ALEXANDER III, POPE. — Rolando Bandinelli, of very modest origins, was born in Siena at the beginning of the 12th century and became renowned in Bologna for his juridical teaching. From there he entered the service of the Curia, was created cardinal of S. Marco, and assisted Adrian IV in the controversies regarding the Empire. He was chancellor when, in 1157 at the Diet of Besançon, as papal legate, he incurred the wrath of Frederick Barbarossa and the imperialists because of his doctrine regarding the relations between Church and Empire. After the death of Adrian IV on 1 September 1159, the disturbances of the two opposing factions flared up again in Rome, which the late pope had managed to calm. On 7 September the cardinals, by a large majority, cast their votes for Bandinelli, who took the name of Alexander III. The dissenting cardinals, who favored the imperial party and were supported by part of the lower clergy and the people, proclaimed elected the cardinal of S. Cecilia, Ottaviano de’ Monticelli, a powerful Roman family, who took the name of Victor IV. Alexander, with his followers, was forced to take refuge in a tower near S. Peter, and then in Trastevere; then, with the help of Ottone Frangipane, he left Rome and took refuge in Ninfa (under Velletri), where he was consecrated; from there he went to Terracina, where on 27 September he excommunicated his adversary. Victor, however, was consecrated at Farfa on 4 October. Since at that moment Frederick Barbarossa was in Italy, as emperor he had to take a position, but he was opposed to Alexander, whereas Victor was a man of his party; in any case, he referred the solution to a council of Germans at Pavia, where he himself was, on 13 January 1160, and invited the two adversaries to appear. But already in the letter he made his opinion known, calling Alexander “Rolando the chancellor,” while he called Ottaviano “Victor IV.” The former did not appear and protested against the illegitimate proceedings of Barbarossa, whereas the latter went to Pavia. The council opened on 5 February with about fifty German and Italian prelates, and only after long discussions, under imperial pressure, Victor IV was recognized as pope (11 February). Almost unanimously, however, England, France, Spain, and a good part of Italy recognized Alexander as pope. Thus the schism was open. From Anagni, on 24 March, Alexander launched an excommunication against Barbarossa and the principal supporters of his adversary and renewed that already launched against the latter and his adherents. The Victorines worked hard to gain credit and adherents, held new assemblies at Cremona and Lodi, and excommunicated the archbishop of Milan and other adversaries.
Alexander managed to return to Rome on 6 June, but his enemies did not leave him in peace, especially since imperial power was asserting itself in the Patrimony; therefore, on the ships of the king of Sicily, he went to Genoa (January 1167). But since Barbarossa, with the capture of Milan, had made himself absolute master of northern Italy, on 25 March he went to France, where in May 1163 he presided over a great council at Tours.
After the death of Victor IV at Lucca on 20 April 1164, his successor was the cardinal Guido of Crema, one of his most convinced adherents, who took the name of Paschal III; Barbarossa approved this election, and at a synod at Würzburg (May 1165) he swore that he would never recognize Alexander but would support Paschal, and like him many princes and bishops present swore, except for the two archbishops of Mainz and Salzburg and the patriarch of Aquileia. Meanwhile, the fortunes changed in Rome, so that Alexander, having left France, after touching at Messina and Salerno, re-entered it on 22 November 1165. Meanwhile, Barbarossa, taking advantage of the death of William I of Sicily (7 May 1166), sent his armies into Italy, then descended himself against Rome (1167) and, having overcome the resistance of Alexander and his followers, with the help of the Romans, made himself master of the city, forcing Alexander to flee in disguise to Benevento, and had himself crowned again by Paschal III in S. Peter on 10 August 1167. The triumph lasted only a short time, because the plague penetrated his army, forcing Barbarossa to leave Rome and return to Germany.
As early as 1164 some Venetian cities, in agreement with Venice, had united in a league for defense against imperial power; another league with the same purpose was formed in December 1167 by thirteen Lombard cities; all naturally sided with Alexander. Indeed, on 10 July 1168 they recognized him as their head; more than the material interests of the moment, the common interest in freeing themselves from imperial domination favored such a union. The symbol of this concord was the new city that the allies built to face the Piedmontese feudal lords and which, in honor of the pope, was called Alessandria. Alexander did not return to Rome; Barbarossa, who came down into Italy in 1174, tried to capture Alessandria without success; on 21 May 1176 he was then defeated at Legnano by the allies, and although he had recognized the new antipope Calixtus III, successor of Paschal III in 1168, he finally resolved to enter into negotiations with Alexander. Overcoming the initial mutual distrust, these took place at Venice, where Alexander arrived on Sicilian ships and where Barbarossa went (1177); bishops, princes, and envoys of the allied cities came there. Barbarossa finally recognized Alexander as the legitimate pope and restored to the Church what he had taken; the dispossessed bishops recovered their sees; with the allies a six-year truce was negotiated in preparation for the peace that was later concluded at Constance. After this solemn meeting, Barbarossa returned to Germany; Alexander moved toward Rome, where in March 1179 he held the Third Ecumenical Lateran Council, which was attended by more than 300 bishops and many representatives; 27 disciplinary canons were issued there, the first of which imposed a two-thirds majority of voters for the legitimate election of the pope. These canons were almost a solemn complement to the remarkable activity shown by Alexander in resolving complex juridical questions brought before him, and they were later included in the Decretals. At that time, Alexander’s role in the controversies between Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, and his king Henry II for the defense of ecclesiastical liberty had particular resonance. When Becket was killed in 1170, Alexander defended his memory, forcing the king to disavow the actions of the murderers, to swear obedience to the Apostolic See, and to abolish the laws issued against ecclesiastical liberty.
Alexander died at Civita Castellana on 30 August 1181. One of his distant descendants in the 17th century had a commemorative monument erected to him in the Lateran Basilica.
Pio Paschini
Canonical and Theological Writings. — The *Summa* and the *Sententiae* are the works by which Alexander’s fame as a cultivator of ecclesiastical sciences is remembered.
The *Summa*, discovered by Maassen and published by F. Thaler under the title *Die Summa magistri Roland, nachmals Papstes Alexander III* (Innsbruck 1784), was very probably written before 1148. It summarizes and comments on Gratian’s *Decretum*, especially the part regarding matrimonial law, and is the first known methodological-didactic book on this subject. Its importance in the history of canon law is great, also because some of the theories contained in it were authoritatively amended by the author himself after his elevation to the papal throne.
The *Sententiae*, edited by P. Gietl (*Die Sentenzen Roland, nachmals Papstes Alexander III*, Freiburg im Br. 1891), were composed after 1142 and constitute a notable document of the influence exerted in the 12th century by the school of Abelard (q.v.). It should be noted, however, that in certain questions of no small importance—such as those, for example, on the necessity of faith and baptism for salvation and on the nature of original sin—the author is in open contrast with the opinions of his master.