St Peter's Parish News
Thursday 1 January 1970
An English Pope
We rejoice with our Catholic friends at the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first-ever American Pope, and hold him in our prayers as he begins his ministry. The Papal succession has reminded us of an often-forgotten piece of Hertfordshire history: did you know that the first and only English (and indeed British) Pope was born just seven miles away from Berkhamsted? Nicholas Breakspear was born sometime around 1100 in the hamlet of Bedmond, near Abbots Langley. He served in Arles and Avignon in France, and as a Papal legate (representative of the Pope) he travelled widely, visiting Catalonia and Scandinavia. When elected to the Papacy in 1154, he took the regnal name Hadrianus, or Adrian in English (this will delight our Director of Music).
At this time, Berkhamsted was just becoming an established as market town as King Henry II granted a Royal Charter, and the Chancellor of England, Thomas Becket, was expanding Berkhamsted Castle. Although Adrian had strong associations with St Albans Abbey, the Parish of Great Berkhamsted was part of the enormous Diocese of Lincoln, and our bishop would have been Robert de Chesney.
Pope Adrian IV reigned as head of the Church from 1154 until his death in 1159. Today, Adrian is barely remembered – a tiny plaque by the roadside in Bedmond marks his supposed birthplace, and a small wall monument in St Lawrence’s Church in Abbots Langley commemorates his papacy. Read more on the BBC Beds, Herts & Bucks website:
www.bbc.co.uk 
