Pope Adrian II (792-14 December 872) was Pope from 867 to 872, succeeding Pope Nicholas I and preceding Pope John VIII.
Biography[]
Adrianus II was born in 792 AD, and he was consecrated as pope in 867. Adrian succeeded Pope Nicholas I, and Emperor Lothaire II of Lotharingia entrusted Adrian with seeing that his domains went to his brother Ludwig II of East Francia. Adrian sought to be friendly with East Francia, as they were invaluable allies in the war against the Saracens of southern Italy. In the 869-870 Fourth Council of Constantinople, Adrian and Emperor Basil the Macedonian of the Byzantine Empire deposed Patriarch Photius I of Constantinople (claiming that he was a heretic) and reinstated his predecessor Ignatius of Constantinople, although they failed to agree to the allegiance of the Bulgarian Church. Ludwig II forced Adrian to submit to him, and Antipope Anastasius supervised him. He died in 872 exactly five years after becoming pope.