Pope Celestine IV

Pope Celestine IV Latin: Coelestinus IV
Papacy began	25 October 1241
Papacy ended	10 November 1241
Predecessor	Gregory IX
Successor	Innocent IV
Orders
Created Cardinal	18 September 1227 by Gregory IX
Personal details
Birth name	Goffredo da Castiglione Goffredo Castiglioni
Born	Date unknown Milan, Holy Roman Empire
Died	10 November 1241(1241-11-10) Rome, Papal State, Holy Roman Empire
Previous post	Cardinal-Priest of San Marco (1227-1239) Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina (1239-1241)
Coat of arms
Other popes named Celestine

Papal styles of Pope Celestine IV
Reference style	His Holiness
Spoken style	Your Holiness
Religious style	Holy Father
Posthumous style	None

Pope Celestine IV (Latin: Caelestinus IV; died 10 November 1241), born Goffredo da Castiglione, was Pope from 25 October 1241 to his death on 10 November of the same year.

Born in Milan, Goffredo or Godfrey is often referred to as son of a sister of Pope Urban III, but this claim is without foundation.^[1] Nothing is known of his early life until he became chancellor of the church of Milan (perhaps as early as 1219, certainly in 1223–27). Pope Gregory IX made him a cardinal on 18 September 1227^[2] with the diocese and benefice of San Marco,^[3] and in 1228–29 sent him as legate in Lombardy and Tuscany, where the cities and communes had generally remained true to the Hohenstaufen emperor, Frederick II. He was dispatched in an attempt to bring these territories around to the papal side, but without success.^[4] In 1238 he was made cardinal bishop of Sabina.^[5]

The papal election of 1241 that elevated Celestine to the papal chair was held under stringent conditions that hastened his death. The papal 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 the Gregorian Reform and aimed to humble Frederick as a papal vassal. Frederick, however, controlled as his unwilling guests in Tivoli 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 Colonna archenemy, the senator Matteo Rosso Orsini. The latter held the consistory immured under his guards in the ramshackle palace of the Septizodium,^[6] where rains leaked through the roof of their chamber, mingled with the urine of Orsini's guards on the rooftiles.^[7] One of the cardinals fell ill and died.^[8]

One group of cardinals, which included Sinibaldo de' Fieschi (soon to be Pope Innocent IV) backed a candidate from the inner circle of Pope Gregory IX expected to pursue the hard line with Frederick II. Another group advocated a moderated middle course, not allies of the Hohenstaufen, but keen to reach an end to the Italian war. 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 Pope Otto of St. Nicholas, an amenable compromise figure. Matteo Orsini's candidate, Romano da Porto, who had persecuted scholars at the University of Paris, was considered unaccaptable.

The cardinal bishop of Sabina was finally elected Pope Celestine IV by the required two-thirds majority, seven cardinals out of ten, only on 25 October 1241. He occupied the throne for only seventeen days, his only notable papal act being the timely excommunication of Matteo Rosso Orsini.^[9] He died of wear and age on 10 November 1241 before coronation and was buried in St Peter's.

Notes

Sources

• Reardon, Wendy J. (2004). The Deaths of the Popes: Comprehensive accounts, including funerals, burial places and epitaphs. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-1527-4. 
• Abulafia, David (1988). Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-0-19-508040-7. 
• 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. OCLC 2205084.  A standard account.

Popes of the Catholic Church List of popes canonised Tombs extant non-extant Antipope Pope emeritus Papal resignation Pope-elect 1st–4th centuries During the Roman Empire (until 493) including under Constantine (312–337) Peter Linus Anacletus Clement I Evaristus Alexander I Sixtus I Telesphorus Hyginus Pius I Anicetus Soter Eleuterus Victor I Zephyrinus Callixtus I Urban I Pontian Anterus Fabian Cornelius Lucius I Stephen I Sixtus II Dionysius Felix I Eutychian Caius Marcellinus Marcellus I Eusebius Miltiades Sylvester I Mark Julius I Liberius Damasus I Siricius Anastasius I 5th–8th centuries Ostrogothic Papacy (493–537) Byzantine Papacy (537–752) Frankish Papacy (756–857) Innocent I Zosimus Boniface I Celestine I Sixtus III Leo I Hilarius Simplicius Felix III Gelasius I Anastasius II Symmachus Hormisdas John I Felix IV Boniface II John II Agapetus I Silverius Vigilius Pelagius I John III Benedict I Pelagius II Gregory I Sabinian Boniface III Boniface IV Adeodatus I Boniface V Honorius I Severinus John IV Theodore I Martin I Eugene I Vitalian Adeodatus II Donus Agatho Leo II Benedict II John V Conon Sergius I John VI John VII Sisinnius Constantine Gregory II Gregory III Zachary Stephen II Paul I Stephen III Adrian I Leo III 9th–12th centuries Papal selection before 1059 Saeculum obscurum (904–964) Crescentii era (974–1012) Tusculan Papacy (1012–1044/1048) Imperial Papacy (1048–1257) Stephen IV Paschal I Eugene II Valentine Gregory IV Sergius II Leo IV Benedict III Nicholas I Adrian II John VIII Marinus I Adrian III Stephen V Formosus Boniface VI Stephen VI Romanus Theodore II John IX Benedict IV Leo V Sergius III Anastasius III Lando John X Leo VI Stephen VII John XI Leo VII Stephen VIII Marinus II Agapetus II John XII Benedict V Leo VIII John XIII Benedict VI Benedict VII John XIV John XV Gregory V Sylvester II John XVII John XVIII Sergius IV Benedict VIII John XIX Benedict IX Sylvester III Benedict IX Gregory VI Clement II Benedict IX Damasus II Leo IX Victor II Stephen IX Nicholas II Alexander II Gregory VII Victor III Urban II Paschal II Gelasius II Callixtus II Honorius II Innocent II Celestine II Lucius II Eugene III Anastasius IV Adrian IV Alexander III Lucius III Urban III Gregory VIII Clement III Celestine III Innocent III 13th–16th centuries Viterbo (1257–1281) Orvieto (1262–1297) Perugia (1228–1304) Avignon Papacy (1309–1378) Western Schism (1378–1417) Renaissance Papacy (1417–1534) Reformation Papacy (1534–1585) Baroque Papacy (1585–1689) Honorius III Gregory IX Celestine IV Innocent IV Alexander IV Urban IV Clement IV Gregory X Innocent V Adrian V John XXI Nicholas III Martin IV Honorius IV Nicholas IV Celestine V Boniface VIII Benedict XI Clement V John XXII Benedict XII Clement VI Innocent VI Urban V Gregory XI Urban VI Boniface IX Innocent VII Gregory XII Martin V Eugene IV Nicholas V Callixtus III Pius II Paul II Sixtus IV Innocent VIII Alexander VI Pius III Julius II Leo X Adrian VI Clement VII Paul III Julius III Marcellus II Paul IV Pius IV Pius V Gregory XIII Sixtus V Urban VII Gregory XIV Innocent IX Clement VIII 17th–20th centuries Revolutionary Papacy (1775–1848) Roman Question (1870–1929) Vatican City (1929–present) World War II (1939–1945) Leo XI Paul V Gregory XV Urban VIII Innocent X Alexander VII Clement IX Clement X Innocent XI Alexander VIII Innocent XII Clement XI Innocent XIII Benedict XIII Clement XII Benedict XIV Clement XIII Clement XIV Pius VI Pius VII Leo XII Pius VIII Gregory XVI Pius IX Leo XIII Pius X Benedict XV Pius XI Pius XII John XXIII Paul VI John Paul I John Paul II 21st century Benedict XVI Francis Book Category Pope portal Catholicism portal

Catholic Church Organizations, papacy, teachings and liturgical traditions History Jesus Twelve Apostles Early Christianity History of the papacy Ecumenical Councils Missions Great Schism of East Crusades Great Schism of West Protestant Reformation Counter-Reformation Catholic Church by country Vatican City index Hierarchy Pope Cardinals Patriarchs Major Archbishops Primates Metropolitans Archbishops Diocesan Bishops Coadjutor Bishops Auxiliary Bishops Titular Bishops Bishops Emeriti Priesthood Theology Body and Soul Divine Grace Dogma One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church Original sin Saints list Salvation Sermon on the Mount The Ten Commandments Trinity Worship Sacraments Baptism Confirmation Eucharist Penance Anointing of the Sick Last rites Holy Orders Matrimony Mariology Roman Catholic Mariology Assumption History of Mariology Immaculate Conception Mariology of the popes Mariology of the saints Mother of God Perpetual Virginity Veneration Doctors of the Church Gregory the Great Ambrose Augustine of Hippo Jerome John Chrysostom Basil of Caesarea Gregory of Nazianzus Athanasius of Alexandria Cyril of Alexandria Cyril of Jerusalem John of Damascus Bede the Venerable Ephrem the Syrian Thomas Aquinas Bonaventure Anselm of Canterbury Isidore of Seville Peter Chrysologus Leo the Great Peter Damian Bernard of Clairvaux Hilary of Poitiers Alphonsus Liguori Francis de Sales Peter Canisius John of the Cross Robert Bellarmine Albertus Magnus Anthony of Padua Lawrence of Brindisi Teresa of Ávila Catherine of Siena Thérèse of Lisieux John of Ávila Hildegard of Bingen Gregory of Narek Pope Francis Conclave Inauguration Theology Canonizations Visits Preceding popes Pope Benedict XVI Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul I Pope Paul VI Pope John XXIII Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XI Pope Benedict XV Pope Pius X Pope Leo XIII (more) Institutes and societies Assumptionists Augustinians Benedictines Capuchin Order Carmelites Carthusians Congregations of Holy Cross Dominican Order Franciscan orders Jesuits Oratory of Saint Philip Neri Associations of the Faithful International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements International Federation of Catholic Universities International Kolping Society Schoenstatt Movement International Union of Catholic Esperantists Sant'Egidio Community (more) Charity Aid to the Church in Need Caritas International Catholic Relief Services Vatican II Definition of the Church Dei verbum Gaudium et spes Lumen gentium Nostra aetate Sacrosanctum Concilium Particular churches Latin Church; Eastern Churches: Albanian Armenian Belarusian Bulgarian Chaldean Coptic Croatian Eritrean Ethiopian Georgian Greek Hungarian Italo-Albanian Macedonian Maronite Melkite Romanian Russian Ruthenian Slovak Syriac Syro-Malabar Syro-Malankara Ukrainian) Liturgical rites Alexandrian Ambrosian Anglican Use Antiochian Armenian Byzantine East Syrian Mozarabic Ordinariate Use Roman Sarum Catholicism portal Pope portal Index