POPE ADRIAN VI, THE ONLY DUTCH POPE

Pope Adrian VI , the only Dutch pope, reigned for a year and eight months. He was born Adrian Dedel in Utrecht March 2, 1459. His father was a carpenter, and probably a ship-builder. His mother, Geertrude, was a hard-working widow from the time Adrian was in school. He made it known that he wanted to be a priest and she made sure he was educated. The child went away to school at a young age and, at 17, he entered the University of Louvain. There he studied theology, philosophy and law. He was ordained in 1490 and earned a Doctor of Divinity degree the next year.

Adrian remained at Louvain after he graduated. He became a popular teacher. The students even took notes in one class and had them published. He was chosen vice-chancellor in 1493 and dean of St. Peter’s Church five years later. It seemed a very satisfying career.

In 1506, Margaret of Austria became the governor of the Habsburg Netherlands. She chose him as her advisor. This brought him into the acquaintance of Emperor Maximilian I, of the Holy Roman Empire.

A year later, Maximilian, also father of the deceased Queen Isabella of Castile, asked Adrian to become tutor to the little boy, Charles, Isabella’s grandson. Adrian moved to Spain. Besides being the tutor, he was expected to convince King Ferdinand to give Charles title to Aragon as well. Adrian did so before Ferdinand died in 1516. It is said that everything Charles became, except his warrior status, was because of Adrian.

At this point, Adrian’s career was on the fast track. He became Regent of much of Spain. Probably due to his friendship with Cardinal Ximenes, the Grand Inquisitor of Spain, Adrian became the bishop of Tortosa and the Grand Inquisitor of Aragon. The next year he received the red hat and the following year he became the Grand Inquisitor of both Castile and Aragon. By this time, the young Charles had become emperor, which impressed many of Adrian’s fellow cardinals. In 1520, Charles moved to the Netherlands, having inherited the titles of Lord of the Netherlands and Duke of Burgundy when his father died in 1506. Adrian stayed behind to become Regent of Spain.

Pope Leo died in late 1521. The conclave voted for Adrian for several reasons: he was close friends with the young emperor, and he had a reputation for holiness when most of Europe was denouncing the corruption of Rome. Although Adrian was voted into office in January, 1522 he was not prepared for moving to another part of Europe. By the time he prepared everything and moved to Rome, it was 29 August. He was crowned two days later.

Adrian had never been to Rome, nor had he ever watched the Curia work. He learned fast that the papal finances were in deplorable condition. When he tried to tighten the budget, he was called a miser. He realized that the bureaucracy of the Curia needed reform and announced that the Church was “rotten in head and members.” Attempts at reform were met with passive resistance. There was little he could do to stop the Lutheran changes sweeping northern Europe. He refused to reform the Church’s doctrine. He called for Luther to be condemned as a heretic. All he could do was support the actions of Emperor Charles. At the October 1522 Diet of Nuremburg, his representative pointed out that the Curia was at fault for the turmoil in the Church. Reformers used this to justify their apostasy.

The Turks had taken Belgrade and were moving across the Danube into Hungary. It was known that they were planning on taking the Island of Rhodes from the Knights. Adrian appealed to the rulers of Europe to save Christians. But no one helped. The fortress of Rhodes fell in October. Almost immediately, he was forced into an alliance with the Empire, England and Venice against France.

His plan was to attack abuses one at a time. His attempt to stop the sale of indulgences was stopped by the cardinals. His attempt to reduce the marriage annulments failed as this was too great a source of income for the cardinals. Charles V’s ambassador pointed out “The Pope is deadly afraid of the College of Cardinals. He does whatever two or three cardinals write to him in the name of the college.”

In his only consistory on September 10, 1523, only one cardinal was made. Four days later, Pope Adrian died. The good man could not fight all the fronts alone.