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Papal election 1181
Dates and location
1 September 1181 Rome
Key officials
Dean	Ubaldo Allucingoli
Sub-dean	Konrad von Wittelsbach
Protopriest	Alberto di Morra
Protodeacon	Giacinto Bobone Orsini
Elected pope
Ubaldo Allucingoli Name taken: Lucius III
← 11591185 →

The 1181 papal election followed the death of Pope Alexander III and resulted in the election of Pope Lucius III. This was the first papal election celebrated in accordance with the decree Licet de evitanda discordia, promulgated in the Third Lateran Council in 1179, which established that the pope is elected by a majority of two thirds votes.

Licet de evitanda discordia

The contested papal election, 1159, which resulted in the election of Pope Alexander III and Antipope Victor IV (1159–1164), created a schism in the Catholic Church that lasted almost twenty years (until 1178). In 1159 the cardinals were unable to achieve consensus, though an electoral compact had set that as its goal. The cardinals had been divided into two parties, those who favored the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and those who favored William I of Sicily, and each of them elected their own pope. In August 1178 Antipope Callixtus III, the successor of Victor IV, finally submitted to Alexander III. In the following year Alexander III celebrated the Third Lateran Council, which promulgated the decree Licet de evitanda discordia. To avoid schism in the future, the decree established that the pope is elected with the majority of two thirds of the cardinals, if unanimity cannot be achieved. It confirmed also that the cardinals are the sole electors of the pope.

Election of Lucius III

Pope Alexander III died on August 30, 1181, in Civita Castellana. Two days later, on September 1, 1181, the cardinals assembled at Rome (probably at Lateran or Vatican Basilica) and unanimously elected the senior member of the Sacred College, Cardinal Ubaldo of Lucca, Bishop of Ostia. He took the name Lucius III. On September 6, 1181, he was crowned by Cardinal Teodino of Porto at Velletri.

Cardinal-electors

There were probably 27 cardinals in the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1181. Based on the examination of the subscriptions of the papal bulls in 1181 and the available data about the external missions of the cardinals it is possible to establish that no more than 19 cardinals participated in the election:

Thirteen electors were created by Pope Alexander III, four by Pope Adrian IV, one by Pope Innocent II and one by Lucius II.

Absentee cardinals

Notes

1. This, at any rate, is what Cardinal Ymarus, the leader of the imperial party wrote (Watterich II, pp. 462–463): "In nomine Domini Amen. Convenerunt episcopi, presbyteri, diaconi cardinales sanctae Romanae ecclesiae et promiserunt sibi invicem in verbo veritatis, quod de electione futuri Pontificis tractabunt secundum consuetudinem istius ecclesiae, scilicet quod segregentur aliquae personae de eisdem fratribus, qui audiant voluntatem singulorum et diligenter inquirant et fideliter describant, et, si Deus dederit, quod concorditer possimus convenire, bene; sin autem, nullus procedat sine communi consensu et hoc observetur sine fraude et malo ingenio."
2. Antipope Innocent III, elected in September 1179 and deposed in January 1180, was of little importance; cf. Jaffé, p. 431.
3. Latin text in: J.D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus XXII (Venice: A. Zatta 1778), pp. 217-218.
4. Robinson, pp. 84-85
5. Robinson, pp. 40-41. Carl Joseph Hefele, Histoire des conciles (in French) Tome V, deuxième partie (Paris: Letouzey 1913), pp. 1087-1089.
6. Jaffé, p. 418
7. Gregorovius, p. 609: "Lucius III, Ubaldo Allucingoli of Lucca, hitherto Cardinal-bishop of Ostia and Velletri, was not even elected in Rome, but was raised to the Papacy by the College of Cardinals assembled at Velletri, and was ordained on September 6, 1181. After an agreement with the Romans he came to the city in November, and was allowed to remain some months."
8. Jaffé, p. 432; Regesta Imperii: Abteilung IV. Band 4, 1 – Papstregesten 1181–1184, no. 1 Archived 2009-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
9. Reconstruction of the membership of the Sacred College is based on Brixius, p. 26 note 8. Brixius listed only 25 cardinals, but two additional are mentioned by Ganzer, pp. 102-104 no. 42 and pp. 119-121 no. 48
10. Jaffé, pp. 145-146 and 431-432; Regesta Imperii – Liste der Kardinalsunterschriften unter Lucius III.
11. Kartusch, p. 118.
12. Ganzer, pp. 104-114 no. 43
13. Robinson, pp. 165 and 242; he did not subscribe any papal bulls between December 8, 1179 and November 20, 1182. Jaffé, p. 145; Regesta Imperii – Liste der Kardinalsunterschriften unter Lucius III.
14. Ganzer, pp. 123-125 no. 50
15. Brixius, pp. 55-56 no. 15; he did not subscribe any papal bulls after July 3, 1179.
16. Ganzer, pp. 129-131 no. 52
17. Ganzer, pp. 125-129 no. 51
18. Ganzer, pp.102-104 no. 42
19. Ganzer, pp. 119-121 no. 48

Sources

• Adams, John Paul (2011). "Sede Vacante 1181". California State University Northridge. Retrieved: 10 February 2022.
• Brixius, Johannes Matthias (1912). Die Mitglieder des Kardinalkollegiums von 1130-1181 (in German). Berlin: R. Trenkel.

• Ganzer, Klaus (1963). Die Entwicklung des auswärtigen Kardinalats im hohen Mittelalter. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Kardinalkollegiums vom 11.bis 13. Jahrhundert. Bibliothek des Deutschen Historischen Instituts in Rom (in German). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag.

• Gregorovius, Ferdinand (1905). The History of Rome in the Middle Ages Vol. IV, part 2. 2nd ed. London: George Bell 1905.

• Jaffé, Phillipp (1888). Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab condita Ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII, vol. II (in Latin). Leipzig: Veit et comp.

• Kartusch, Elfriede (1948). Das Kardinalskollegium in der Zeit von 1181–1227 (in German). Wien.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

• Regesta Imperii (in German). Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz. 2006–2009.

• Robinson, Ian Stuart (1990). The Papacy 1073–1198. Continuity and Innovation. Cambridge Medieval Textbooks. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-31922-6.

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