A Genoese, and nephew of Innocent IV. He was elected at Viterbo 12 July 1276. As Cardinal Fieschi, he had laboured to restore harmony in England between Henry III and the rebellious barons. He annulled the rigid enactments of Gregory X relating to the papal conclaves, but died before substituting milder ones, 18 August. He lived just long enough to experience "how great the mantle weighs." Dante (Purg., c. xix) held an interesting conversation with him in Purgatory.
Liber Pontif. (ed. DUCHESNE I, 457); Raynaldus, Ann eccl. ad an., 1276; 26, 27; MURATORI, SS. Rer. Ital., III, 605; ARTAUD DE MONTOR, Lives and Times of The Roman Pontiffs (tr. New York, 1867), I, 454.