Pope Alexander III

Also known as

Orlando Bandinelli; Rolandus Bandinelli

Profile

Canonist, studying law under Gratian. Taught at Bologna. Created cardinal by Pope Eugene III. Adviser and papal chancellor to Pope Adrian IV. Elected pope almost unaniously.

Alexander’s papal election led some cardinals to elect an anti-pope, Victor IV who was supported by Germany and some Lombards. The schism continued through anti-popes Paschal III and Calixtus III until 1178.

In 1162, Alexander was forced into exile in France by Emperor Frederick I. In his long struggle with the emperor, the pope was aided by the Lombard League, which named the town of Alessandria for him. In 1174, he received the penance of King Henry II of England for the murder of Saint Thomas Becket. Following the Battle of Legnano in 1176, Frederick was finally forced to submit to papal authority.

Alexander convened the Third Lateran Council. He issued many decretals, established the procedure for canonizing saints, inaugurated the two-thirds rule for papal elections, protected universities, and was one of the most distinguished champions of ecclesiastical independence in the Middle Ages.

Birth

c.1100 at Siena, Italy as Rolandus Bandinelli

Ascension

7 September 1159

Died

30 August 1181 at Civita Castellana of natural causes

Canonizations

????: Saint Guarinus
????: Saint John of Meda
1164: Saint Helen of Skofde
1170: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
1173: Saint Thomas Becket

Print References

New Catholic Dictionary

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