History Makers

Over the course of the weekend I watched history unfold as the Pope made his final appearance on the balcony of his city residence in Rome and then on the balcony of his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo.

As the bookmakers opened up their doors for the betting to start on who the next Pope will be, especially the speculation about which country he might come from......I guess it got me thinking about the previous line of Pope's and whether there had ever been an English one amongst them!

I discovered there had been.....and his name was Nicholas Breakspeare!!! from 1154-1159 (officially known as Pope Adrian IV)

Break speare and Shake speare sounds like some martial arts movements!!

He hailed from Langley, nr St Albans and his father left him destitute so he went to France and served in the house of a canon! His leadership and piety gained him access to the order whereupon the canon complained to the reigning Pope. It just served to draw attention to Nicholas and the Pope had him down for higher office!!!

He was sent to Scandanavia and became apostle to the north! before eventually taking up the reins of becoming Pope himself!!

Definitely doesn't pay to complain to higher authority when your colleague bugs you!

I also made the discovery that the Stuart Kings of England are buried in the crypt of St Peter's in Rome...namely:

James IV
Charles III
Henry IX

Little bit different to the headlines which read:

"Body found under Leicester parking lot is King Richard III"

A very interesting "think time!"

By the way...I'm not in Rome or anywhere near!!! This is the cover of a guide book belonging to GK!

Happy Blipping Everyone!