Adrian VI was born Adriaan Florensz in Utrecht in 1459. He studied theology at the University of Leuven, where he became a respected professor and academic administrator. Later he served as tutor to the young Charles V. The future emperor placed great trust in him and sent him on important missions to Spain, where Adrian became Bishop of Tortosa and served as Inquisitor General.
Elected pope in January 1522 while still in Spain, Adrian inherited a Church troubled by Martin Luther's challenge, criticism of abuses in Rome and the growing power of the Ottoman Empire. He openly acknowledged serious failings within the Church's leadership and sought to reform the papal court. His austere lifestyle and attempts to change the Roman Curia, however, encountered considerable resistance.
Adrian was the only pope born in what is now the Netherlands and remained the last non-Italian pope until the election of John Paul II in 1978. His pontificate lasted barely twenty months: he died in Rome in September 1523. His short reign is remembered as a sincere but largely unfinished attempt to renew the Catholic Church from within.
