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Pope Urban III Biography |
Urban III, né Uberto Crivelli (d. October 19, 1187), was pope from 1185 to 1187). He was made cardinal and archbishop of Milan by Lucius III, whom he succeeded (November 25 1185). He vigorously took up his predeccessor's quarrels with the emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, including the standing dispute about the succession of territories of the countess Matilda of Tuscany. Even after his elevation to the Papacy he continued to hold the archbishopric of Milan, and in this capacity refused to crown as king of Italy Frederick's son Henry, who had married Constantia, the heiress of the kingdom of Sicily. While Henry in the south co-operated with the rebel senate of Rome, Frederick in the north blocked the passes of the Alps and cut off all communication between the pope, then living in Verona, and his German adherents. Urban now resolved on excommunicating Frederick, but the Veronese protested against such a proceeding being resorted to within their walls; he accordingly withdrew to Ferrara, but died (October 19) before he could give effect to his intentions. His successor was Gregory VIII.
According to legend, he died of grief upon hearing news of the Crusader defeat in July of 1187 at the Battle of Hattin. |
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