Who he was
Rinaldo Conti came from the family of the counts of Segni, which had already given the Church Innocent III and his uncle Gregory IX, who made him a cardinal in 1227 and later Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia. Already old, he was chosen unanimously in December 1254, after Innocent IV died at Naples, and accepted only with reluctance. His reign was taken up with the struggle against the heirs of Emperor Frederick II, above all Manfred in southern Italy, and he could do little to hold back Manfred's growing power. He died at Viterbo in May 1261.
What he is remembered for
He was a steady friend of the Franciscans: one of his first acts was to canonise St Clare of Assisi, and he affirmed the truth of St Francis's stigmata. He protected the friars when their place at the University of Paris was attacked. He is remembered today mainly by students of the period.
Sources
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