty was to be maintained with any one engaged in what the Holy See considered an unjust war; that is, a war contrary to her interests. It declared that all obligations entered into by a person in captivity were null and void, even though oaths had been interchanged and hostages given for their performance" (Hist. of Latin Christianity, 6:175). Ptolemais, the last possession of the Christians in Palestine, having fallen into the hands of the Mohammedans, Nicholas IV sought actively, but in vain, to organize a crusade. He also sought to obtain the aid of the Moguls in that undertaking, and sent them missionaries of his order for that purpose, among them John of Monte Corvino (q.v.). Pope Nicholas IV died April 4, 1292, bewailing the tumults of the time and the failure of Europe to relieve the Christians in the East. He wrote commentaries on the Scriptures and on the Abagister Sentenc., and issued several bulls in favor of the Franciscans. See Vita Nicolai Papac IV, ab Hieronymo Rubeo composito, etc. (Pisa, 1761, 8vo); and the biography in Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, 3:612; Wetzer u. Welte (R. C.), Kirchen-Lexikon, 7:584, 585; Milman, Hist. of Latin Christianity, 6:173 sq.; Hefele, Conciliengesch. 6:110,190 sq., 233 sq., 239.