Pope Urban III
Pope Urban III died at Ferrara on October 20, 1187. On the following day thirteen cardinals present on his deathbed started proceedings to elect his successor. There were three candidates to the papal throne: Henri de Marsiac, Paolo Scolari and Alberto di Morra. However, Henri de Marsiac refused the papal tiara, while Paolo Scolari was excluded because he was seriously ill at that time, so there remained only the old papal chancellor Alberto di Morra. On October 21, 1187 he was unanimously elected pope and took the name Gregory VIII.