Contents

Pope Celestine III

Head of the Catholic Church from 1191 to 1198

Pope Celestine III
Bishop of Rome
Pope Celestine III, from the Liber ad honorem Augusti (1196)
Church	Catholic Church
Papacy began	30 March 1191
Papacy ended	8 January 1198
Predecessor	Clement III
Successor	Innocent III
Orders
Ordination	13 April 1191
Consecration	14 April 1191 by Ottaviano di Paoli
Created cardinal	February 1144 byCelestine II
Personal details
Born	Giacinto Bobone c. 1105 Rome, Papal States
Died	8 January 1198(1198-01-08) (aged 92–93) Rome, Papal States
Previous post(s)	Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (1144–1191)
Motto	Perfice gressus meos in semitis tuis ("Going in Thy path")
Signature
Other popes named Celestine

Pope Celestine III (Latin: Caelestinus III; c. 1105 – 8 January 1198), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 March or 10 April 1191 to his death in 1198. He had a tense relationship with several monarchs, including Emperor Henry VI, King Tancred of Sicily, and King Alfonso IX of León.

Early career[edit]

Giacinto Bobone was born into the noble Orsini familyinRome.^[1] He was appointed as cardinal-deacon in 1144 by Celestine IIorLucius II.^[2] Considered by the Roman Curia as an expert on Spain, Bobone conducted two legatine missions to Spain in (1154–55) and (1172–75) as the Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin.^[3]

Pontificate[edit]

Celestine was elected on 29/30 March 1191 and ordained a priest 13 April 1191.^[2] He crowned Emperor Henry VI a day or two after his ordination.^[4] In 1192, Celestine recognized Tancred as king of Sicily, despite Henry VI's wife's claim.^[5] He threatened to excommunicate Henry VI for wrongfully keeping King Richard I of England imprisoned, but he could do little else since the College of cardinals were against it. ^[5][6] He placed Pisa under an interdict, which was lifted by his successor, Innocent III in 1198.^[7]

Celestine, in 1192, sent a cardinal-priest of St. Lorenzo, Cinthius, to Denmark to address the discord between the Danish princes.^[8] Upon Cinthius' return to Rome, Celestine issued three papal bulls;Cum Romana ecclesia, Etsi sedes debeat, Quanto magnitudinem tuam. These bulls advised the archbishop Absalon of Lund to instruct the King of Denmark to release the bishop of Schleswig.^[9] The bulls also threatened to excommunicate the offending Duke Valdemar, who had imprisoned the bishop of Schleswig, and place the kingdom of Denmark under interdict.^[9] The bishop would stay imprisoned until Pope Innocent III restarted the process in 1203.^[10]

Celestine condemned King Alfonso IX of León for his marriage to Theresa of Portugal on the grounds of consanguinity.^[11] Portugal and León were placed under interdict.^[11] Then, in 1196, he excommunicated Alfonso IX for allying with the Almohad Caliphate while making war on Castile.^[12] Following his marriage with Berengaria of Castile, Celestine excommunicated Alfonso and placed an interdict over León.^[13]

In December 1196, Celestine issued a bull acknowledging the possessions of the Teutonic Knights.^[14]

Death[edit]

Celestine would have resigned the papacy and recommended a successor (Cardinal Giovanni di San Paolo, O.S.B.) shortly before his death,^[15] but was not allowed to do so by the cardinals.^[16]

See also[edit]

• List of popes
• Cardinals created by Celestine III

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Clarke, Peter D. (2007). The Interdict in the Thirteenth Century: A question of collective guilt. Oxford University Press.
• Cross, F.L., ed. (1997). "Celestine III". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press.
• Duggan, Anne J. (2016). "Hyacinth Bobone: Diplomat and Pope". In Doran, John; Smith, Damian J. (eds.). Pope Celestine III (1191-1198): Diplomat and Pastor. Routledge. pp. 1–30.
• Edbury, Peter W. (2016). "Celestine III, the Crusade and the Latin East". In Doran, John; Smith, Damian J. (eds.). Pope Celestine III (1191-1198): Diplomat and Pastor. Routledge. pp. 129–144.
• Lay, Stephen (2009). The Reconquest Kings of Portugal: Political and Cultural Reorientation on the Medieval Frontier. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Lower, Michael (2014). "The Papacy and Christian Mercenaries of Thirteenth-Century North Africa". Speculum. 89 (3 JULY). The University of Chicago Press: 601–631. doi:10.1017/S0038713414000761. S2CID 154773840.
• Moore, John Clare (2003). Pope Innocent III (1160/61–1216): To root up and to plant. BRILL.
• Nielsen, Torben K. (2016). "Celestine III and the North". In Doran, John; Smith, Damian J. (eds.). Pope Celestine III (1191-1198): Diplomat and Pastor. Routledge. pp. 159–178.
• Poole, Austin Lane (1926). "The Emperor Henry VI". In Tanner, J.R.; Previte-Orton, C.W.; Brooke, Z.N. (eds.). The Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. V: Contest of empire and papacy. Cambridge at the University Press.
• Robinson, I.S. (1990). The Papacy, 1073-1198: Continuity and Innovation. Cambridge University Press.
• Robinson, I.S. (2004). "The institutions of the church, 1073-1216". In Luscombe, David; Riley-Smith, Jonathan (eds.). The New Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. IV: c.1024-c.1198, Part 1. Cambridge University Press.
• Robinson, I.S. (2006). "The papacy". In Luscombe, David; Riley-Smith, Jonathan (eds.). The New Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. IV: c.1024-c.1198, Part II. Cambridge University Press. pp. 317–384.

External links[edit]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Celestine (popes)".

• Media related to Celestine III at Wikimedia Commons

initial text from the 9th edition (1876) of an old encyclopedia