- Hadrian the Seventh
"Hadrian the Seventh" (also known as "Hadrian VII") is probably the best-known work of the English novelist
Frederick Rolfe , who wrote as 'Baron Corvo'.Published in 1904, this novel of extreme wish-fulfilment developed out of an article he wrote on the
Papal Conclave to elect the successor to PopeLeo XIII . The prologue introduces us to George Arthur Rose (a transparent double for Rolfe himself): a failed candidate for thepriesthood denied his vocation by the machinations and bunglings of theRoman Catholic ecclesiastic machinery, now living alone with his yellow cat.Rose is visited by two prominent churchmen, one a
Cardinal Archbishop , who propose to right the wrongs done to him, ordain him a priest, and take him toRome where the Conclave to elect the new Pope has reached deadlock. When he arrives in Rome he finds that the Cardinals have been inspired, divinely or otherwise, to offer him the Papacy. He accepts, and since the only previous English Pope was Adrian (or Hadrian) IV, he takes the name Hadrian VII.The novel develops with this unconventional, chain-smoking Englishman peremptorily reforming the Church and the early 20th-century world, against inevitable opposition from the established Roman Catholic
hierarchy , rewarding his friends and trouncing his enemies. Generally he gets his way by charm or doggedness, and of course by being much cleverer than all those round him; but his short reign is brought to an end when he is assassinated by a Pope-hatingUlsterman , and the world breathes a sigh of relief.The novel was made into a successful stage-play by
Peter Luke , opening at theMermaid Theatre , London in April 1968 and starringAlec McCowen as Fr. William Rolfe (not Rose). The subsequent Broadway production starred first McCowen and later,Barry Morse . It was also Morse who played in the Australian production and theUSA national tour.In 1908 Rolfe resurrected the character of Hadrian for 'The Bull Against the Enemy of the Anglican Race', a violent attack on
Lord Northcliffe and his newspaper, theDaily Mail , cast in the form of aPapal Bull issued by Hadrian VII.External links
Internet Broadway Database [http://www.ibdb.com/Show.asp?id=4150]
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