Editing Pope Nicholas III (section)

== Activities as pope ==

=== Politics ===
[[File:Papal bull (FindID 93014).jpg|thumb|[[Bulla (seal)|Bulla]] of Nicholas III]]
The lands under direct papal rule were threatened by surrounding powers.  In the second quarter of the 13th century, they were threatened by the expansionist policies of the Emperor Frederick II, who aimed to unite his inheritance in the south (Sicily and southern Italy) with his acquisition of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] in [[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|northern Italy]].  He spent a great deal of time and energy attempting to gain control over Lombardy and Tuscany, which brought him into direct conflict with the Papacy. Frederick was repeatedly excommunicated by one pope after another.  In order to drive off the Hohenstaufen,  the Papacy contrived a deal with the brother of  Louis IX of France, [[Charles of Anjou]], Count of Provence,  who was invited to Italy to assume the crown of Sicily and be a counterweight against the Empire.  He was too successful, however, and the Papacy found itself in the deadly embrace of the Angevins.  Nicholas' prime goal was to loosen Charles I's grip on the Papacy, Rome, and the lands of the Church.

Nicholas'  pontificate, though brief, was marked by several important events. He greatly strengthened the papal position in Italy.<ref name=EB1911/> On 1 October 1273, [[Rudolf I of Germany|Rudolph I]] of Habsburg, the godson of Frederick II, had been elected King of Germany and King of the Romans.  Pope Gregory X had recognized him as King, after some hard negotiation, but the imperial title and coronation were withheld.  Pope Nicholas was willing to negotiate, but he refused to crown Rudolf as Emperor until Rudolph had acknowledged all the claims of the Church, including many that were quite dubious. The [[concordat]] with Rudolph I of Habsburg was concluded in May 1278.  In it the city of Bologna, the [[Romagna]], and the [[exarchate]] of [[Ravenna]] were guaranteed to the papacy.<ref>Johann Lorenz Mosheim, ''Institutes of Ecclesiastical History, Ancient and Modern''  Vol. II (New York 1839), p. 296.  A. Theiner,  ''Codex diplomaticus dominii temporalis S. Sedis''  I (Rome: Imprimerie du Vatican, 1861), pp. 228–243.</ref> According to the chronographer [[Bartholomew of Lucca]] (Ptolemy of Lucca), he discussed with Rudolph, in general terms at least, the splitting the Holy Roman Empire into four separate kingdoms – [[Lombardy]], [[Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles|Burgundy]], [[Tuscia]] and [[Kingdom of Germany|Germany]] – where Rudolph's kingdom would be made hereditary and he himself would be recognized as [[Holy Roman Emperor]].

Nicholas III was even able to persuade King Charles I of Naples and Sicily to give up his position as Roman Senator in 1278, at the conclusion of ten years of tenure,<ref>Luigi Pompili Olivieri, ''Il senato romano'' I (Roma 1886), pp. 198–199.</ref> as well as the position of Papal Vicar for Tuscany.<ref>Demski, pp. 38–55.</ref>  In July 1278, Nicholas III issued an epoch-making constitution for the government of Rome, ''Fundamenta militantis'' <ref>A. Tomassetti (Editor),  ''Bullarum Diplomatum et Privilegiorum Sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum'' Tomus IV (Turin 1859), pp. 42–45.</ref>  which forbade foreigners from taking civil office. It depends for its justification not only on the biblical phrase, "Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam" (''Matthew'' 16:18), but also on the forged Donations of Constantine.

=== Ecclesiastical ===
Nicholas' father had been a personal friend of [[Francis of Assisi]], and he himself had to focus much of his attention on the [[Franciscan]] order.  More than 165 of his bulls and letters address the subject. Most importantly, he issued the [[papal bull]] ''[[Exiit qui seminat]]'' <ref>{{cite web | author=Nicholas III  | title=Exiit qui seminat | website= The Franciscan Archive | date=21 January 1997 | url=http://www.franciscan-archive.org/bullarium/exiit-e.html | access-date=24 January 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author=Nicholas III | title=Exiit qui seminat | website= Papal Encyclicals Online | date=14 August 1279 | publisher=Papal Encyclicals Online webmaster | url=http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Nichol03/exiit-e.htm | access-date=24 January 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author=Nicholas III | title=Exiit qui seminat | website= Document Library | publisher=[[Eternal Word Television Network|EWTN]] | url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/N3SEMIN.HTM | access-date=24 January 2013 }}</ref> on 14 August 1279, to settle the strife within the order between the parties of strict and relaxed observance.<ref name=EB1911/>

He repaired the [[Lateran Palace]] and the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] at enormous cost,<ref>Demski, pp. 337–349.</ref> and erected a beautiful country house at [[Soriano nel Cimino]] near [[Viterbo]],<ref>Maria Giulia Aurigemma and Alberto Caprani, ''Palaces of Lazio: from the 12th to the 19th century'' (Roma: NER 1991), pp. 180–181.</ref><ref name=EB1911/> where he died of a cardiovascular event (sources differ on whether it was a [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]] or a [[stroke]]).

=== Nepotism ===
Nicholas III, though a man of learning noted for his strength of character,<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle=Nicholas (popes)|volume=19|page=650|author=Carlton Huntly Hayes|inline=1}}</ref> was known for his excessive nepotism. He elevated three of his closest relatives to the cardinalate and gave others important positions. This nepotism was lampooned both by Dante and in contemporary cartoons, depicting him in his fine robes with three "little bears" (''orsetti'', a pun on the family name) hanging on below.

=== Cardinals ===
See : [[Cardinals created by Nicholas III]]

===Death===

Pope Nicholas III was stricken ill quite unexpectedly.  The Curia was residing at the time in the city of Viterbo. Pope Nicholas was at his country retreat at Castro Soriano. According to the ''Chronicon Parmense'' he was suddenly deprived of consciousness and movement (''privatus subito omni sensu et motu''). Bartholomeus (Ptolemy) of Lucca says, ''subito factus apoplecticus, sine loquela moritur''  ('suddenly stricken with apoplexy, he died without speaking').  Nicholas was unable to make his confession, and died at his palace at Castro Soriano, in the diocese of Viterbo, on 22 August 1280.<ref>Demski, 347–348.</ref>  He had been pope for two years, eight months, and twenty-eight days. His remains were taken to Rome, where he was buried in the Vatican Basilica, in the Chapel of S. Nicholas.<ref>Ptolemy of Lucca ''Historia ecclesiastica''  XXIII. § 35.</ref>  There was an alternative story circulating, as was frequently the case in the sudden deaths of medieval and renaissance popes&mdash;that the pope had been poisoned.<ref>''Annales S. Rudiberti Salisburgensis'', in G. H. Pertz (editor), ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica''  Scriptorum Tomus IX (Hannover 1851),p.  806.</ref>