Pope Celestine II

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

For the pope-elect who took the name "Celestine II" but was never consecrated, see Teobaldo Boccapecci.
Honorius II
Personal details
Born
Guido di Castello

Città di Castello, Papal States, Holy Roman Empire
Died(1144-03-08)8 March 1144
Rome, Papal States, Holy Roman Empire
SignatureCelestine II's signature
Other popes named Celestine

Pope Celestine II (

Latin: Caelestinus II; died 8 March 1144), born Guido di Castello,[1] was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 26 September 1143[2]
to his death in 1144.

Early life

Guido di Castello, possibly the son of a local noble, Niccolo di Castello,

Apennines, or at Macerata in the March of Ancona.[3][4]

Guido had studied under

San Marco.[5] He signed the papal bulls as S.R.E. indignus sacerdos between 11 January 1134 and 16 May 1143.[7] As the cardinal of San Marco's, he supported Innocent's claims with regards to Monte Cassino, and as a mark of his confidence in him, Innocent made Guido the rector of Benevento. Afterwards, he made him a papal legate to France in 1140.[1]

He participated in the

papal election of 1143, the first undisturbed papal election that Rome had seen for eighty-two years,[8] and was elected pope two days after the death of Innocent II,[9] on 25 September 1143,[1] taking the name of Celestine.[8]

Papacy

Celestine II governed the

Templars, ordering a general collection for them, as well as the Hospitallers, giving them control of the hospital of Saint Mary Teutonicorum in Jerusalem.[13]

19th-century religious card depicting Celestine's absolution of King Louis VII of France.

The principal act of his

Theobald II of Champagne. Innocent responded by placing France under an interdict.[14] For two years, the various parties remained at loggerheads while Bernard of Clairvaux attempted to mediate the dispute.[15] With the election of Celestine, both Bernard and Theobald appealed to the pope, while Louis sent ambassadors to have the interdict lifted.[16] Louis agreed to accept Pierre as the legitimate archbishop of Bourges, and in return, Celestine removed the sentence of interdict.[13]

Celestine died on 8 March 1144[1] in the monastery of Saint Sebastian on the Palatine hill and was buried in the south transept of the Lateran.[13] Celestine's heraldic badge was a lozengy shield of argent and gules.[9]

Celestine II is the first pope listed in the

Prophecies of St Malachy
.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Thomas, pg. 91
  2. OCLC 53276621
    .
  3. ^ a b c d Mann, pg. 105
  4. ^ According to Mann (pg. 104), there is a local tradition that Celestine II, when he became pope, presented the cathedral in Città di Castello with a sculptured silver altar-front.
  5. ^ a b Mann, pg. 106
  6. ^ J.M.Brixius, Die Mitglieder des Kardinalkollegiums von 1130–1181, Berlin, 1912, p. 35 no. 19
  7. Mitteilungen des Instituts für österreichische Geschichtsforschung
    , Wagner'sche Universitäts-buchhandlung, 1958, p. 310
  8. ^ a b Mann, pg. 103
  9. ^ a b Mann, pg. 102
  10. ^ Mann, pgs. 106–107
  11. ^ a b c Mann, pg. 108
  12. ISBN 9780099565871
    .
  13. ^ a b c Mann, pg. 111
  14. ^ a b Mann, pg. 109
  15. ^ Mann, pgs. 109–110
  16. ^ Mann, pgs. 110–111

Sources

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Celestine (popes)".
  • Thomas, P. C., A Compact History of the Popes, St Pauls BYB, 2007
  • Mann, Horace K., The Lives of the Popes in the Middle Ages, Vol 9 (1925)
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Innocent II
 Pope
1143–44 		Succeeded by
Lucius II
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