Lateran Palace

But nevertheless, he was enthroned at St. Peter's, becoming Pope Adrian IV.

However, the new pope was not able to make the traditional procession to the Lateran, where he would have received his papal crown, because guess what? Rome is back up in arms again.

Oh no.

And maybe that's why none of the other cardinals who had been in Rome wanted to be pope.

Egos.

Yeah, that is definitely an ego.

And what makes it worse, some historians, including historian Jean L. Dijon, suggest that Frederick's actions were in direct response to a mural that had been painted in the Lateran depicting Emperor Lothair III performing this act of homage, which had included an inscription that referred to him as the Pope's liegeman.

So the inscription on this mural apparently said, the king comes before the gates, first swearing to uphold the rights of the city.

There were now three claimants for the papacy, each in arms against the others, each occupying a portion of the city.

Benedict held the Lateran, Gregory Santa Maria Maggiore, Sylvester St. Peter's.

The scandal and confusion of the situation were now intolerable.

Peter, archdeacon of Rome, called a large meeting of bishops, clergy, monks, and laity at which it was resolved to invoke the aid of the German king.

After a halt there of twelve days he was carried to Rome, accompanied by the Abbot of Monte Cassino.

It was revealed to him in a dream that his last moments were to be spent in the church of the Apostle for whose honor he had so manfully labored.

He was therefore conveyed from the palace of the Lateran to St. Peter's, where he prayed fervently and with many tears before the altar, after which he was taken to the adjoining palace.

Here he received the Eucharist and Extreme Unction and commended his soul to God in a prayer of humble resignation, which he uttered in his native German tongue.

Okay, so initially, popes didn't live at the Vatican.

They were in sort of the Lateran Palace in Rome up until like the 1300s.

Then, sort of for a period of 70 years, they were over in Avignon in France before heading back to the Vatican.

Now, what about the Renaissance? You know, they moved to the Palazzo del Quirinale.

He was crowned on May 31 by the Pope in St. Peter's, but without the splendor of attendant vassals which had so often graced that ceremony.

He remained some time in Rome lodging at the palace of the Lateran whilst the Pope dwelt at the Vatican.

The Emperor confirmed the ancient privileges of the Church, beginning with those granted by Constantine.

The Pope renewed in Sigismund the empire of Charles the Great.

The same populace which had driven him out with stones and arrows now streamed across the Ponte Mole to welcome him back.

After an exile of nine years, he found the Eternal City indeed a contrast to Florence, one the most civilized city in Europe, the other a desolate wilderness.

He summoned a council to the Lateran and thundered from that palace against the Council of Basil and his rival Felix.

His last days were embittered with war.

It was called the Holy Scrinium, or the Chartarium, and it traveled with the reigning pope.

By six four nine, there was a permanent home at the Lateran Palace.

By the eleventh century, the holdings were split across three sites: the Lateran, St. Peter's, and the Palatine Palace.

The oldest indirect evidence of papal registers, meaning bound tablets, goes back to the pontificate of Leo the Great, four hundred forty to four sixty-one.

Only in the summertime.

Well, I mean, we're actually here in the Irish College in Rome at the moment, and we're part of a gathering of past students of the college who have come here to celebrate Even though the college is almost 400 years of age, it is 100 years on its current site, very near to the Lateran Palace and the Lateran Basilica.

Talk to me about celebrating this centenary and this anniversary.

It was very important for us to mark it.

I think that's a great way to describe it, right? The bait.

What hooks a person? Oh, you get to have dinner at the Lateran Palace.

And then actually, no, the real secret is that there's going to be a talk that's going to invite you to pray in a really intentional way in what was once the home of the popes.

And maybe you'll start praying for...

Pope Urban was Bruno's former student and called on him to become a counselor to assist with the chaos.

Bruno obediently went to the aid of Pope Urban, serving him quietly and personally within the Lateran Palace in Rome.

Shortly after his arrival, however, the Holy Roman Emperor took Rome by force and Bruno and Pope Urban had to flee.

Around the year 1091, Pope Urban wanted to make Bruno the Archbishop of Reggio, but Bruno once again opposed the idea and the pope chose another.