Pope Celestine III - Definition and Overview

Celestine III, né Giacinto Bobone Orsini (ca. 1106 - January 8, 1198), was Pope from 1191 to 1198. He was born into the noble Orsini family, and was elected Pope on March 30 1191, being then only a deacon. He received priest's orders on April 13, ruled the church six years, nine months, and nine days (though believed to have been ninety when elected), died January 8 1198 from complications of syphilis, and was buried at the Lateran. He crowned the Emperor Henry VI on the day after his election with a ceremony symbolizing his absolute supremacy, as described by Roger Hoveden, who is believed (more reasonably as it would seem) by Baronius, but discredited by Natalis Alexander. He subsequently excommunicated the same Henry for wrongfully keeping Richard the Lionhearted in prison. In 1192 he confirmed the statutes of the Teutonic Order of Knights. He would have resigned the Papacy, and recommended a successor shortly before his death, but was not suffered to do so by the cardinals.

initial text from the 9th edition (1876) of an old encyclopedia