Papal election, 1181

The papal election of 1181 followed the death of Pope Alexander III and resulted in the election of Pope Lucius III. This was the first papal election celebrated in accordance with the decree Licet de evitanda discordia, promulgated in the Third Lateran Council in 1179, which established that the pope is elected by the majority of two thirds votes.

The double papal election, 1159 which resulted in the election of Pope Alexander III and Antipope Victor IV (1159-1164), created a schism in the Catholic Church that lasted almost twenty years (until 1178). The schism was a result of the rules concerning the papal elections, which required the unanimity among the electors for the valid election. In 1159 the cardinals were unable to achieve compromise and divided into two parties, and each of them elected their own pope. In August 1178 Antipope Callixtus III, the successor of Victor IV, finally submitted to Alexander III. In the following year Alexander III celebrated the Third Lateran Council, which promulgated the decree Licet de evitanda discordia. To avoid the schism in the future the decree established, that the pope is elected with the majority of two thirds, if the unanimity can not be achieved. It confirmed also that the cardinals are the sole electors of the pope. Both these rules are still in force today.

The decree Licet de evitanda discordia was very successful – from 1179 there was no antipope for almost 150 years (until 1328).

Pope Alexander III died on August 30, 1181 in Civita Castellana. Two days later, on September 1, 1181, the cardinals assembled at Rome (probably at Lateran or Vatican Basilica) and unanimously elected the senior member of the Sacred College, Cardinal Ubaldo of Lucca, Bishop of Ostia and Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals. He took the name Lucius III. On September 6, 1181 he was crowned by Cardinal Teodino of Porto at Velletri.

There were probably 27 cardinals in the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1181. Based on the examination of the subscriptions of the papal bulls in 1181 and the available data about the external missions of the cardinals it is possible to establish that no more than 19 cardinals participated in the election:

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