X-Nico

14 unusual facts about Pope Alexander III


Abaucourt

This it is attested by a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander III in 1178 where the church of Abaucourt was listed as property belonging to the abbey.

Béla III of Hungary

Following the death of his elder brother, who had been fighting against the Byzantine Empire, Béla could only ascend to the throne with the assistance of his uncle Emperor Manuel I and Pope Alexander III, because a significant part of the Hungarian aristocracy led by his own mother and the Archbishop of Esztergom preferred his younger brother's succession.

Chassy, Saône-et-Loire

It is in April, 1164, that Pope Alexandre III, taken refuge in France, gives a bull to the Abbey of Saint-Martin d'Autun, confirming the patronage of the church to the advantage of this abbey:" Ecclesiam de Chariaco ".

Ciudad Rodrigo

In the 12th century, the site was repopulated by King Ferdinand II of León, walling it and re-establishing the old Visigothic diocese of Calabria into the new bishopric as suffragan of the Diocese of Santiago de Compostela; it comprised a big part of the province of Salamanca, and a portion of the province of Cáceres, an act confirmed by Pope Alexander III in 1175.

County of Portugal

Portugal was acknowledged as an independent kingdom by Pope Alexander III in 1179.

Finnish–Novgorodian wars

Pope Alexander III, in his letter to the Archbishop of Uppsala and Jarl Gottorm of Sweden in 1171 (or 1172), perhaps refers to the Finns' struggle against Novgorod by demanding Sweden take over Finnish fortressess in exchange for protection.

Géza II of Hungary

In 1161, inspired by the new Archbishop of Esztergom, Lukács, Géza not only acknowledged the legitimacy of Pope Alexander III instead of Antipope Victor IV, who had been supported by Emperor Frederick I, but he also renounced the right of investiture.

Norman invasion of Ireland

Adrian's successor, Pope Alexander III, then ratified the grant of Ireland to Henry, "... following in the footsteps of the late venerable Pope Adrian, and in expectation also of seeing the fruits of our own earnest wishes on this head, ratify and confirm the permission of the said Pope granted you in reference to the dominion of the kingdom of Ireland."

Pope Alexander III, who was Pope at the time of the invasion, ratified the Laudabiliter and gave Henry dominion over the "barbarous nation" of Ireland so that its "filthy practices" may be abolished, its Church brought into line, and that the Irish pay their tax to Rome.

Papal diplomatics

But the medieval criticism of documents was not very satisfactory even in the hands of a jurist like Pope Alexander III.

Poughley Priory

Pope Alexander in 1182 granted to the newly founded house entire exemption from tithes, and further ordered by his apostolic authority both the bishop of Salisbury and the archdeacon of Berkshire and their officials not to impose any new charges of any kind on the priory.

Siegfried, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen

Frederick refused to receive the rank as Emperor like a papal fief, which is why he conflicted with Pope Alexander III.

St Nicolas' Church, Abingdon

The earliest documentary evidence of this church's existence is in a ruling about tithes in 1177 by Pope Alexander III.

William Noyes

"The Church of St. Nicholas, Cheldreton, was given to the Monks of St. Neots (Huntingdonshire) about 1175 by Roger Burnard, and the grant was confirmed by Pope Alexander III. In 1380, 1399 and 1401 John Skylling, lord of the manor, was also patron of the church, probably by temporary grants from the Convent. In 1445 it was again in St. Neots' Priory, but seems to have been finally alienated to John Skylling about 1449."


Geoffrey of Clairvaux

In the political events of the time he had only a small share; thus, in 1167 and 1168, he took part in the negotiations tending towards the reconciliation of Pope Alexander III (1159–81) with the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa and King Henry II of England.

Liber Censuum

The earliest documentary evidence for the use of such a document of papal property rights goes back even earlier to an 1163/1164 letter from Pope Alexander III to the abbot of Lagny-sur-Marne requesting an annual payment of one ounce of gold, owed according to "a certain work among the books of the apostolic see".

Nikolausberg

However, the church incorporates remains of an Augustinian nunnery, which was first mentioned in a document of Pope Alexander III in which he confirmed the independence of the nunnery.

Otto I, Duke of Bavaria

In the Dominium mundi conflict between emperor and pope culminating at the 1157 Reichstag of Besançon (Bisanz), fiery Otto could only be kept from smiting the papal legate Cardinal Rolando Bandinelli by the personal intervention of Frederick.

Šibenik Cathedral

The drawing of this sculpture of St. Michael became also the coat of arms of the city of Šibenik, because in the 12th century the justiciar of Monte Sant'Angelo, who was from Siponto, was sent by Pope Alexander III as a notifier to Šibenik.

Tintoretto

Other works (destroyed by a fire in the palace in 1577) succeeded—the Excommunication of Frederick Barbarossa by Pope Alexander III and the Victory of Lepanto.