Adrian VI

Adrian VI 1459-1523, pope (1522-23), a Netherlander (b. Utrecht) named Adrian Florensz; successor of Leo X. He taught at Louvain and was tutor of the young prince, later Holy Roman Emperor Charles V . This was a time when Roman life was extravagant, papal expenditures on worldly objects were lavish, and the Curia needed drastic reform. Adrian, an ascetic and a pious man, did his best to curb the abuses he found, but he died after 20 months. He was succeeded by Clement VII.

Noble, Adrian Keith (1950– ), English director. After beginning his career as an associate director with the Bristol Old Vic, 1976–9, he was guest director, 1980–1, at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, his highly praised production of Webster's The Duchess of Malfi with Helen Mirren being seen also at the Round House. In 1980 he joined the RSC as resident director, becoming an associate director in 1982 and soon receiving acclaim for his strikingly imaginative productions of Shakespeare, among them King Lear (1982) with Michael Gambon and Anthony Sher, Henry V (1984) with Kenneth Branagh, Macbeth (1986), and The Plantagenets (1988), adapted from Henry VI and Richard III. His other work ranged from Massinger's A New Way to Pay Old Debts (1983) and the new play The Art of Success (1986) by Nick Dear to the musical Kiss Me, Kate (1987) and Ibsen's The Master Builder (1989). In 1991, as part of the new governing triumvirate, he became Artistic Director.