Editing Pope Alexander III (section)

==Pontificate==
===Politics===
[[File:Medieval Papal Bull of Pope Alexander III (FindID 227560).jpg|thumb|[[Bulla (seal)|Bulla]] of Alexander III]]
Alexander III was the first pope known to have paid direct attention to missionary activities east of the Baltic Sea. He had created the [[Archbishopric of Uppsala]] in Sweden in 1164,<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Papal Letters to Scandinavia and their Preservation|first1=Anders|last1=Winroth|title=Charters, Cartularies and Archives: The Preservation and Transmission of Documents in the Medieval West|editor1=Adam J. Kosto|editor2=Anders Winroth|publisher=Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies|year=2002|page=178|isbn=9780888448170}}</ref> probably at the suggestion of his close friend Archbishop [[Eskil of Lund]] – exiled in [[Ville-sous-la-Ferté|Clairvaux]], France, due to a conflict with the Danish king. The latter appointed a Benedictine monk [[Bishop Fulco|Fulco]] as a bishop in [[Estonia]]. In 1171, Alexander became the first pope to address the situation of the Church in [[Finland]], with Finns allegedly harassing priests and only relying on God in time of war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://193.184.161.234/DF/detail.php?id=24|title=Letter by Pope Alexander III to the Archbishop of Uppsala|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927051438/http://193.184.161.234/DF/detail.php?id=24|archive-date=27 September 2007|language=la|publisher=National Archives of Finland}}</ref> In the bull ''[[Non parum animus noster]]'', in 1171 or 1172, he gave papal sanction to ongoing [[Northern Crusades|crusades against pagans in northern Europe]],{{sfn|Fonnesberg-Schmidt|2007|p=58}} promising remission of sin for those who fought there. In doing so, he legitimized the widespread use of [[forced conversion]] as a tactic by those fighting in the Baltic.{{sfn|Christiansen|1997|p=71}}

In 1166, Alexander received an embassy from the [[Byzantine emperor]] [[Manuel I Komnenos|Manuel I]]. The Byzantine ambassador, the ''[[sebastos]]'' [[Jordan of Capua (sebastos)|Jordan]] relayed that Manuel would end the [[Great Schism of 1054|Great Schism]] of the eastern and western churches if Alexander would recognize him as emperor. As emperor, Manuel would supply the pope with men and money to restore his authority in Italy. Alexander gave an evasive answer, but in 1168 he rejected outright the same proposal from a second Byzantine embassy. His stated reason amounted to it being too difficult. He appears to have feared Byzantine domination of Italy if the pope owed his position to its support.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Jonathan Harris Dmitri|last1=Tolstoy|chapter=Alexander III and Byzantium|editor1=Anne J. Duggan|editor2=Peter D. Clarke|title=Pope Alexander III (1159–81): The Art of Survival|publisher=Ashgate|year=2012|pages=301–314|isbn=978-0-7546-6288-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first1=John G.|last1=Rowe|chapter=Alexander III and the Jerusalem Crusade: An Overview of Problems and Failures|editor=Maya Shatzmiller|title=Crusaders and Muslims in Twelfth-Century Syria|publisher=Brill|year=1993|page=122|isbn=978-90-04-09777-3}}</ref>

Besides checkmating Barbarossa, Alexander humbled King Henry II of England for the murder of [[Thomas Becket]] in 1170, to whom he was unusually close, later [[canonizing]] Becket in 1173.<ref name="Norton2006p193">{{cite book |first=Christopher |last=Norton |title=St. William of York |location=Rochester, NY |publisher=Boydell Press |year=2006 |page=193 |isbn=978-1-903153-17-8 }}</ref> This was the second English saint canonized by Alexander, the first being [[Edward the Confessor]] in 1161.<ref name="Norton2006p193" /> Nonetheless, he confirmed the position of Henry as [[Lordship of Ireland|Lord of Ireland]] in 1172.
 
[[File:ManifestisProbatum.jpg|thumb|upright|''Manifestis Probatum''.]]
Through the [[papal bull]] ''[[Manifestis Probatum]]'', issued on 23 May 1179, Alexander recognized the right of Count [[Afonso Henriques]] to proclaim himself [[king of Portugal]] – an important step in the process of Portugal becoming a recognized independent kingdom. Afonso had been using the title of king since 1139.<ref name="Janet Laughland Nelson 2001">{{cite book|author1-link=Peter Linehan|first1=Peter|last1=Linehan|first2=Janet|last2=Laughland Nelson|title=The Medieval World|volume=10|publisher=Routledge|year=2001|page=524|isbn=9780415302340}}</ref>

===Efforts at reform===
[[File:B alexander III2 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Alexander III depicted in a fresco by [[Spinello Aretino]] <small>(before 1410, [[Palazzo Pubblico]] in [[Siena]])</small>]]
Even as a fugitive, Alexander enjoyed the favour and protection of [[Louis VII of France]].{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

In 1163 Alexander summoned clergy and prelates from England, France, Italy, and Spain to the Council of Tours to address, among other things, the unlawful division of ecclesiastical benefices, clerical usury, and lay possession of tithes.<ref name=Pennington/>

In March 1179, Alexander III held the [[Third Council of the Lateran]], one of the most important mediaeval church councils, reckoned by the Catholic Church as the eleventh [[ecumenical council]]. Its acts embodied several of the Pope's proposals for the betterment of the condition of the Church, among them the law requiring that no one could be elected pope without the votes of two-thirds of the cardinals.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Joseph F.|last1=Kelly|title=The Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church: A History|publisher=Liturgical Press|year=2009|page=83|isbn=9780814657034}}</ref> The rule was altered slightly in 1996, but was restored in 2007. The period from 1177, which saw the submission of both emperor Frederick and anti-pope Calixtus III, and this synod/council marked the summit of Alexander III's power.<ref>{{cite book|first1=P.C.|last1=Thomas|title=General Councils of the Church: A Compact History|location=Mumbai|publisher=Bombay St. Paul Society|year=1993|pages=75–78|isbn=8171091814}}</ref>

Nevertheless, soon after the close of the synod, the [[Commune of Rome|Roman Republic]] forced Alexander III to leave the city, which he never re-entered, and on 29 September 1179, some nobles set up the [[Antipope Innocent III]]. By the judicious use of money, however, Alexander III got him into his power, so that he was deposed in January 1180. In 1181, Alexander III [[excommunication|excommunicated]] King [[William I of Scotland]] and put the kingdom under an [[interdict]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=Philip J.|last1=Potter|title=Gothic Kings of Britain: The Lives of 31 Medieval Rulers, 1016-1399|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|year=2009|page=148|isbn=978-0786440382}}</ref>

===Ecclesial activities===
{{main|Cardinals created by Alexander III}}
Throughout his pontificate, Alexander III elevated [[Cardinals created by Alexander III|68 cardinals]] in fifteen consistories which included two of his successors, [[Urban III]] and [[Clement III]], and [[Galdino della Sala|a cardinal]] whom he would later canonize as a saint.

Alexander III beatified no one during his papacy but he did canonize ten saints which included notable figures of the age such as [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] and [[Thomas Becket]].

===Death===
<!--- [[File:San giovanni in laterano, interno, navata interna dx, sepolcro di alessandro III con scultura di domenico guidi, 1658-59.jpg|thumb|The tomb of Pope Alexander III in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran]] The image messes up the layout of the reference section --->
He died at [[Civita Castellana]] on 30 August 1181. It was one week short of twenty-two years since his election, the longest papacy since [[Pope Adrian I|Adrian I]] in the 8th century.