Editing Pope Celestine III

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1191 to 1198}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = Celestine III
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| image = Coelestin_III_(cropped_2).png
| image_size = 
| caption = Pope Celestine III, from the ''[[Liber ad honorem Augusti]]'' (1196)
| birth_name = Giacinto Bobone
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| term_start = 30 March 1191
| term_end = 8 January 1198
| predecessor = [[Clement III]]
| successor = [[Innocent III]]
| ordination = 13 April 1191
| consecration = 14 April 1191
| consecrated_by = [[Ottaviano di Paoli]]
| cardinal = February 1144
| created_cardinal_by = [[Celestine II]]
| birth_date = c. 1105
| birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
| death_date = 8 January 1198 (aged 92–93)
| death_place = Rome, Papal States
| previous_post = [[Santa Maria in Cosmedin|Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin]] (1144–1191)
| motto = ''Perfice gressus meos in semitis tuis'' ("Going in Thy path")
| signature = CelestinusIIItitel.jpg{{!}}class=skin-invert
| other = Celestine
}}
{{Ordination
|ordained deacon by           =
|date of diaconal ordination  =
|place of diaconal ordination =
|ordained priest by           =
|date of priestly ordination  = 
|place of priestly ordination =
|consecrated by               = [[Ottaviano di Paoli]]
|co-consecrators              = Unknown
|date of consecration         = 14 April 1191
|place of consecration        = Rome, Papal States
|elevated by                  = [[Pope Celestine II]]
|date of elevation            = February 1144
|bishop 1                     = [[Martín López de Pisuerga]]
|consecration date 1          = 6 June 1192
|bishop 2                     = [[Martinho Pires]]
|consecration date 2          = 1189
|bishop 3                     = [[Philip of Poictou]]
|consecration date 3          = 20 April 1197
}}
[[File:Pope Coelestinus 4. crowning the Emperour Henricus 6. with his feete.gif|thumb|Satirical cartoon of Celestine III crowning [[Emperor Henry VI]] with his feet. (This image refers to him as "Coelestinus 4," as the author considered [[Teobaldo Boccapecci]] as Pope Celestine II.)]]
'''Pope Celestine III''' ({{langx|la|Caelestinus III}}; c. 1105&nbsp;– 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==
Giacinto Bobone was born into the noble [[Orsini family]] in [[Rome]].{{sfn|Cross|1997|p=309}} He was appointed as [[cardinal-deacon]] in 1144 by [[Celestine II]] or [[Lucius II]].{{sfn|Duggan|2016|p=1}} 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 [[Santa Maria in Cosmedin|Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin]].{{sfn|Robinson|2004|p=417-418}}

==Pontificate==
Celestine was [[1191 papal election|elected]] on 29/30 March 1191 and ordained a priest 13 April 1191.{{sfn|Duggan|2016|p=1}} He crowned Emperor Henry VI a day or two after his ordination.{{sfn|Robinson|1990|p=510}} In 1192, Celestine recognized [[King Tancred of Sicily|Tancred]] as king of Sicily, despite Henry VI's wife's claim.{{sfn|Robinson|2006|p=382}} He threatened to [[excommunicated|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.{{sfn|Robinson|2006|p=382}}{{sfn|Poole|1926|p=467}}
He placed [[Pisa]] under an [[interdict]], which was lifted by his successor, [[Innocent III]] in 1198.{{sfn|Clarke|2007|p=118}}

Celestine, in 1192, sent a cardinal-priest of St. Lorenzo, Cinthius, to Denmark to address the discord between the Danish princes.{{sfn|Nielsen|2016|p=159}} 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.{{sfn|Nielsen|2016|p=161}} 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.{{sfn|Nielsen|2016|p=161}} The bishop would stay imprisoned until Pope Innocent III restarted the process in 1203.{{sfn|Nielsen|2016|p=163}}

Celestine condemned King [[Alfonso IX of León]] for his marriage to [[Theresa of Portugal, Queen of León|Theresa of Portugal]] on the grounds of consanguinity.{{sfn|Lay|2009|p=174}} Portugal and León were placed under interdict.{{sfn|Lay|2009|p=174}} Then, in 1196, he excommunicated Alfonso IX for allying with the [[Almohad Caliphate]] while making war on Castile.{{sfn|Lower|2014|p=605}} Following his marriage with [[Berengaria of Castile]], Celestine excommunicated Alfonso and placed an interdict over León.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=70-71}}

In December 1196, Celestine issued a bull acknowledging the possessions of the [[Teutonic Knights]].{{sfn|Edbury|2016|p=137}}

==Death==
Celestine would have [[papal resignation|resigned the papacy]] and recommended a successor (Cardinal [[Giovanni di San Paolo]], [[Order of Saint Benedict|O.S.B.]]) shortly before his death,<ref>William Stubbs (editor), ''Chronica Magistri Rogeri de Houedene'' Vol. IV (London 1871), pp. 32-33.</ref> but was not allowed to do so by the cardinals.<ref>Karl Holder,  ''Die Designation der Nachfolger durch die Päpste'' (Freiburg Switzerland: B. Veith 1892),  pp. 69-70.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
*[[List of popes]]
*[[Cardinals created by Celestine III]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |last=Clarke |first=Peter D. |title=The Interdict in the Thirteenth Century: A question of collective guilt |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church |editor-first=F.L. |editor-last=Cross |chapter=Celestine III |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1997 }}
*{{cite book |chapter=Hyacinth Bobone: Diplomat and Pope |first=Anne J. |last=Duggan |title=Pope Celestine III (1191-1198): Diplomat and Pastor |editor-first1=John |editor-last1=Doran |editor-first2=Damian J. |editor-last2=Smith |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |pages=1–30  }} 
*{{cite book |chapter=Celestine III, the Crusade and the Latin East |first=Peter W. |last=Edbury |title=Pope Celestine III (1191-1198): Diplomat and Pastor |editor-first1=John |editor-last1=Doran |editor-first2=Damian J. |editor-last2=Smith |publisher=Routledge |year=2016  |pages=129–144 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Reconquest Kings of Portugal: Political and Cultural Reorientation on the Medieval Frontier  |first=Stephen |last=Lay |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2009  }}
*{{cite journal |title=The Papacy and Christian Mercenaries of Thirteenth-Century North Africa |first=Michael |last=Lower |journal=Speculum |volume=89| issue =  3 JULY |year=2014 |pages=601–631 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |doi=10.1017/S0038713414000761 |s2cid=154773840 }}
*{{cite book |last=Moore |first=John Clare |title=Pope Innocent III (1160/61–1216): To root up and to plant |publisher=BRILL |year=2003 }}
*{{cite book |chapter=Celestine III and the North |first=Torben K. |last=Nielsen |title=Pope Celestine III (1191-1198): Diplomat and Pastor |editor-first1=John |editor-last1=Doran |editor-first2=Damian J. |editor-last2=Smith |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |pages=159–178  }}
*{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Medieval History |volume=V: Contest of empire and papacy |editor-first1=J.R. |editor-last1=Tanner |editor-first2=C.W. |editor-last2=Previte-Orton |editor-first3=Z.N. |editor-last3=Brooke |chapter=The Emperor Henry VI |first=Austin Lane |last=Poole |publisher=Cambridge at the University Press |year=1926 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Papacy, 1073-1198: Continuity and Innovation |first=I.S. |last=Robinson |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1990 }}
*{{cite book |chapter=The institutions of the church, 1073-1216 |first=I.S. |last=Robinson |title=The New Cambridge Medieval History |volume=IV: c.1024-c.1198, Part 1|editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Luscombe |editor-first2=Jonathan |editor-last2=Riley-Smith |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 }}
*{{cite book |chapter=The papacy |first=I.S. |last=Robinson |title=The New Cambridge Medieval History |volume=IV: c.1024-c.1198, Part II |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Luscombe |editor-first2=Jonathan |editor-last2=Riley-Smith |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |pages=317–384 }}

==External links==
{{EB1911 poster|Celestine (popes)}}
*{{commons category-inline|Caelestinus III|Celestine III}} 
{{S-start}}
{{S-rel|ca}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Clement III]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=1191–98}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Innocent III]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}
{{Catholicism}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}

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

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Celestine 3}}
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:12th-century Italian cardinals]]
[[Category:Diplomats of the Holy See]]
[[Category:Orsini family]]
[[Category:1100s births]]
[[Category:1198 deaths]]
[[Category:12th-century popes]]
[[Category:Burials at the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran]]