Pope Adrian IV (r. 1154–59) created 23 cardinals in three consistories held during his pontificate. This included his future successor Pope Gregory VIII in 1155.
This was a period when relations between the Papacy and the Empire were extremely tense.
The Papal Consistory (, or assembly place) was a public court at which the Pope, in a gathering of the Cardinals and with their verbal input, appointed new Cardinals and bestowed their Red Hat. Other purposes of a consistory were the receiving of foreign ambassadors and heads of state. Not to be confused with a Papal Conclave, the meeting of Cardinals at which they elect a new Pope.
The Papal Conclave that convened after Adrian's death in 1159 was divided into two factions. One, the Imperial party, supported an alliance with the Emperor, while the other, the Cicilian party, favoured alignment with William King of Sicily. The Emperor professed to be neutral during this election, but when two clear rivals for the Papal throne emerged—later Alexander III and, later Victor IV—Frederick summoned a council to Pavia to decide between the claimants in 1160. "It was no surprise", says historian Ian Robinson, when the synod declared for Victor.