Popes+of+the+Crusades

[|**R**] (picture from []) -Speech at theCouncil of Clermont on November 27, 1095 //**Born Odo (or Odon, or Eudes) of Châtillon-sur-Marne, or Odo of Lagery or Lagny, Pope Urban II developed most of the reforms of Gregory VII and helped turn the papacy into a strong political entity. At the Council of Clermont in 1095, he made a speech calling for all Christian knights to take back the Holy Land from the Turks, thus launching the First Crusade. **// (Picture from []) -Elected Pope May 7, 1342 //**Born Pierre Roger, Clement was abbot of Benedictine monasteries at Fécamp and La Chaise-Dieu before he became archbishop of Sens and Rouen and then a cardinal. He was strongly pro-French and was the fourth pope to reside in Avignon. Not only did he turn down an opportunity to return the papacy to Rome, he purchased Avignon from Joanna of Naples, whom he absolved of her husband's murder. Clement saw some success in crusading, sponsoring a naval expedition that took control of Smyrna, which was given to the Knights of St. John, and ended its pirate raids in the Mediterranean. Clement was a patron of artists and scholars, and, enlarging the papal palace, made it a sophisticated center of culture. He survived the worst of the Black Death, offering protection to the Jews when many were persecuted under suspicion of starting the pestilence.**// (Picture from []) //**Born Lothair of Segni (in Italian, Lotario di Segni), Innocent III was one of the most powerful and influential popes of the Middle Ages. He sponsored the Fourth Crusade and the Albigensian Crusade, he approved the work of Saints Dominic**// //**and Francis**////**, he convoked the fourth Lateran Council, and he built the papacy into a more powerful, prestigious institution than it had ever been before. Innocent viewed the role of the pope as not merely a spiritual leader but a secular one as well, and while he held the papal office he made that vision a reality.**// //**Lothair's mother was nobility, and his aristocratic relatives may have made his studies at the Universities of Paris and Bologna possible. Blood ties to Pope Clement III may also be responsible for his elevation to cardinal deacon in 1190. However, he didn't get very involved in papal politics at this point, and he had time to write on theology, including the works "On the Miserable Condition of Man" and "On the Mysteries of the Mass."**// //**Almost immediately upon his election as pope, Innocent sought to reassert papal rights in Rome, bringing about peace among the rival aristocratic factions and gaining the respect of the Roman people within a few years. Innocent also took a direct interest in the German succession. He believed that the pope had the right to approve or reject any election that was questionable on the grounds that the German ruler could claim the title of "Holy" Roman Emperor, a position that affected the spiritual realm. At the same time, Innocent explicitly disclaimed secular power in most of the remainder of Europe; but he still took direct interest in matters in France and England, and his influence in Germany and Italy alone was enough to bring the papacy into the forefront of medieval politics.**// //**Innocent called the Fourth Crusade, which was diverted to Constantinople. The pope excommunicated the Crusaders who attacked Christian cities, but he made no move to halt or overturn their actions because he felt, erroneously, that the Latin presence would bring about a reconciliation between the Eastern and Western Churches. Innocent also ordered a crusade against the Albigenses, which successfully subdued the Cathar heresy in France but at a great cost in life and blood. In 1215 Innocent convoked the fourth Lateran Council, the most successful and well-attended ecumenical council of the Middle Ages. The Council passed several very important decrees, including Canons concerning the dogma of Transubstantiation and reforms of the clergy.Pope Innocent III died suddenly while preparing for a new Crusade. His papacy stands as an impressive political force of the thirteenth century. **// (Picture from []) -Died in 1118 (Picture from []) Cencius Frangipane, had Gelasius imprisoned - but Gelasius was later freed by a popular uprising among the Roman citizens.// __Pope Callistus II__- ** Elected Pope Feb.1,1119 to Dec.13, 1124 (Picture from []) (Picture from []) (Picture from ) (Picture from ) (Picture from ) __Pope Eugenius III__ -Elected Pope Feb.15,1145 to July 8,1153 (Picture from ) //** (Picture from ) //** (Picture from ) cardinals' ballots//** (Picture from ) (Picture from ) (Picture from ) (Picture from ) (Picture from ) Pope Celestine III __** - Elected Pope March 30,1191 to Jan.8,1198 //**Pope Celestine III reigned for a surprising long time, considering that he was 85 years old when he was elected. He had a rocky relationship with German emperor Henry IV. He crowned Henry emperor just days after his own consecration, but then he later excommunicated Henry for wrongfully imprisoning Richard the Lionhearted.** // (Picture from ) //**Pope Honorius III was old and in poor health when he was elected, but nevertheless he reigned for almost eleven years and managed to accomplish quite a lot during that time. His two main goal were to maintain papal authority over lands in Italy and to resist the incursions of heresy throughout Christendom.**// **//The former was made difficult by the desires of Frederick, crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Honorius on the condition that he participate in the Fifth Crusade. Frederick was reluctant to do so, however, because he was more interested in establishing his own control over Italy.//** //** (Picture from ) Pope Gregory IX __** - Elected Pope March 19,1227 to August 22,1241 (Picture from ) (Picture from ) (Picture from ) (Picture from ) //** (Picture from ) **//As pope, Clement IV had the opportunity to end the Great Schism between Eastern and Western Christianity. Emperor Michael Palaeologus had declared a willingness to bring about a reunification of the Western and Eastern churches and to accept papal supremacy, but Clement demanded grovelling submission, a price too high to pay. Clement may have also been influenced by the desire of Charles of Anjou to take Constantinople by force and make it a Latin Christian city.//** //** (Picture from ) //** (Picture from ) //** (Picture from ) (Picture from ) //** (Picture from ) //** (Picture from ) **//Under the influence of Charles he also excommunicated the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1281, nullifying a union between the Eastern and Western churches which had been in place in the Second Council of Lyons since 1274. This was unfortunate because Michael had gone to great efforts to preserve the union and compromise with Rome's demands. //** (Picture from ) (Picture from )
 * __Pope Urban II__ **- Elected Pope on March 12, 1088
 * __Pope Clement VI__ **- c.1291-1352
 * __Pope Innocent III__ **- Elected Pope on Jan.8, 1187
 * __Pope Paschal II__ **- Elected Pope August 13, 1099
 * //Paschal II's mark in history lies primarily with his involvement in the Investiture Conflict with various European rulers. Although he managed to reach an accord with Henry I of England and Philip I of France, matters were not nearly so peaceful with Henry IV and Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire.//**
 * __Pope Gelasius II__ **-Elected Pope Jan.24,1118 to Jan.29,1119
 * //Pope Gelasius II was elected unanimously, but that didn't help him with the fact that German emperor Henry V was still furious with Gelasius' predecessor over his intransigence over the conflict about lay investiture. One of Henry's supporters in Rome,
 * //Callistus II is best known for having finally settled the Investiture Controversy with Henry V. The two reached a mutal agreement with the Concordat of Worms. It probably helped that Callistus had powerful royal connections across Europe - by blood or marriage he was related to Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, Henry I of England, Louis VI of France, and Alfonso VII of Castile.//**
 * __Pope Honorius II__ **- Elected Pope Dec.21,1124 to Feb.13,1130
 * //Pope Honorius II was elected in unusual circumstances. Celestine II had actually been elected validly, but the aristocratic Frangipani family objected and prevented Celestine from being consecrated, thus keeping him from becoming a genuine pope. In exchange, they brought their own candidate forward and ensured that Honorius II became pope.//**
 * __Pope Innocent II__ **-Elected Pope Feb.14,1130 to Sept.24,1143
 * //Pope Innocent II's election was marred by the fact that he was chosen by only a minority of cardinals - most had opted for Pietro Pierleoni, who took the name Anacletus II. Innocent, however, had friends more powerful than the attending cardinals. He fled to France where he enlisted the aid of King Lothair who, two years later, invaded Italy and reinstated Innocent on the papal throne. In return, Innocent crowned Lothair Holy Roman Emperor.//**
 * __Pope Celestine II__ **- Elected Pope Sept.25,1143 to March 8,1144
 * //Once a student of Peter Abelard, Pope Celestine II's most important action was to provide absolution to King Louis VII of France and remove the interdict under which France had suffered for the previous three years.//**
 * __Pope Lucius II__ **- Elected Pope March 12,1144 to Feb.14,1145
 * //Pope Lucius II was involved in serious political struggles with Roger of Sicily. Lucius refused to accept Roger's demands regarding the division of political and religious power, but Lucius was eventually forced to concede by Roger's superior force of arms. Lucius was also in great difficulties with the Roman senate and found himself leading a small army against the Senate in order to restore papal power, but Lucius lost the fight and was wounded so seriously that he died a few days later.//**
 * //A Cistercian abbot, Pope Eugene III became particularly well known for the failure of the Second Crusade which he himself had originally called for In a bull sent to French King, Louis VII, and which he vigorously supported with the help of Bernard of Clairvaux.​//**
 * __Pope Anastasius IV__ ** - Elected Pope July 8,1153 to Dec.3,1154
 * //Aside from reestablishing good relations with locals as well as European powers, nothing much occurred during his brief pontificate.
 * __Pope Hadrian IV__ ** - Elected Pope Dec.4,1154 to Sept.1,1159
 * //Hadrian suffered through many conflicts with Romans who were opposed to papal power. His crowning of emperor Frederick Barbarossa on June 18, 1155, lead to such violence that he actually had to flee Rome. His relationship with Frederick was not always peaceful either and, in 1156, Hadrian was forced to side with the Normans of Sicily against Frederick.
 * __Pope Alexander III__ ** - Elected Pope Sept.7,1159 to Aug.30,1181
 * //Alexander III's papacy was marred by the fact that a minority of cardinals at his election chose instead to go with Cardinal Octavian, who adopted the papal name Victor IV. This resulted in a new line of antipopes, with Paschal III (1164-1168) and Calixtus III (1168-1178) succeeding him. These antipopes had the direct support of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, a ruler whom Alexander had actively opposed while he was still a cardinal.//**
 * //It was not until the Peace of Venice in 1177 that Frederick finally accepted the papacy of Alexander, allowing Alexander to return to Rome where, in 1179, he convened the Third Lateran Council. Alexander wanted to use this Council to enact a number of important reforms and among its decisions was that no pope could be elected without receiving at least two-thirds of the
 * __Pope Lucius III__ ** - Elected Pope Sept.1,1181 to Nov.25,1185
 * //Pope Lucius III is known for having formally declared the Waldenses to be heretics in 1184 at a synod which was convened to act against a variety of heretical positions which had been growing in popularity. Unfortunately for him, the Roman citizenry didn't like him and his policies very much and most of his reign was spent outside of Rome.//**
 * __ Pope Urban III __** - Elected Pope Nov.25 1185 to Oct.20, 1187
 * //Pope Urban III was fiercely independent - so much so that his papacy was marked by problems and fighting with the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa. As a result, Frederick had his son invade the Papal States and isolate the pope physically from his few remaining supporters. Urban III was forced to capitulate and died shortly before he could exact his own revenge of excommunicating Frederick.//**
 * __ Pope Gregory VIII __** - Elected Pope Oct.21,1187 to Dec.17,1187
 * //During his short time as pope he received word that Muslim forces under Saladin had capture Jerusalem. This led him to raise the call for a new Crusade and he believed the sins of Christians had caused them to lose their recent gains in the Holy Lands.//**
 * __ Pope Clement III __** - Elected Pope Dec.19,1187 to March 1191
 * //Cooperated closely with the secular leaders of Rome and heal a number of rifts between the papacy and Roman citizens. He continued Gregory's call for the Third Crusade, although not very much came from it.//**
 * __
 * __ Pope Honorius III __** - Elected Pope July 18,1216 to March 18,1227
 * //With regards to the suppression of heresy, he approved the rules and creation of religious orders like the Dominicans, Franciscans and Carmelites. These groups had a two-fold purpose for Honorius: on the one hand, they could be used to chase after heretics and, on the other hand, they could be used as an outlet for reformist tendencies which might otherwise lead a person towards heretical groups. Outright combat against heresy was initiated when Honorius launched a crusade against the Albigensians in 1218.
 * __
 * //Gregory IX was a compromise candidate who quickly made use of his power by placing Emperor Frederic under the ban of the church on the 29th of September, 1227 for failing to fulfill his oath to set out on a crusade to the Holy Land. Frederick, in turn, instigated a conspiracy against Gregory who only narrowly escaped. Eventually Frederick did undertake his crusade and had himself crowned king of Jerusalem on March 18, 1229.//**
 * __ Pope Celestine IV __** - Elected Pope Oct.25,1241 to Nov.10,1241
 * //Celestine was already old and infirm when he was elected. The cardinals had been locked in a conclave for two months when they finally chose him as a compromise candidate. At the time there were only 10 cardinals available to meet in conclave and they were evenly divided: half approved of anti-imperial policies of Gregory IX and half wanted to reach some sort of accommodation with the emperor. One cardinal died during the conclave and another fell seriously ill. It's uncertain whether Celestine was even consecrated bishop before he himself died.//**
 * __ Pope Innocent IV __** - Elected Pope June 25,1243 to Dec.7,1254
 * //Pope Innocent IV inherited a plethora of political troubles between the papacy and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Frederick had so often delayed setting out on a crusade that Pope Gregory IX had excommunicated him and even went so far as to depose him as king in Germany. Innocent entered into negotiations to try and ease tensions, but the talks ultimately failed and Innocent was forced to flee to Lyons where he convened a general council.//**
 * //This council was designed to find Federick guilty of a number of offenses, including heresy, perjury and sacrilege - and the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Frederick denied the authority of the pope to pronounce such a declaration, but he died before anything could come of this challenged. //**
 * __ Pope Alexander IV __** - Elected Pope Dec.12,1254 to May 25,1261
 * //A nephew of Pope Gregory IX, Alexander IV made a number of serious political blunders which ensured him the enmity of several important European rulers.//**
 * __ Pope Urban IV __** - Elected Pope August 29,1261 to October 2,1264
 * //Urban IV was elected in a conclave that included just eight cardinals, and even then he was only elected after bitter fighting among them. He himself was an outsider of this group - at the time he had been patriarch of Jerusalem and only visiting Italy on business. The first thing Urban did was increase the College of Cardinals to 14 and shortly thereafter he worked to increase the amount of funds available to the Vatican.
 * __ Pope Clement IV __** - Elected Pope Feb.5,1265 to Nov.19,1268
 * //Closer to home Clement reinforced papal authority by issuing the papal bull Licet ecclesiasrum which declared that all benefices were papal appointments. A benefice is an ecclesiastical office which comes with the power to collect money in order to support the goals of that office. In this way the power and influence of local secular rulers over Church leaders was to be curtailed.//**
 * //After Clement died, the cardinals required nearly three years to elect a successor. The people were so outraged over the repeated and inexcusable delays that they finally had to lock the cardinals in the papal palace, remove the roof (thus exposing them to the elements) and threaten to withhold food until they finally produced a new pontiff
 * __ Pope Greogory X __** - Elected Pope Sept.1,1271 to Jan.10,1276
 * //The election of Gregory X occured while he, as archeacon of Liege, was a pilgrimage to Saint Jean d'Acre during a crusade with Prince Edward of England. As a result, he was not consecrated until the next year; the date of his consecration is often used as the beginning of his pontificate.
 * __ Pope Innocent V __** - Elected Pope Jan.21,1276 to June 22,1276
 * //Innocent V was the first Dominican monk to ever rise to the papacy. Because the Dominican habit was white, Innocent also started the traditionof the pope wearing a white cassock. Innocent was also well known as a scholar, having worked closely with such figures as Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas and Bonaveture. Indeed, he was such close friends with the latter that he spoke at Bonaveture's funeral
 * __ Pope Adrian V __** - Elected Pope July 11,1276 to Aug.18,1276
 * //Adrian V occupies an interesting position in the history of the papacy. Because of how brief his "reign" was, he was never ordained a priest (he was only a deacon at the time of his election).[[image:B_Johannes_XXI.jpg width="168" height="177" link="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:B_Johannes_XXI.jpg"]]//**
 * __ Pope John XXI __** - Elected Pope Sept.8,1276 to May 20,1277
 * //The only Portugese pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, John XXI also happens to be the only pope which Dante depicted as residing in Paradise. His reign was characterized by attempts to promote peace and justice - for example, he admonished papal tax collectors who abused their positions and power
 * __ Pope Nicholas III __** - Elected Pope Nov.25,1277 to Aug.22,1280
 * //Nicholas III's papacy was largely involved with political machinations - arranged marriages, arranged negotiations between different European rulers, and arranged political offices. He decreed that no outside prince could be permitted to become a senator in Rome without papal approval and, out the same time, had himself named senator for life. He also engaged in a major renovation of St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Palace, which he made his official residence. Like many pope of the time, Nicholas III engaged in repeated nepotism - something which caused Dante to depict him in hell in his work The Divine Comedy.
 * __ Pope Martin IV __** - Elected Pope Feb.22,1281 to March 28,1285
 * //Pope Martin IV owed his election to Charles of Anjou and, partially as a result of that, Martin was unabashedly pro-French in his policies and in his appointements. Perhaps because of his political connections the people of Rome refused to receive him; Martin had to be consecrated Orvieto and he spent most of his time as pope in that city. When Sicily successfully revolted against French rule the rebels wrote to Martin asking for his support. Martin not only refused, he offered Charles every possible assistance to recover control over the island.//**
 * __ Pope Honorius IV __** - Elected Pope April 2,1285 to April 3,1287
 * //He was popular with the people of Rome and he was a staunch supporter of religious orders, in particular the Dominicans and and the Franciscans. He also worked, unsuccessfully, to achieve some measure of reunification between the Western and Eastern churches.//**
 * __ Pope Nicholas IV __** - Elected Pope Feb.22,1288 to April 4,1292
 * //The first Franciscan to ever sit on the papal throne, Nicholas IV at first refused the office but was later convinced to reconsider and eventually accept the papacy. His political policies were not always those which engendered widespread support. In order to ensure the security of the papacy, he would forge political ties which only served to upset someone else. For example, he gave a great deal of support to the Colonnas family in Rome, something which lead to dissent by much of the Roman populace. The one action of Nicholas' which did not create dissatisfaction seems to have been the establishment of the Catholic Church in China for the first time.//**

All Popes in this list is courtesey of Phil Bova. All pictures come from Wikipedia home page unless otherwise posted. The information on the individuals is courtesey from the website, [] unless otherwise posted. I have chosen to cover the history of the Popes from the onset on the Crusader initiatives to the eventual end of the Crusader movements.