Pope Alexander III

Pope Alexander III (; c. 1100 – 30 August 1181), born Orlando Bandinelli,Also known as Rolando or Roland of Siena was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the 171st Pope. He was Pope from 1159 to 1181. "List of Popes,"  Catholic Encyclopedia (2009); retrieved 2011-11-3.

Early life
He was born in Siena.  He was a member of the Bandinelli family."Pope Alexander III", Catholic Encyclopedia; retrieved 2011-11-16.

Cardinal
In 1150, Pope Eugene III made Bandinelli a  Cardinal.

Pope
Cardinal Bandinelli was elected pope on September 7, 1159; and he chose the name Alexander III.  His papacy was disputed by Antipope Victor IV, Antipope Paschal III, Antipope Calixtus III and Antipope Innocent III.

Pope Alexander was involved in Italian and European political disputes.

Alexander's support for Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, did not resolve conflicts with the Henry II of England.  After Becket was murdered, Alexander canonized him.

Gallery

Related pages
 List of popes
 List of popes by length of reign

References

Other websites


  Catholic Hierarchy, Popes in sequence
 GCatholic, Pope Alexander III
  Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church , Cardinal Bandinelli 

Category:Italian popes
Category:People from Siena
Category:1100s births
Category:1181 deaths