Opinion of Pope Adrian IV

[Mechaman]

Arguably one of the worst Popes, next to whoever the hell did the Crusades.

[Mechaman]

Voted horrible Pope but I don't really consider him to be among the worst.

Granted, many of them were quite bad.  So I can see where you would get that conclusion.  I was basing my response more out of the idea of his that resistance to the church hierarchy was fundamentally immoral.  The results of his mentality can be felt to this very day and many millions of people have in a way been affected by the beliefs he held hundreds of years ago.  I guess it was around before him, and that there were many other horrible Popes.

I guess I need to do more research on the matter.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Arguably one of the worst Popes, next to whoever the hell did the Crusades.

That'd be Urban II for you. Voted HP, though he's not one of the worst - Paul II's pretty bad, for example.

[Mechaman]

Arguably one of the worst Popes, next to whoever the hell did the Crusades.

That'd be Urban II for you. Voted HP, though he's not one of the worst - Paul II's pretty bad, for example.

Something I just noticed, Adrian was Pope for a little bit less than five years and Paul II was Pope for seven years.  That is about the length between a one term and a two term president.

And just think, they did that much damage in that short of a time.  If only Presidents were that effective.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Arguably one of the worst Popes, next to whoever the hell did the Crusades.

That'd be Urban II for you. Voted HP, though he's not one of the worst - Paul II's pretty bad, for example.

Something I just noticed, Adrian was Pope for a little bit less than five years and Paul II was Pope for seven years.  That is about the length between a one term and a two term president.

And just think, they did that much damage in that short of a time.  If only Presidents were that effective.

Gough Whitlam was Australian PM for three years and look at him.

[DemPGH]

Only Englishman to be to be pope? Most Medieval and high Renaissance popes were truly awful people. I don't know a whole lot about him, actually, although I have heard of him, surely.

The worst was Innocent VIII - he helped start the witch hysteria and gave full support to starting the Inquisition. His tenure also saw the publication of a torture manual called The Hammer Against Evil Doers. I don't think that there is a HP (Horrible Pope) on his level.

I've read on numerous occasions, though, that the Catholic Church was far more concerned about heresy than witchcraft; witch hysteria seems to have been a hallmark of the Protestants. That's only a general observation.

[politicus]

HP (Hibernophile)

[beaver2.0]

Good because he was English.  God Save the King!

[Small L]

Voted horrible Pope but I don't really consider him to be among the worst.

Granted, many of them were quite bad.  So I can see where you would get that conclusion.  I was basing my response more out of the idea of his that resistance to the church hierarchy was fundamentally immoral.  The results of his mentality can be felt to this very day and many millions of people have in a way been affected by the beliefs he held hundreds of years ago.  I guess it was around before him, and that there were many other horrible Popes.

I guess I need to do more research on the matter.

You're right in that he didn't invent that idea. For example, Ignatius of Antioch held a view along those lines (chapters 8-9 of this page). I would argue that the idea of fidelity to the Church hierarchy is an integral part of Catholicism (the internal debate is about how far this obedience should be taken). I don't really consider Adrian IV unique in that respect.

My biggest problem with him is that he was awful at playing politics. He shouldn't have even bothered.