CELESTINE  III
(1191-1198)

Giacinto Bobone was born in Rome around the year 1106.  He was of noble Roman ancestry;  his family would later be known as Orsini. Giancinto served the papal court as cardinal deacon for 47 years (1144-1191).  He had been a student of Abelard in Paris and had defended his master successfully at the Council of Sens in 1140.  His diplomatic skill proved useful in legations and in numerous missions in the service of the exiled Alexander III.  At his election in March of 1191, Bobone was already some 85 years old.  His vigor and independence were gone.  As leader, Celestine III usually displayed a temporizing attitude in most situations. It was during his pontificate that the Brothers of the House of the Holy Trinity were established (1193/1194) at Cerfroid, France.  No documents from this pope to the Trinitarians have as yet come to light.  In 1197, Celestine III, then gravely ill, proposed that the cardinals accept his designate, Giovanni (Colonna) of S. Prisca, as his successor.  The pontiff even offered to resign, if they would consent to this revolutionary step.  The cardinals refused and Celestine III died shortly afterwards, on 8 January 1198.  He was buried in the Basilica of St. John Lateran. When the cardinals met in conclave towards the end of that same month, interestingly, they elected his nephew Lotario dei Segni as his successor (Innocent III).