Pope Martin IV

Pope Martin IV (Latin: Martinus IV; born Simon de Brion; c. 1210/1220 – 28 March 1285), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1281 until his death in 1285. He was the last French pope to hold his court in Rome before the papacy moved to Avignon.

Before his election, Simon de Brion was a prominent French cleric who served as chancellor to Louis IX of France and was made a cardinal by Pope Urban IV in 1261. His papacy was marked by close dependence on Charles of Anjou, whom he appointed Senator of Rome, and by significant political conflicts, including the excommunication of the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, which ended the fragile union between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches established at the Second Council of Lyons in 1274. Martin IV also faced the Sicilian Vespers uprising and excommunicated Peter III of Aragon, declaring a crusade against him in an unsuccessful attempt to maintain Angevin control over Sicily.

Due to political instability and hostility in Rome and Orvieto, Martin IV spent much of his pontificate outside the city and died in Perugia in 1285.