Giovanni di San Paolo (died c. early 1215[1]) was aBenedictine monk atSan Paolo fuori le Muri inRome. He was madecardinal deacon on 20 February 1193, thencardinal priest ofSanta Prisca in May 1193 and finally cardinalbishop of Sabina at the end of 1204 (subscribed as bishop for the first time on 9 January 1205). He is often referred to as a member of the powerful RomanColonna family, but modern scholars have established that this is based on a lie from the beginning of 16th century. More likely he was nephew ofCelestine III and member of the Bobone family. He studied medicine at Amalfi.
Giovanni ("John" in English) rose to influence in thecuria during the pontificate ofCelestine III. According toRoger of Hoveden, he was nominated by Celestine III to succeed him in 1198, but appears to have received the cardinal priesthood of Santa Prisca as a consolation prize from Celestine's successorInnocent III; however, since he was actually appointed to that rank in 1193, this story seems to be inaccurate. Innocent employed him on many legatine missions toGermany,Spain,Sicily, andFrance. He was alsogrand penitentiary.
In 1200 he was in France with Cardinal Octavian to deal withPhilip Augustus' divorce. From there Innocent sent him intoLanguedoc to act aspapal legate to work for the suppression ofCatharism. He delivered a revised version of thedecretalVergentis in senium, first issued by Innocent in March 1199 forViterbo in thePapal States. The Languedocian version of the decretal was considerably less harsh, omitting a clause calling for the dispossession of the Catholic heirs of heretics. It was probably for his work in Languedoc that he was elevated to thesuburbicarian bishopric of Sabina in 1204.
He was the powerful friend ofFrancis of Assisi and was instrumental in obtaining papal approval of theFranciscan Rule. He died at Rome. He is remembered atAmalfi for his munificence in building and endowing a spacious hospital there.
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