Pope Urban III
| Pope Urban III | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Rome | |
Urban III in a 14th-century miniature
| |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Papacy began | 25 November 1185 |
| Papacy ended | 20 October 1187 |
| Predecessor | Lucius III |
| Successor | Gregory VIII |
| Previous posts | Bishop of Vercelli (1182–85) Cardinal-Priest of San Lorenzo in Damaso (1182–85) Archbishop of Milan (1185) |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 1182 |
| Created cardinal | September 1173 by Alexander III |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Uberto Crivelli 1120 Cuggiono, Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 20 October 1187 (aged 66–67) Ferrara, Holy Roman Empire |
| Other popes named Urban | |
Pope Urban III (born Uberto Crivelli; died 20 October 1187) served as head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 November 1185 until his death in 1187. A native of Milan, Urban III was elected pope at a time of intense conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, particularly with Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. His brief pontificate was dominated by disputes over ecclesiastical jurisdiction in northern Italy and Germany, resistance to imperial influence over episcopal appointments, and the continuing repercussions of the 1177 Treaty of Venice.[1]
Before his election, Crivelli pursued a distinguished clerical and legal career, serving as the archbishop of Milan from 1185 until his election, and as a papal legate and cardinal-priest of San Lorenzo in Lucina. His Milanese background and firm defense of papal prerogatives shaped his confrontational stance toward imperial authority, especially in his refusal to recognize certain imperial candidates for bishoprics and his support for the autonomy of the Lombard churches.[2]
Urban III’s pontificate coincided with mounting instability in the eastern Mediterranean. Although he died shortly after news of the defeat of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin reached Europe in 1187, his reign formed part of the immediate prelude to the Third Crusade, which was proclaimed by his successor Pope Gregory VIII. Urban III was buried in Ferrara, where he had taken refuge during the final months of his life amid political unrest in Rome.[3][4]
Early career
Crivelli was born in Cuggiono as the son of Guala Crivelli. He studied in Bologna. His original title is unknown, but he opted to be the Cardinal-Priest of San Lorenzo in Lucina in 1182.[5] Lucius appointed him Archbishop of Milan in 1185. Lucius III died on 25 November 1185; Cardinal Crivelli was elected that same day.[6] The haste was probably due to fear of imperial interference.[7]
Pontificate
Urban III vigorously took up his predecessor's quarrels with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, including the standing dispute about the disposal of the territories of the countess Matilda of Tuscany. This was embittered by personal enmity, for at the sack of Milan in 1162 the emperor had caused several of the pope's relatives to be proscribed or mutilated. After his elevation to the papacy, Urban III continued to hold the archbishopric of Milan, and in this capacity refused to crown as King of Italy Frederick I's son Henry, who had married Constance, the heiress of the kingdom of Sicily. By this marriage/bond the papacy lost that Norman support on which it had so long relied in its contests with the emperor.[7]
Urban exerted himself to bring about peace between England and France, and on 23 June 1187, his legates by threats of excommunication prevented a pitched battle between the armies of the rival kings near Châteauroux, and brought about a two years' truce.[7]
While Henry in the south cooperated with the rebel Senate of Rome, his father Frederick blocked the passes of the Alps and cut off all communication between Urban, then living in Verona, and his German adherents. Urban now resolved on excommunicating Frederick I, but the Veronese protested against such a proceeding being resorted to within their walls. He accordingly withdrew to Ferrara, but Urban died 20 October 1187,[8] before he could give effect to his intentions. He was succeeded by Gregory VIII.
According to the chroniclers Ernoul and Benedict of Peterborough, Urban III died of shock and grief after Joscius, Archbishop of Tyre brought him news of the Christian defeat at the Battle of Hattin. It is also commonly stated that Urban's death was caused by the news of the fall of Jerusalem, but William of Newburgh stated the report of the disaster of Hattin (3-4 July) did not reach the Holy See until after the election of Gregory VIII, it may be that Urban III never heard of the surrender of the Holy City, which took place on 2 October.[7]
See also
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Pope Urban III — Reigned 1185-87, born at Milan; died at Ferrara, 19 October, 1187. Uberto, of the noble Milanese family of the Crivelli, was created cardinal by Lucius III in 1182 and Archbishop of Milan in 1185. On 25 November of this year Lucius died at Verona, and the archbishop was elected to succeed him on the same day; he was crowned on 1 December. This haste was probably due to fear of imperial interference. Urban inherited from his predecessor a legacy of feud with the great Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, and this was embittered by personal enmity, for at the sack of Milan in 1162 the emperor had caused several of the pope's relatives to be proscribed or mutilated. It has been noticed that the breach between Lucius III and Frederick coincided with the arrival in Northern Italy (August, 1185) of Constance, the heiress of the Kingdom of Sicily, who was betrothed to Frederick's son Henry. The marriage, which was celebrated at Milan on 4 Jan., 1186, six weeks after Urban's accession, "constituted for the papacy the gravest check it had suffered for a long time. By it was ruined the whole political edifice so laboriously raised by the popes of the eleventh and twelfth centuries to keep in check the power of the Emperors in Italy and to assure the independence of the Papal States" (Chalandon, II, 390). By this marriage was lost that Norman support on which the papacy had so long relied in its contest with the empire. Nor was this the only cause of quarrel. The treaty of 1177 had left unsettled the question of the succession to the estates of Matilda of Tuscany, while Frederick had seized the revenues of vacant German bishoprics and suppressed nunneries for the sake of their property.
Urban maintained the refusal of Lucius III to crown Henry, and the Patriarch of Aquileia was induced by the emperor to perform the office, although it belonged to the pope in right of the Archbishopric of Milan which he had retained, possibly to that end, after his election. Urban replied by excommunicating the patriarch and the bishops who had assisted at the ceremony. On 31 May he promoted to the cardinalate the archdeacon Folmar, and next day consecrated him as Archbishop of Trier, contrary to a promise he had made to the emperor, for though Folmar had been canonically elected, Frederick had granted investiture to Rudolf, the candidate of the minority. The emperor clossed the passes of the Alps against the pope's messengers to Germany, and sent Henry to ravage the Papal States. Urban had hoped for support from the German bishops, but at the Diet of Gelnhausen (April or May, 1187), from which the papal legate, Philip von Heinsberg, Archbishop of Cologne, was excluded, Frederick won the bishops to his side and caused them to send letters to the pope urging him "to do justice to the Emperor in those things which were justly demanded of him" (Arnold of Lübeck, III, 18). Urban replied by summoning the emperor to appear before his tribunal at Verona, and was only prevented from pronouncing excommunication against him by the Veronese, who, as Frederick's subjects, would not permit the sentence to be promulgated in their city. Urban set out for Venice, where he would have been able to carry out his threat, but died at Ferrara, after a pontificate of a year and eleven months. His death is ascribed by Benedict of Peterborough to grief at the news of the utter defeat of the crusaders at the battle of Hattin, and it is commonly stated that it was caused by the news of the fall of Jerusalem, but William of Newburgh assures us that the report of the disaster of Hattin (3-4 July) did not reach the Holy See till after the election of Gregory VIII, so it is hardly probable that Urban III ever heard of the surrender of the Holy City which took place on 2 October.
A curious story is told by Peter of Blois, Archdeacon of Bath, who claims to have been intimate with the pope ("in scholis Urbani socius et descipulus fueram Maldyebyrig") and connects his death with his wrath against Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury. At the very beginning of his pontificate Urban had granted the request made to his predecessor by Henry II of England, and appointed Baldwin Apostolic legate in the Province of Canterbury, but in the latter's quarrel with the monks of his cathedral the pope had taken the part of the monks, and the archbishop had proved obdurate. Perhaps this was not the only cause of the pope's anger; for Baldwin, moved probably by jealousy, had persuaded the king to conduct back to Normandy the legates sent to crown John as King of Ireland (Benedict of Peterborough, "Gesta regis Henrici Secundi"). The pope even sent a gold crown ("coronam auro contextam") for this purpose. He exerted himself to bring about peace between England and France, and on 23 June, 1187, his legates by threats of excommunication prevented a pitched battle between the armies of the rival kings near Châteauroux, and brought about a two years' truce. Urban's letters show zeal for the Holy Land and a desire to promote peace among the quarrelling Christian potentates of Syria. Unfortunately, it cannot be ascertained whether the interesting letter addressed to Philip of France (Jaffé, "Regesta", 15,924) really belongs to this pope. The number of privileges in favour of the Knights Hospitallers is remarkable. The letters and privileges of Urban III are given in P.L., CCII. His tomb, "a handsome sarcophagus resting on four columns" (Gregorovius), may still be seen in Ferrara cathedral.
Raymund Webster.
References
- Back to citation "Urban III". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
- Back to citation Charles G. Herbermann, ed. (1912). "Pope Urban III". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 8 February 2026.
- Back to citation Duffy, Eamon (2006). Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes (3rd ed.). Yale University Press. pp. 133–134. ISBN 9780300115970.
- Back to citation Partner, Peter (1972). The Lands of St Peter: The Papal State in the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance. University of California Press. pp. 193–195. ISBN 978-0-520-02181-5.
- Back to citation Kelly & Walsh 2005, p. 181.
- Back to citation Loud 2019, p. 122.
- Back to citation occurrence 7.0 Back to citation occurrence 7.1 Back to citation occurrence 7.2 Back to citation occurrence 7.3 Webster 1913.
- Back to citation Loud 2019, p. 128.
Bibliography
- Duffy, Eamon (2001). Saints & sinners: A History of the Popes. Yale University Press. p. 392. ISBN 0-300-09165-6.
- Kelly, John Norman Davidson; Walsh, Michael J., eds. (2005). "Urban III". The Oxford dictionary of popes. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198614333.
- Loud, Graham (2019). The Chronicle of Arnold of Lübeck. Routledge. ISBN 9780429624520.