Ubaldus Allucingolus, who succeeded Alexander III, was born at Lucca probably in
1097. At any rate he was quite an old man when elected pope. His election, in
contrast to Alexander's, was quiet. The cardinals were unanimous for Ubaldus. He
took the name Lucius III. Ubaldus studied canon law at Pisa, took the Cistercian
habit from St. Bernard, was made cardinalpriest by Innocent II, and
cardinal-bishop by Eugenius III. He served on legations to the emperor at
Constantinople and to the Norman court at Palermo. He had been a commissioner at
the peace conference of Venice. Lucius, like so many medieval popes, had great
trouble with Romans. The Romans, once more on the war path against Tusculum, had
that city in a desperate condition when an appeal to Pope Lucius brought help.
The Pope first pleaded with the senate to show reasonableness--in vain. Then
Lucius turned to that fighting archbishop, Christian of Mainz. Christian, a
powerful Rhenish princebishop, advanced on Rome; but fever, the slayer of
Germans, struck him down. To the Pope's consolation he died with the sacraments,
sorry for his evil life. To the Pope's dismay, his death gave the Romans the
upper hand and they used it brutally. They were especially hard on clerics who
supported the Pope. On one raid they captured some clerics, blinded them all but
one, and putting paper caps on their heads with the name of a cardinal written
on each, they put the poor victims backward on asses and ordered the lone one
left with sight to lead the pitiable procession to the Pope! Lucius
excommunicated the brutes who had committed the outrage. Lucius went to Verona
in 1184 to discuss outstanding problems with Emperor Frederick. Though the Peace
of Constance had confirmed the Truce of Venice, there were two questions on
which Pope and Emperor disagreed. One, a disputed episcopal election, was
settled later. The other was of great importance.
Emperor Frederick had for some time been working to unite the imperial crown
with that of Norman Sicily. Now his chance arrived and he succeeded in
negotiating a marriage between his son and heir Henry and Constance who, though
considerably older than Henry, was the heiress to the rich Norman dominions in
Italy and Sicily. Pope Lucius opposed this marriage--as well he might, for in it
was the germ of the terrible papacy- Hohenstaufen fight which rocked the
thirteenth century, ruined the Hohenstaufens, and did no good to the papacy. The
Pope and Emperor were in agreement on two other matters, repression of heresy
and the need for a new crusade. Lucius ordered the bishops to hunt out heretics
while Frederick put them under the ban of the Empire. While both agreed that a
new crusade was necessary to check the might of Saladin, nothing was done until
too late. Pope Lucius received letters from the Armenians asking him for help
against Byzantine persecution. They claimed that they were orthodox and asked
for instructions on the Roman discipline. Pope Lucius answered them most
affectionately and sent them copies of the Roman liturgical books. Lucius III
died at Verona on November 25,1185. His death interrupted the conference with
the Emperor.
Excerpted from "Popes
Through the Ages" by Joseph Brusher, S.J.
