Thursday, November 8, 2007

Pope Clement III
See also, 11th century antipope Clement III.
Pope Clement III (or Paolo) (died March 27, 1191), born Paulino Scolari, was elected Pope on December 20, 1187 and reigned until his death.
A Roman by birth, he was made cardinal bishop of Palestrina by Pope Alexander III (1159–81) in 1180 or 1181. Shortly after his accession, he succeeded in allaying the conflict which had existed for half a century between the Popes and the citizens of Rome, with an agreement by which the citizens were allowed to elect their magistrates, while the nomination of the governor of the city remained in the hands of the Pope. He incited Henry II of England (1154–89) and Philip II of France (1180–1223) to undertake the Third Crusade (1189–92), and introduced several minor reforms in ecclesiastical matters. On 31 May 1188 he concluded a treaty with the Romans which removed difficulties of long standing, and in April 1189 he made peace with the Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. He settled a controversy with William I of Scotland (1165–1214) concerning the choice of the archbishop of St. Andrews, and on 13 March 1188 removed the Scottish church from under the legatine jurisdiction of the archbishop of York, thus making it independent of all save Rome. In spite of his conciliatory policy, Clement III angered Henry VI of Germany (1190–97) by bestowing Sicily on Tancred (1189–94). The crisis was acute when the Pope died, probably in the latter part of March 1191.

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