Editing Pope Adrian III

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 884 to 885}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]] [[List of canonised popes|Saint]]
| name = Adrian III
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| term_start = 17 May 884
| term_end = 8 July 885
| predecessor = [[Marinus I]]
| successor = [[Pope Stephen V|Stephen V]]
| birth_date = 
| birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
| death_date = 8 July 885
| death_place = [[Modena]], [[Carolingian Empire]]
| feast_day = [[8 July]]
| venerated = [[Catholic Church]], [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]
| canonized_date = 2 June 1891
| canonized_place = [[Rome]], [[Kingdom of Italy]]
| canonized_by = [[Leo XIII]]
| attributes = 
| other = Adrian
}}
'''Pope Adrian III''' or '''Hadrian III''' ({{langx|la|Adrianus}} or ''Hadrianus''; died July 885) was the [[bishop of Rome]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 17 May 884 to his death. He served for little more than a year, during which he worked to help the people of Italy in a very troubled time of famine and war.

== Background==
Adrian III was born in [[Rome]]. According to [[Jean Mabillon]], his birth name was Agapitus. Reginald L. Poole believes that Mabillon confused Adrian III, who succeeded [[Marinus I]], with [[Agapetus II]], who succeeded [[Marinus II]] a century later.<ref>Reginald L. Poole (1917), "The Names and Numbers of Medieval Popes", ''[[The English Historical Review]]'', '''32''' (128), 465–78, at 467.</ref> 

==Pontificate==
Adrian laboured hard to alleviate the misery of the people of [[Italy]], prey to famine and to continuous war.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-hadrian-iii/| title = Monks of Ramsgate. "Hadrian III". ''Book of Saints'', 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 1 September 2013}}</ref> He is also known to have written a letter condemning the Christians of both [[Al-Andalus|Muslim-ruled]] and Christian-ruled parts of Spain for being too friendly with the Jews in these lands.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Bernard S. Bachrach|title=Early Medieval Jewish Policy in Western Europe|date=1977|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|isbn=9780816608140|page=190|edition=reprint}}</ref> Adrian also sent [[Theodosius of Oria|Theodosius]], the bishop of [[Diocese of Brindisi|Brindisi]] and [[diocese of Oria|Oria]], to Constantinople to deliver a synodal letter about faith and the filioque to [[patriarch Photius I]].<ref name="Dvornik">{{cite book |last1=Dvornik |first1=Francis |title=The Photian Schism |date=1948 |publisher=CUP Archive |pages=228–230 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X_A8AAAAIAAJ |access-date=20 January 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

Adrian died in July 885 at [[San Cesario sul Panaro]] ([[Modena]]), not long after embarking on a trip to [[Worms, Germany|Worms]], in the [[Rhineland]]. The purpose of the journey was to attend an [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]] after being summoned by Emperor [[Charles the Fat]] to settle the imperial succession<ref>Richard P. McBrien, ''Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from St. Peter to John Paul II'', (HarperCollins, 2000), 143.</ref> and discuss the rising power of the [[Saracens]].

Adrian's death and subsequent burial in the church of San Silvestro [[Nonantola Abbey]] near Modena<ref name=Bougard>François Bougard (2002), "Hadrian III", in Philippe Levillain, ed., ''The Papacy: An Encyclopedia'', vol. 2 (New York and London: Routledge), 682.</ref> is commemorated in the sculpted reliefs ({{circa|1122}}) that frame the doorway of this church. His relics are found near the high altar, and his tomb at once became a popular place of pilgrimage. His cult was confirmed by [[Pope Leo XIII]] on 2 June 1891, and his feast day is celebrated on 8 July.<ref name=Bougard/> Orthodox Feasts dates are 8 and 30 July.<ref>{{Cite web |title=АДРИАН III РИМСКИЙ - Древо |url=http://drevo-info.ru/articles/10407.html |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=drevo-info.ru |language=ru}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
*[[List of Catholic saints]]
*[[List of popes]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book|last=Dvornik|first=Francis|author-link=Francis Dvornik|title=The Photian Schism: History and Legend|year=1948|location=Cambridge, UK|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X_A8AAAAIAAJ}}

==External links==
* [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/01_01_0884-0885-_Hadrianus_III,_Sanctus.html Opera Omnia Hadriani III by Migne, ''Patrologia Latina'', with analytical indexes] {{inlang|la}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Marinus I|Marinus I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=884–885}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Stephen V|Stephen V]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}
{{Catholic saints}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adrian 03}}
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:Papal saints]]
[[Category:885 deaths]]
[[Category:9th-century archbishops]]
[[Category:9th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:Burials at Nonantola Abbey]]
[[Category:Medieval Italian saints|Adrian 03]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:9th-century popes]]
[[Category:Canonizations by Pope Leo XIII]]