The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

ADRIAN IV

Adrian IV was the only ever English born pope. He was born in 1100 and died in 1159. He was born Nicholas Breakspear and entered the monastery of Saint Rufus near Avignon in France. He was successively appointed abbot of the monastery in 1137, cardinal bishop of Albano in 1150, and papal legate to Scandinavia in 1152, holding the post until 1154. When he returned to Rome, he was unanimously elected pope upon the death of Anastasius IV in 1154, and held the post until his death in 1159.
Research Adrian IV