POPE INNOCENT V, THE FIRST DOMINICAN POPE

Pierre de Tarentaise was probably born near Moutiers in the Tarantaise region of Savoy, around 1225. But that is all we know of his early years. Around 1240, he joined the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) at their convent at Lyon, France. Fifteen years later, Pierre...

POPE GREGORY X

Teobaldo Visconti lived from about 1210 to 10 January 1276. He was pope from 1 September 1271 til his death. He was born in Piacenza, Lombardy, Italy. As a young layman, he joined the Secular Franciscan Order. Then he attached himself to the household of the...

Pope Clement IV, Another French Pope

Guy Foucois was also known as Guy le Gros, which is loosely translated Guy the Fatty. Born around 1190 to a prosperous lawyer, Pierre Foucois and his wife Marguerite Ruffi, Guy was the second French pope in a row. He was from St. Giles du Gard in Languedoc, in...

Pope Alexander IV and the Hohenstaufen Rulers

Rinaldo di Jenne became pope on December 12, 1254. He was somewhere between 55 and 69 at the time, relatively old for taking on a new life. Matthew of Paris described him as kind and religious, assiduous in prayer and strict in abstinence. Between these...

POPE INNOCENT IV AND THE EMPERORS

Pope Innocent IV was born Sinibaldo Fieschi, around 1195. He was the son of Beatrice Grillo and Ugo Fieschi,  an up and coming noble. Sinibaldo was educated at the universities of Parma and Bologna and was considered one of the best canonists of his time. Between...