Lucius III.

Lucius III. - Illustration from the Liber ad honorem Augusti by Petrus de Ebulo , 1196

Lucius III. (originally Ubaldo Allucingoli ; * 1097 (?) in Lucca , † November 25, 1185 in Verona ) was Pope from September 1, 1181 until his death .

Lucius was appointed cardinal priest of Santa Prassede by Pope Innocent II in 1141 and cardinal bishop of Ostia in 1159 . In 1138 he had already been appointed cardinal deacon of Sant'Adriano . Lucius was one of the closest confidants of his predecessor Alexander III. In his dispute with the Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa about the rich Tuscan legacy of Margravine Mathilde , the diplomatically experienced cardinal tried to mediate. Despite his sense of justice, praised by various contemporaries, he did not succeed in finding a mutually satisfactory solution. As a legate , he was involved in the Treaty of Constance in 1153 .

After his election, Lucius, who was still admitted to the Cistercian order under Bernhard von Clairvaux, refused to make the usual donations to the population of Rome . Due to the resulting unpopularity of the Pope among the Romans, he did not succeed in staying in the Lateran : his ordination had to take place in Velletri .

In the fight against the Roman city government, Lucius III. the Archbishop of Mainz , Christian I. von Buch , who actually tried to assist the Pope. This support came to an end with the sudden death of the archbishop in 1183. In this emergency, Lucius III turned. to the emperor, with whom he met in Verona in 1184.

Despite his politically difficult situation, Lucius by no means gave in to the emperor on all negotiating points. At least one agreed to take action against the heresy as soon as possible. Another crusade was also envisaged. In contrast, the Pope refused the coronation of the heir to the throne Heinrich as co-emperor.

In October 1184, Lucius III published at the Council of Verona his decretals Ad Abolendam , which is considered an important step for the formation of the Inquisition.

Despite the partial agreement, the imperial power no longer intervened in Lucius' favor in Rome. Lucius III. died in Verona and was buried in the cathedral there.

One consequence of his reign was the increase in the college of cardinals from 27 to 32 members.

literature

• Bruno Steimer : Lexicon of the Popes and the Papacy . Herder, Freiburg, ISBN 3-451-22015-6
• Ekkart Sauser :  Lucius III. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 5, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-043-3 , Sp. 304-307.

Web links

Commons : Lucius III.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Alexander III	Pope 1181–1185	Urban III.
Ugone from Ostia	Bishop of Ostia 1159–1181	Theobald of Ostia