# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/pope-alexander-iii
# Generated: 2026-09-02T00:26:55.667Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/pope-alexander-iii"
name: "Pope Alexander III"
slug: "pope-alexander-iii"
description: "He spent most of his papacy locked in a war he couldn't afford to lose — not against heretics or pagans, but against an emperor who kept installing rival popes in Rome while Alexander ruled the Church from exile."
tagline: "Pope of the Catholic Church from 1159 to 1181"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/B_alexander_III2_(cropped).jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Italy"
  isoCode: "IT"
category:
  name: "Religious Figures"
  slug: "religious-figures"
profileType:
  name: "Religious Figure"
  slug: "religious-figure"
birthDate: "1100"
deathDate: "1181-08-30"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           65.5
  momentum:             20.29
  historical:           24.394452
  currentAttention:     1.321428571428572
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: 56
tags:
  - name: "Religious Figures"
    slug: "religious-figures"
  - name: "Writer / Author"
    slug: "writer-author"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "Religion"
    slug: "religion"
  - name: "Medieval Era"
    slug: "medieval-era"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Alexander_III"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q160116"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Pope%20Alexander%20III"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA"
    title: "البابا الكسندر التالت"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/III_Aleksandr_(Roma_papas%C4%B1)"
    title: "III Aleksandr (Roma papası)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be_x_old.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80_III_(%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B0_%D1%80%D1%8B%D0%BC%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%96)"
    title: "Аляксандар III (папа рымскі)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80_III_(%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B0_%D0%A0%D1%8B%D0%BC%D1%81%D0%BA%D1%96)"
    title: "Аляксандр III (Папа Рымскі)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%8A%D1%80_III_(%D0%BF%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B0)"
    title: "Александър III (папа)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_III_(pab)"
    title: "Aleksandr III (pab)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papa_Aleksandar_III"
    title: "Papa Aleksandar III"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_III_(papa)"
    title: "Alexandre III (papa)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cdo.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A1u-hu%C3%B2ng_Alexander_3-si%C3%A9"
    title: "Gáu-huòng Alexander 3-sié"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandr_III._(pape%C5%BE)"
    title: "Alexandr III. (papež)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pab_Alecsander_III"
    title: "Pab Alecsander III"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pave_Alexander_3."
    title: "Pave Alexander 3."
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_III._(Papst)"
    title: "Alexander III. (Papst)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://diq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_III_(papa)"
    title: "Alexander III (papa)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A0%CE%AC%CF%80%CE%B1%CF%82_%CE%91%CE%BB%CE%AD%CE%BE%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%B4%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82_%CE%93%CE%84"
    title: "Πάπας Αλέξανδρος Γ΄"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandro_la_3-a_(papo)"
    title: "Aleksandro la 3-a (papo)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_III_(papa)"
    title: "Alejandro III (papa)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksander_III_(paavst)"
    title: "Aleksander III (paavst)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandro_III.a"
    title: "Alexandro III.a"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%BE_%D8%A7%D9%84%DA%A9%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%B1_%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%85"
    title: "پاپ الکساندر سوم"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksanteri_III_(paavi)"
    title: "Aleksanteri III (paavi)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_III_(pape)"
    title: "Alexandre III (pape)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pope_Alexander_III"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Papa_Alessandro_III"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://sr.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B0_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%80_III"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://uk.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80_III_(%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B0_%D0%A0%D0%B8%D0%BC%D1%81%D1%8C%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9)"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pous_Alexander_III"
    title: "Pous Alexander III"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born Roland in Siena sometime in the early 1100s, he rose through the Church and was elected pope on 7 September 1159 — but the election was contested. Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa backed a series of rivals, forcing Alexander to spend much of his pontificate outside Rome itself. He rejected an offer from Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos to heal the East–West Schism, sanctioned the Northern Crusades, and convened the Third Council of the Lateran. He canonized both Thomas Becket and Bernard of Clairvaux. The northern Italian city of Alessandria still carries his name. He died on 30 August 1181, having outlasted the rivals and held the office for twenty-two years.