RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Nicholas II— V.
but, after waiting five days in vain for an audience, he was obliged to return to Rome without having delivered the pope's message. This abrupt rejection was followed, perhaps not before the early part of 1061, by the German episcopate's adverse declaration respecting the Curia. The exact time and place of this transaction are unknown. Those German prelates then resolved not only to quash the pope's rulings altogether, but even to depose him; but neither political nor ecclesiastical consequences ensued. Nicholas II. died at Florence on July 19 or 27, 1061 (on the former date, cf. Muratori, Scriptores, p. 944; for the alternative date, cf. MGH, Script, v [1844], 427). He was not an eminent pope, but his brief pontificate is distinguished by important and fruitful events. Carl Mikbt.
Bibliography: The Diplomata, epistoloe, decreta are in MPL, cxliii. 1301-66; Jaffe, Regesta, i. 557-566, ii. 750. Consult J. M. Watterich, Pontificum Romanorum vitas, i. 206 sqq., 738-739, Leipsic, 1862; P. Scheffer-Boichorst, Die Neuordnung der Papstwahl durch Nikolaus II., Strasburg, 1879; H. Grauert, Das Dekret Nikolaus II. von 1059, in Historisches Jahrbuch der Gorresgesellschaft, 1880, pp. 798 sqq.; W. von Giesebrecht, Geschichte der deutschen Kaiserzeit, iii. 13 sqq., Leipsic, 1885; W. Martens, Die Besitzung des papstlichen Stithies unler . . Heinrich III. und IV., Freiburg, 1887; idem, Gregor VII., 2 vols., Leipsic, 1894; G. Meyer von Knonau, Jahrbilcher des deutschen Reichs unter Heinrich III. und IV., i. 91 sqq., 678 sqq., iii. 653 sqq., ib. 1890-1900; C. Mirbt, Die Publizistik %m Zeitalter Gregors VII., ib. 1894; L. von Heinemann, Geschichte der Normannen in Unteritalien und Sicilien, i. 177 sqq., ib. 1894; F. Gregorovius, Hist, of the City of Rome, iv. 114-125, London, 1896; A. Clavel, Le Pape Nicolas II., Paris, 1906; Schaff, Christian Church, v. 1, pp. 168 sqq.; Milman, Latin Christianity, iii. 296-304; Platina, Popes, i. 278-280.
Nicholas III.: Pope 1277-80. Giovanni Gaetani Orsini was a son of the Roman Senator Matteo Rubens. As early as 1244 he was promoted by Innocent IV to the rank of cardinal deacon of St. Nicholas in carcere Tulliano. In 1262 Urban IV. appointed him inquisitor general, and in 1263 protector of the Franciscan Order. He was elected pope Nov. 25, 1277, after the death of John XXI. He compelled Rudolph of Hapsburg to cede the pentapolis and the exarchate of Ravenna to the papal see, and Charles of Anjou, king of Sicily, to renounce the regency of Tuscany and the dignity of a Roman senator; and he promulgated the constitution Fundamental militantis, dated July 18, 1278, which thenceforth reserved the senatorial authority and other municipal offices to the citizens of Rome. Thereupon he was himself elected senator for life. He next sought to initiate an understanding between Charles of Anjou and Rudolph of Hapsburg; and he succeeded in bringing a peace to pass, whereby Charles obtained Provence and Forcalquier in fee from the German Empire. Nicholas is supposed to have pursued even still more extensive projects; and Ptolemseus of Lucca relates that he designed to cut up the German Empire into four states: Germany, Arelate or Aries, Tuscany, and Lombardy. On the other hand, he did not succeed in his efforts to restore union with the Greeks, or in his attempts to set a new crusade afoot. His manner of directing the internal affairs of the Church gave occasion for sharp reproaches. Dante consigned him to hell, and accused him, not without
warrant, of both nepotism and avarice, and the diversion of church funds to profane objects. He made no decisive ruling in the contest between strict and lax forces within the Franciscan Order; although, in the decretal Exiit qui seminat (1279) he considered the main issue as to how far the Minorites might use the things of this world. Nicholas III. died suddenly in his summer residence at Soriano, on Aug. 22, 1280. Carl Mirbt.
Bibliography: Sources are: The Registres, ed. J. Gay, part i., Paris, 1898; Mittheilungen aus dem vatikanischen Archiv, ed. F. Kaltenbrunner, vols, i.— ii., Vienna, 1889- 1894; J. F. Bohmer, Regesta imperii vi., 127S-1S1S, Innsbruck, 1898; A. Potthast, Regesta pontificum Romanorum, vol. ii., Berlin, 1875. Consult: J. Ficker, Forschungen zur Reichs- und Rechtsgeschichte Italiens, vols. ii.-iv., Innsbruck, 1869-74; F. Heller, Deutschland und Frankreich in ihren politischen Beziehungen bis zum Tode Rudolfs von Hapsburg, pp. 72 sqq., Lubeck, 1874; F. Wertsch, Die Beziehungen Rudolfs von Hapsburg zur romischen Kurie, Bochum, 1880; F. Gregorovius, Hist, of the City of Rome, v. 478-491, London, 1897; A. Huyskens, Kardinal Napoleon Orsini, Munich, 1902; A. Demski, Papst Nikolaus III., ib. 1903; Der Kardinal J. G. Orsini (Papst Nikolaus III.), 12U~77, Berlin, 1905; Bower, Popes, iii. 26-28; Milman, Latin Christianity, vi. 136- 142, 152; Platina, Popes, ii. 108-111.
Nicholas IV.: Pope 1288-92. Girolamo of Ascoli, a scrivener's son, had been general of the Franciscan Order from 1274 onward, when Nicholas III. in 1278 created him cardinal designate of St. Pudentiana. In 1281 Martin IV appointed him cardinal bishop of Prajneste, or Palestrina; and on Feb. 22, 1288 he was elected pope. His pontificate exhibits no mark of greatness. He sought to tack his course between the Roman aristocratic families of Orsini and Colonna. In vain did Rudolph of Hapsburg Strive to move Nicholas to set some definite term for the imperial coronation; but Charles of Anjou obtained the crown of Naples and Sicily, after duly acknowledging himself a liegeman of the Church. After the fall of Ptolemais, in 1291, Nicholas quite fruitlessly endeavored to organize a general crusade. The fact that under the constitution dated July 18, 1289, he conceded to the cardinals one-half of all revenues accruing to the see of Rome, and also allowed them to take part in the fiscal administration, signified an appreciable strengthening of the college of cardinals at the expense of the papacy. Nicholas IV. died at Rome Apr. 4, 1292.
Carl Mirbt. Bibliography: Sources are: Les Registres de Nicolas IV., ed E. Langlois, Paris, 1886 sqq.; Mittheilungen aus dem vatikanischen Archiv, ed. F. Kaltenbrunner, vol. i., Vienna, 1889- A Potthast, Regesta pontificum Romanorum, u. 1826^-1915, Berlin, 1875; and the Vita by Bernard of Guido, in Muratori, Scriptores, iii. 1, pp. 612-613. Consult further: J. E. Kopp, Geschichte von der Wiederherstellung und dem V erf all des heiligen romischen Reiches, ed. Busson, ii. 3, pp. 288 sqq., Berlin, 1871; R. Rohncht Geschichtedes Konigreichs Jerusalem, 1100-1291 pp . 1003-04 1029, Innsbruck, 1898; F. Gregorovius •Hlst-g7the^°f Rome, v. 508-515, 634, 655, 666, London 1897, Bower, Popes iii. 37-40; Milman, Latin Chnstiani ty, vi. 173 1. /a, viif 29"; Platina, Popes, ii. 118-122; Schaff, Christian Church, v. 1, pp. 207, 287, 411-412.
Nicholas V.: Antipope to John XXII. 1328-30/ Pietro Rainalducoi of Cordova was one of the Minorites who took the side of Louis the Bavarian in his struggle with the pope. After his coronation Louis, in a public assembly, set Rainalducci on the
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