Pope Celestine III

Born Giacinto Bobone around 1105, he moved through the Church's ranks for decades before being elected head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States in March or April of 1191. By then he was in his mid-eighties, an age that suggested a short, quiet reign. Instead his years as Celestine III were marked by friction with the most powerful crowns in Christendom: Emperor Henry VI, King Tancred of Sicily, and King Alfonso IX of León all clashed with him over territory, authority, and the limits of papal power. He held the office until his death on 8 January 1198.