Lucius

Lucius, the name of three popes.

Lucius I., pope for eight months (253-254), spent a short period of his pontificate in exile. He is referred to in several letters of Cyprian (see Epist. lxviii. 5) as having been in agreement with his predecessor Cornelius in preferring the milder view on the question as to how the lapsed penitent should be treated. He is commemorated on the 4th of March.

(L. D.*)

Lucius II. (Gherardo Caccianemici dal Orso), pope from the 12th of March 1144 to the 15th of February 1145, a Bolognese, successively canon at his native city, cardinal priest of Sta Croce in Gerusalemme, treasurer of the Roman Church, papal legate in Germany for Honorius II., chancellor and librarian under Innocent II., was the successor of Celestine II. His stormy pontificate was marked by the erection of a revolutionary republic at Rome which sought to deprive the pope of his temporal power, and by the recognition of papal suzerainty over Portugal. He was succeeded by Eugenius III.

His letters are in J. P. Migne, Patrol. Lat. vol. 179. A single unreliable writer, Godfrey of Viterbo (in J. M. Watterich, Pontif. Roman. Vitae), is authority for the statement that Lucius II. perished in an attempt to storm the Capitol. See Jaffé-Wittenbach, Regesta pontif. Roman. (1885-1888); J. Langen, Geschichte der römischen Kirche von Gregor VII. bis Innocenz III. (Bonn, 1893); F. Gregorovius, Rome in the Middle Ages, vol. 4, trans. by Mrs G. W. Hamilton (London, 1896).

Lucius III. (Ubaldo Allucingoli), pope from the 1st of September 1181 to the 25th of November 1185, a native of Lucca and a Cistercian monk, named cardinal-priest of Sta Prassede by Innocent II. and cardinal-bishop of Ostia and Velletri by Adrian IV., succeeded Alexander III. He lived at Rome from November 1181 to March 1182, but dissensions in the city compelled him to pass the remainder of his pontificate in exile, mainly at Velletri, Anagni and Verona. He disputed with the emperor Frederick I. the disposal of the territories of the Countess Matilda. In November 1184 he held a synod at Verona which condemned the Cathari, Paterines, Waldensians and Arnoldists, and anathematized all heretics and their abettors. Lucius died in the midst of preparations for a crusade in answer to appeals of Baldwin IV. of Jerusalem. His successor was Urban III.

His letters are in J. P. Migne, Patrol. Lat. vol. 201. Consult J. M. Watterich, Pontif. Roman. Vitae, vol. 2 (Leipzig, 1862); and Jaffé-Wattenbach, Regesta Pontif. Roman. (1885-1888). See J. Langen, Geschichte der römischen Kirche von Gregor VII. bis Innocenz III. (Bonn, 1893); F. Gregorovius, Rome in the Middle Ages, vol. 4, trans. by Mrs G. W. Hamilton (London, 1896); P. Scheffer-Boichorst, “Zu den mathildinischen Schenkungen,” in Mittheilungen des österreichen Instituts (1888).

(C. H. Ha.)