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Pope Martin IV, (Latin: Martinus IV), born Simon de Brion, was Pope from 22 February 1281 to his death in 1285. He was the last French pope to have held court in Rome; all subsequent French popes held court in Avignon (the Avignon Papacy).
Pope Martin IV celebrated a solemn Mass in the Cathedral at Perugia on Easter Sunday, March 25, 1285, which was also the Feast of the Annunciation. After his usual lunch with his chaplains he was stricken with a sudden illness. On the following Wednesday, March 28, around the fifth hour of the night, he died. He was buried in the Cathedral of San Lorenzo in Perugia. He had reigned four years and one month. His successor was elected four days later, on April 2.
Pope Martin IV was actually the second Pope called Martin. Due to a similarity of their names however, Pope Marinus I and Pope Marinus II were for a time counted as Martin II and Martin III. |
