Papal election, 1185

The papal election of November 25, 1185 was a papal election convoked after the death of Pope Lucius III. It resulted in the election of Cardinal Uberto Crivelli of Milan, who took the name of Urban III.

List of participants

There were probably 26 cardinals in the Sacred College at the death of Lucius III.^[1] Basing on the countersigning of the papal bulls between November 11 and December 16, 1185^[2] the list of his electors is reconstructed as follows:

Ten electors were created by Pope Lucius III, five by Pope Alexander III and two by Pope Adrian IV.

Absentee cardinals

Four absentees were created by Alexander III, three by Lucius III, one by Adrian IV and one by Pope Lucius II.

Death of Lucius III and the election of Pope Urban III

Pope Lucius III died at Verona on November 25, 1185 at very advanced age. On that same day, eighteen cardinals present on his deathbed started proceedings to elect his successor. Majority of them came from Northern Italy and formed a radically anti-imperial faction, while more moderate cardinals (mostly Romans) were absent.^[3] In such circumstances, Northern Italian cardinals quickly secured the election of their candidate Uberto Crivelli of Milan. He was unanimously elected within a few hours after the death of Lucius III, and took the name of Urban III.^[3] He was crowned at Verona on December 1, 1185. After his election to the papacy, he retained the administration of the metropolitan see of Milan.^[4]

Notes

Sources

• Jaffé, Philipp (1888). Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab condita Ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII. vol. II. Leipzig. 
• Kartusch, Elfriede (1948). Das Kardinalskollegium in der Zeit von 1181–1227. Wien. 
• Robinson, Ian Stuart (1990). The Papacy, 1073–1198: Continuity and Innovation. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521264987. 

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