Pope Celestine III

Giacinto Bobone was born into the noble Orsini family in Rome.[1] He was appointed as cardinal-deacon in 1144 by Celestine II or Lucius 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]

Celestine was elected on 29/30 March 1191 and ordained a priest 13 April 1191.[2] He crowned Emperor Henry VI on the day after his election in 1191.[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]

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]

• List of popes
• Cardinals created by Celestine III

• 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. The University of Chicago Press. 89 (3 JULY): 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.

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

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