Nicholas
III, né Giovanni Gaetano Orsini (Rome,
ca. 1210/1220 – August 22, 1280), pope from
November 25, 1277 to his death in 1280, was a
Roman nobleman who had served under eight popes,
been made cardinal-deacon of St. Nicola in
carcere Tulliano by Pope Innocent IV, protector
of the Franciscans by Pope Alexander IV,
inquisitor-general by Pope Urban IV, and
succeeded Pope John XXI, largely through family
influence, after a six-months' vacancy in the
Holy See. His brief pontificate was marked by
several important events. A born politician, he
greatly strengthened the papal position in
Italy. He concluded a concordat with Rudolph I
of Habsburg in May 1278, by which the Romagna
and the exarchate of Ravenna were guaranteed to
the pope; and in July he issued an epoch-making
constitution for the government of Rome, which
forbade foreigners taking civil office. Nicholas
issued the bull Exiit on 14 August 1279
to settle the strife within the Franciscan order
between the parties of strict and loose
observance. He repaired the Lateran Palace and
the Vatican at enormous cost, and erected a
beautiful country house at Soriano near Viterbo.
Nicholas, though a man of learning noted for his
strength of character, is said by our sources to
have brought reproach on himself for his efforts
to found principalities for his nephews and
other relations. He died of a heart attack.Dante in The Inferno (The Divine Comedy) talks briefly to Pope Nicholas III, who was condemned to spend eternity in the Eighth Circle, Third Bolgia of Hell, reserved for Simonists. Those who committed simony were placed head-first in holes, flames burning on the soles of their feet (Canto 19).
