CELESTINE III, POPE

Pontificate: March 21?, 1191, (ordained priest March 30, consecrated April 14, 1191) to Jan. 8, 1198; born Giacinto (Hyacinthus) of the Boboni-Orsini family, in the Arcula district of Rome, c. 1105–06; died Rome; buried in St. John Lateran iuxta S. Mariam de Reposo ; subdeacon of the Lateran Basilica (1126); abelard's fellow student at Paris c. 1138, and his staunch defender against St. Bernard at the Council of sens (1140); promoted cardinal deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (Feb. 13, 1144) by Celestine II or (Dec. 22, 1144) by Lucius II, a position he held for 47 years.

His outstanding diplomatic skills were utilized in numerous legations and missions and his intellectual qualities brought him into a close relationship with eminent contemporaries such as Gerhoh of Reichersberg and Thomas becket. He acted on behalf of Eugenius III (1149) to facilitate Louis VII's return to France after the Second Crusade and preached the crusade for Anastasius IV in Iberia (1154–56). Following the Diet of Besanèon (1157), Adrian IV appointed him (1158) as one of two mediators deputed to negotiate with Frederick Barbarossa. A supporter of Alexander III, his intelligence and integrity proved invaluable to the exiled pope (1162–65), on whose behalf he wrote no fewer than 14 letters to the French king; he also won over to the papacy the allegiance of Genoa. A second legation (1172–74), involving crusade preaching, collection of census and affairs in Leon, confirmed his exceptional curial expertise in Iberian affairs. As a respected negotiator, he contributed to the Treaty of Venice (1177) that ended the papal schism of 1159–77. Subsequently he participated in various commissions concerning territorial questions between pope and emperor and undertook an important legation to North Italy (May-June 1181).

The octogenarian pope, 85 years old at his election, is frequently represented as the compromise candidate of the College of Cardinals. However, his elevation is far more likely to have marked a renewed determination for thorough reform, demonstrated by his promotion (1193) of six cardinals of the highest moral integrity to fight against corruption. He sought to impose celibacy on all subdeacons whilst attempting unsuccessfully to reconcile the marital problems of the kings of France and Leon. He performed four canonizations; the bishops Ubaldus of Gubbio (1191) and Bernward of Hildesheim (1192); the abbots, John Gualbert of Vallombrosa (1193) and Gerald of Sauvemajeur (1197). In particular, Cencius, whom he created papal camerarius, was instrumental in systematizing the finances of the Church through the Liber Censuum and in the determined struggle against forgeries.

Tense relations ensued with Henry VI over his desire to unify Sicily and the Empire. Clement III had promised him an imperial coronation in 1189 but constantly procrastinated; the new pope crowned the emperor on Easter Sunday, April 15, 1191, on the day following his own consecration. Celestine, however, supported the claim of Tancred of Lecce to the Regno, creating him papal vassal by the Concordat of Gravina, but on Tancred's death in 1194, the union became a reality. Relations with Henry further deteriorated over the assassination of Albert, bishop of Liège, and the captivity and ransom of Richard I of England. However, the German crusade of 1195–96, Henry's proposal of Dec. 18, 1196 that one prebend in every cathedral of the Empire should be put at the pope's disposal and the emperor's death on Sept. 27, 1197, combined to prevent immediate conflict.

In Celestine's relations with Rome, he achieved a brief respite following an agreement with a Senate of 56 and the concession of Tusculum but Benedict Carushomo, the single senator, soon began to restrict his influence, not only within the city but also throughout Sabina and Marittima. By June 1197, John, cardinal priest of Santa Prisca, was reported as acting in the place of the now seriously ill pope, undertaking every one of his duties save that of consecrating bishops. Celestine may even have expressed his willingness to abdicate, but the cardinals resisted this unprecedented diminution of their rights and he died in office.

Bibliography: Patrologia Latina 206:863–1280; Regesta Pontificium Romanorum, ed. p. jaffÉ and g. wattenbach et al., 2 (Leipzig 1888) 577–644, 771–72. Codex constitutionum quas summi pontificium ediderunt in solemne canonizatione sanctorum a Johanne XV ad Benedictum XIII, ed. g. fontanini (Rome 1729) 27–34. j. m. brixius, Die Mitglieder des Kardinalskollegiums 1130–1181 (Berlin 1912) 52, 104. b. zenker, Die Mitglieder des Kardinalskollegiums 1130–1159 (Würzburg 1964) 161–67. r. mols, "Celestin III, " Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912—) 12:62–77. r. aubert, "Hyacinthe, Iacinthus Bobonis, " ibid. 25:504. c.-e. perrin, "Les negotiations de 1196 entre l'empereur Henri VI et le pape Célestin III, " Méanges d'histoire du Moyen Age dédiés à la mémoire de Louis Halphen (Paris 1951) 565–72. w. holtzmann, "La Collectio Seguntina et les Décretales de Clément III et de Celestin III, " Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique 50 (1955) 400–53. w. maleczek, Papst und Kardinalskolleg von 1191 bis 1216. Die Kardinäle unter Coelestin III und Innocenz III. (Vienna 1984). k. baaken, "Zu Wahl, Weihe und Krönung Papst Cölestins III, " Deutsches Archiv 41 (1985) 203–211. v. pfaff, "Die Kardinäle unter Papst Coelestin III., " Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, Kanonistische Abteilung 41 (1955) 58–94; "Analekten zur Geschichte Papst Coelestins III., " Historisches Jahrbuch 109 (1989) 191–205; "Die Kardinale unter Papst Coelestin III. (1191–1198). Dritter Teil, Nachtrage, Berichtigungen und Register, " Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, Kanonistische Abteilung 106 (1989) 401–407; "Celestino III, " Enciclopedia dei Papi (Rome 2000) 2: 320–26. Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche (Freiburg 1994), col. 1247.

[b. m. bolton]