Pope Honorius IV
pope of the Catholic Church from 1285 to 1287
Pope Honorius IV (born Giacomo Savelli; c. 1210 — 3 April 1287) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 April 1285 to his death on 3 April 1287. His election followed the death of Pope Martin IV and was notable for its speed; he was chosen unanimously on the first ballot. Honorius IV's papacy occurred during a tumultuous period marked by political strife and conflict in Sicily, where he sought to navigate complex relationships with various rulers while maintaining papal authority. During his pontificate he continued to pursue the pro-French political policy of his predecessor. He is the most recent pope to take the pontifical name "Honorius" upon election, after his granduncle Pope Honorius III.
Early life and education
Giacomo Savelli was born in Rome into the rich and influential Savelli family. His father, Luca Savelli, was a senator of Rome who died in 1266. His mother Joanna belonged to the Aldobrandeschi family.
Savelli studied at the University of Paris, and held a prebend and a canonry at the cathedral of Châlons-sur-Marne. Later he obtained the benefice of rector at the church of Barton Mills in Suffolk, England, although he never visited the country.
Career
In 1261, he was created Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin by Pope Urban IV, who also appointed him papal prefect in Tuscany and captain of the papal army.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Pope Honorius IV” as pope of the Catholic Church from 1285 to 1287. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q227743. VIAF identifies the subject as 95191011. The Library of Congress control number is nb2007017853. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1210, 1287, 1285 and 1266.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pope Honorius IV” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.