Pope Celestine IV (Latin:Caelestinus IV; c. 1180/1187[1] − 10 November 1241), bornGoffredo da Castiglione, was head of theCatholic Church and ruler of thePapal States from 25 October 1241 to his death on 10 November 1241.
Born inMilan, Goffredo or Godfrey is often referred to as son of a sister ofPope Urban III, but this claim is without foundation.[2] Nothing is known of his early life until he becamechancellor of the church of Milan (perhaps as early as 1219, certainly in 1223–27).Pope Gregory IX made him acardinal on 18 September 1227[3] with thediocese andbenefice of San Marco,[4] and in 1228–29 sent him as legate in Lombardy and Tuscany, where the cities andcommunes had generally remained true to theHohenstaufen emperor,Frederick II. He was dispatched in an attempt to bring these territories around to the papal side, but without success.[5] In 1238, he was madecardinal bishop of Sabina.[6]
Thepapal election of 1241, which elevated Celestine to the papal throne, was held under stringent conditions that hastened his death. Thepapal curia was disunited over the violent struggle to bring the Emperor and King of Sicily Frederick II to heel. One group of cardinals favored the ambitious schemes of theGregorian Reform and aimed to humble Frederick as a papal vassal. Frederick, however, controlled as his unwilling guests inTivoli two cardinals whom he had captured at sea, and in Rome Cardinal Giovanni Colonna was his ally, largely because the curia was in the hands of the archenemy of theColonna family, the senatorMatteo Rosso Orsini. The latter held theconsistory captive under the control of his guards in the ramshackle palace of theSeptizodium,[7] where rain leaked through the roof of their chamber, mingled with the urine of Orsini's guards on the rooftiles.[8] One of the cardinals, the EnglishmanRobert of Somercotes, fell ill and died.[9]
One group of cardinals, which included Sinibaldo de' Fieschi (soon to bePope Innocent IV) supported a candidate from the inner circle ofPope Gregory IX, who could be expected to pursue a hard line with Frederick II. Another group advocated a moderate middle course, not as allies of the Hohenstaufen, but desirous to achieve an end to the war in Italy. Overtures to Frederick II, however, were met with the impossible demand that if they wished the cardinals in his hands to return to Rome, they must elect as popeOtto of St. Nicholas, an amenable compromise figure.Matteo Rosso Orsini's candidate, Romano da Porto, who had persecuted scholars at theUniversity of Paris, was considered unacceptable.
Only on 25 October 1241 was the cardinal bishop of Sabina finally elected by the required two-thirds majority, seven cardinals out of ten. He took the name Pope Celestine IV but occupied the throne for only seventeen days. It is said that this was nevertheless long enough for him to proceed, as his only significant act, with the excommunication ofMatteo Rosso Orsini.[10] This assertion is disputed, it being said that in fact, Orsini continued as Senator of Rome in 1242 and was Senator when Innocent IV (Fieschi) was elected; and that his son (the futureNicholas III) was made a cardinal in 1244.[11] In any event, Celestine IV died before he could be crowned, on 10 November 1241, of fatigue and old age, and was entombed inSt Peter's.
^Walsh, Michael J. (2003).The Conclave: A Sometimes Secret and Occasionally Bloody History of Papal Elections. Lanham, Maryland: Sheed & Ward. p. 81.ISBN978-1-58051-135-3.
^Cf. Francesco Antonio Vitale,Storia diplomatica de' senatori di Roma I (Roma 1791), 108-110; Luigi Pompili Olivieri,Il senato romano I (Roma 1886), pp. 193-194.
Abulafia, David (1988).Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 352.ISBN978-0-19-508040-7.
Lexikon der Mittelalters, vol. iii, part 7 (On-line).
Bagliani, Agostino Pallavicini (1972).Cardinali di curia e familiae cardinalizie dal 1227 al 1254.Italia Sacra vols 18–19. Padua, Italy: Antenore.OCLC2205084. A standard account.
