Early life and career[edit]

Pope Alexander III was born in Siena. From 14th century he is referred to as a member of the
aristocratic family of Bandinelli, although this has not been proven.[2] He was long thought to be the
12th-century canon lawyer and theologian Master Roland of Bologna, who composed the "Stroma"
or "Summa Rolandi"—one of the earliest commentaries on the Decretum of Gratian—and the
"Sententiae Rolandi", a sentence collection displaying the influence of Pierre Abélard, but John T.
Noonan and Rudolf Weigand have shown this to be another Rolandus.[3][4]
He probably studied at Bologna, where Robert of Torigni notes that he taught theology.[5] In October
1150, Pope Eugene III created him Cardinal-Deacon of Santi Cosma e Damiano. Later he
became Cardinal-Priest of St Mark.[6] In 1153, he became papal chancellor and was the leader of the
cardinals opposed to German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa.[7] He negotiated the Treaty of
Benevento, which restored peaceful relations between Rome and the Kingdom of Sicily.[8]

Disputed election[edit]
Main article: Papal election, 1159
On 7 September 1159, he was chosen as the successor to Pope Adrian IV, the only Englishman to
ever hold the office. A minority of the cardinals, however, elected the cardinal priest Octavian, who
assumed the name of Victor IV and became the German Emperor's antipope. The situation was
critical for Alexander III, because according to many chronicles of the time (perhaps exaggerating),
Barbarossa's antipope received the approval of most of the kingdoms of Europe, with the exception
of the kingdoms of Portugal, Sicily and Spain. However, in 1161, King Géza II of Hungary signed an
agreement and recognised Alexander III as the rightful pope and declared that the supreme spiritual
leader was the only one who could exercise the rite of investiture.[9] This meant that Alexander's
legitimacy was gaining strength, as soon proved by the fact that other monarchs, such as the king of
France and King Henry II of England, recognized his authority. Because of imperial strength in Italy,
Alexander was forced to reside outside of Rome for a large part of his pontificate.[5] When news
reached him of the death of Victor in 1164, he openly wept, and scolded the cardinals in his
company for rejoicing at the end of the rival antipope.[10]
However, the dispute between Alexander III, Antipope Victor IV and his successors Antipope
Paschal III and Antipope Calixtus III (who had the German imperial support) continued until
Frederick Barbarossa's defeat at the Legnano in 1176, after which Barbarossa finally (in the Peace
of Venice of 1177) recognized Alexander III as pope.[6] On 12 March 1178, Alexander III returned to
Rome, which he had been compelled to leave twice: the first time between 1162 and 23 November
1165. When Alexander was arrested by supporters of the imperialist Antipope Victor IV, Oddone
Frangipane freed him and sent to safety in Campania. Alexander again left Rome in 1167. At first he
went to Benevento, later moving to various strongholds such as of Anagni, Palestrina, Ferentino,
Tusculum, and Veroli.[5]

Alexander's politics[edit]
Frederick Barbarossa submits to the authority of Pope Alexander III (fresco in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena,
by Spinello Aretino).

Alexander III was the first pope known to have paid direct attention to missionary activities east of
the Baltic Sea. He had created the Archbishopric of Uppsala in Sweden in 1164,[11] probably at the
suggestion of his close friend Eskil, Archbishop of Lund – exiled in Clairvaux, France, due to a
conflict with the Danish king. The latter appointed a Benedictine monk Fulco as a bishop in Estonia.
In 1171, Alexander became the first pope to address the situation of the Church in Finland, with
Finns allegedly harassing priests and only relying on God in time of war.[12] In the bull Non parum
animus noster, in 1171 or 1172, he gave papal sanction to ongoing crusades against pagans in
northern Europe, promising remission of sin for those who fought there. In doing so, he legitimized
the widespread use of forced conversion as a tactic by those fighting in the Baltic.[13]
In 1166, Alexander received an embassy from the Byzantine emperor Manuel I. The Byzantine
ambassador, the sebastos Iordanos,[a] relayed that Manuel would end the Great Schism of the
eastern and western churches if Alexander would recognize him as emperor. As emperor, Manuel
would supply the pope with men and money to restore his authority in Italy. Alexander gave an
evasive answer, but in 1168 he rejected outright the same proposal from a second Byzantine
embassy. His stated reason amounted to it being too difficult. He appears to have feared Byzantine
domination of Italy if the pope owed his position to its support.[14][15]

Allegorical sculpture of Pope Alexander III and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux crowning Afonso I King of Portugal,
in the Alcobaça Monastery

Besides checkmating Barbarossa, Alexander humbled King Henry II of England for the murder
of Thomas Becket in 1170, to whom he was unusually close, later canonizingBecket in 1173.[16] This
was the second English saint canonized by Alexander, the first being Edward the Confessor in
1161.[16] Nonetheless, he confirmed the position of Henry as Lord of Ireland in 1172.
In March 1177, on his way to Venice to meet the Emperor, Alexander spent four days in the city
of Zadar on the Dalmatian coast. Zadar was at that time a vassal of the Republic of Venice.[17]
Through the Papal bull Manifestis Probatum, issued on 23 May 1179, he also recognized the right
of Afonso I to proclaim himself King of Portugal – an important step in the process of Portugal
becoming a recognized independent Kingdom (Afonso had been using the title of King since
1139).[18]

Efforts at reform[edit]
Even as a fugitive, Alexander enjoyed the favour and protection of Louis VII of France.[citation needed]
In 1163 Alexander summoned clergy and prelates from England, France, Italy, and Spain to the
Council of Tours to address, among other things, the unlawful division of ecclesiastical benefices,
clerical usury, and lay possession of tithes.[5]
In March 1179, Alexander III held the Third Council of the Lateran, one of the most important
mediaeval church councils, reckoned by the Catholic Church as the eleventh ecumenical council. Its
acts embodied several of the Pope's proposals for the betterment of the condition of the Church,
among them the law requiring that no one could be elected pope without the votes of two-thirds of
the cardinals.[19] The rule was altered slightly in 1996, but was restored in 2007. This synod marked
the summit of Alexander III's power.[citation needed]
Nevertheless, soon after the close of the synod, the Roman Republic forced Alexander III to leave
the city, which he never re-entered, and on 29 September 1179, some nobles set up the Antipope
Innocent III. By the judicious use of money, however, Alexander III got him into his power, so that he
was deposed in January 1180. In 1181, Alexander III excommunicated King William I of
Scotland and put the kingdom under an interdict.[20]
He died at Civita Castellana on 3 August 1181.