15 March 2010

Lentorama 2010: Two Millennia of Pointy Hats

Day 24: Lucius II (1144-45)

During a run of popes who would have great influence over the way the church was run and its place among European powers, Lucius II stands out as not being particularly memorable. He appears to have been a weak ruler, as a dispute with a noble over the duties owed the Vatican by a vassal spread into the reformation of the Roman Senate (which he had dissolved) and further intrigue by the family of a former antipope.

Lucius was attempting to fight his enemies and gain some order when he was hit by a rock during a battle, suffering a wound that would eventually kill him, leaving history to remember him in a not so favorable light.

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