Celestine II (Latin Caelestinus), born Guido di Castello, governed the Roman Church from September 26, 1143 to March 8, 1144: a pontificate of five months and thirteen days according to Cardinal Boso's Vita Coelestini, one of the shortest of the twelfth century.[1][2][3] The successor of Innocent II and predecessor of Lucius II, he belongs to that line of rapid popes whose history preserves few acts, but whose every act reveals the real condition of the papacy after a long schism.
His biography, however, stands in contrast to this brevity. A learned cardinal and former student of Peter Abelard, Guido di Castello was one of the most cultivated men in the Roman curia. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux himself wrote to him to warn him against the attachment he still retained for his former master, condemned at the Council of Sens.[4] His learning, reputation for gravity and experience as a legate explain why he was elected without controversy, two days after the death of Innocent II.[5]
The act that dominates his short reign is diplomatic: he lifted the interdict that weighed on the places where the King of France stayed and on certain French lands, ending a crisis of several years between Rome and King Louis VII that had arisen from a conflict over the archiepiscopal see of Bourges.[6][7][8] At the same time, he refused to ratify the concessions wrung from the Holy See by Roger II of Sicily, opened a struggle he would not live long enough to pursue, and inherited a Rome in full communal revolt.
One final singularity made his name famous far beyond his actual work: Celestine II is the first pope in the famous Prophecy of the Popes attributed to Saint Malachy, under the enigmatic motto “Ex castro Tiberis” — “from a castle on the Tiber.”[9] As will be seen below, this text has no ecclesiastical authority and is generally considered a sixteenth-century forgery; but it inscribed the modest pontiff of 1143 into the Catholic prophetic imagination.
Why Does Celestine II Matter?
A Five-Month Pontificate, One Decisive Act
A reign of five months leaves no time to reform the Church, convene a council, or found a durable institution. Celestine II's importance is therefore not measured by a program, but by one single and important act: the reconciliation of the papacy with the kingdom of France. By lifting the interdict that paralyzed worship wherever the king resided, he closed a wound opened by Innocent II and restored ordinary communion between Rome and the most powerful Christian monarchy of the West.[10][11]
This gesture recalls a truth about ecclesial government: the papacy is not judged only by its great lawgivers, but also by those transitional pontiffs who knew how to defuse a conflict their predecessors had allowed to fester. Where Innocent II had hardened, Celestine pacified.
The Pope Who Restored Worship to the Places Under Interdict
In the Middle Ages, an interdict was one of the heaviest spiritual weapons: it suspended the public celebration of the sacraments in the places affected, depriving whole populations of Mass, Christian burial and the public office. Innocent II had extended it to the places where Louis VII stayed, so that the whole royal entourage came under a collective sanction; the New Catholic Encyclopedia speaks of certain French lands affected.[12][13] By lifting this sentence, Celestine II did not merely render a service to a king: he restored public worship to the populations of the affected places. In the pastoral order, and within this attested perimeter — not in the whole kingdom — that is the deepest meaning of his intervention.
The First Name in the “Prophecy of the Popes”
Finally, Celestine II occupies a special place in popular Catholic culture: he opens the list of the Prophecy of the Popes, the catalogue of 112 Latin mottos that a late tradition placed under the name of Saint Malachy of Armagh. The first motto, “Ex castro Tiberis”, designates his city of origin, Città di Castello, on the Tiber.[14] This singularity, treated below with the prudence it requires, paradoxically saved from oblivion a pope whom his brief reign would otherwise have reduced to a single line in the pontifical annals.
Guido di Castello, the Learned Cardinal
A Son of the Upper Tiber Valley
The sources do not agree perfectly on the future pope's exact birthplace. The most widespread tradition has him born in Città di Castello, the old Castrum Felicitatis (“Tifernum Tiberinum”) of the upper Tiber valley in Umbria; other ancient notices speak of Roman Tuscia, while the New Catholic Encyclopedia instead proposes Macerata, in the March of Ancona.[15][16] His date of birth is wholly unknown: one only knows that he was already advanced in age at the time of his election, which helps explain the brevity of his reign.[17]
This uncertainty is not incidental to what follows: it is precisely the traditional mention of Città di Castello, a fortified place overlooking the Tiber, that will provide the application of the first motto of the prophecy attributed to Malachy — though this late motto proves nothing about the birthplace (see the table of sources).
The Student of Peter Abelard
The most striking feature of his formation is intellectual. Guido was a disciple of Peter Abelard, the most brilliant and contested Parisian master of his day, and he himself became a reputed scholar.[18][19] The Catholic Encyclopedia summarizes his profile in these words:
“[He] united great learning with the reputation of a grave and upright priest.” — Catholic Encyclopedia, “Pope Celestine II”, 1908[20]
This attachment to Abelard was not without risk. When the master was challenged for his Trinitarian theses and condemned at the Council of Sens (around 1140-1141), Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, aware of the resistance that the condemnation met in the curia, addressed Cardinal Guido in a letter — Letter 192 — warning him not to let the affection of a former pupil make him indulgent toward his old teacher's errors:
In this letter, addressed to Cardinal Guido, Bernard warns the cardinal: out of affection for his former master, he must not show indulgence toward the doctrinal novelties that Peter's books introduce on faith.[21]
The doctrinal point deserves emphasis, because it touches the Catholic compass: Guido di Castello could admire Abelard's logical subtlety without adopting his errors. Once pope, no known act of his pontificate rehabilitates the censured theses or overturns the sentence of Sens (scope: acts recorded in the repertories consulted; Letter 192 alone would not prove the whole pontificate).[22] The episode illustrates a permanent distinction in the Church: one may esteem an intellect and frequent a school without abdicating the judgment of faith.
From Subdeacon to Cardinal (1120-1143)
Guido's Roman career is well documented by the subscriptions of papal bulls. Having entered the service of the curia — the central administration of pontifical government — as subdeacon and scriptor apostolicus (secretary responsible for drafting pontifical acts) under Callixtus II, he was created cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria in Via Lata in December 1127 by Honorius II, then promoted cardinal-priest of San Marco in December 1133 by Innocent II.[23][24] His signature appears at the foot of pontifical acts from April 3, 1130 to May 16, 1143, that is, down to the last months of Innocent II's life.[25]
This curial longevity had a political consequence: Guido had lived through the whole schism of Anacletus II (1130-1138) in the camp of Innocent II, the pope finally recognized by the West. He therefore knew from within the fractures of the Roman Church at the moment when he took its head.
A Disputed Legation and the Shadow of Arnold of Brescia
The Catholic Encyclopedia notice of 1908 makes Cardinal Guido a legate in France in 1140 — a legate being the pope's personal envoy — who allegedly incurred Saint Bernard's displeasure for the protection granted to Arnold of Brescia, the reforming monk whose attacks on the temporal power of the clergy already foreshadowed the agitation that would soon set Rome aflame.[26] This isolated attribution cannot be retained as it stands: later prosopographical surveys document for Guido only a Lombard legation in 1139, with no established evidence of a departure for France after February 1140.[27] For want of a precise identification of the cardinal who protected Arnold and of the corresponding letter, the French episode and the protection of Arnold remain an unverified hypothesis of the 1908 notice, and the psychological portrait derived from it is withdrawn. Saint Bernard's Letter 192 to Guido, for its part, is well attested — but it concerns Abelard, not Arnold.[28]
Rome in 1143: A Burdensome Inheritance
The Papacy Emerging from the Schism of Anacletus
The election of Celestine II took place only five years after the end of the schism of Anacletus II, which had divided Europe into two obediences — two rival camps each recognizing a different pope — from 1130 to 1138. Innocent II, the victor, had spent his final years reaffirming his authority, especially at the Second Lateran Council (1139), which annulled the ordinations of the rival party.[29] Celestine's pontificate inherited a papacy strengthened in law but weakened in fact, still convalescent.
The Roman Commune Rises Again on the Capitol
Above all, during the year 1143, the Romans rose and restored the Senate on the Capitol, founding the commune of Rome, which claimed the temporal government of the city against papal power.[30] This revolt, which would soon plunge Lucius II into a mortal struggle, began precisely in the last days of Innocent II and accompanied the whole brief reign of Celestine II. The new pope therefore governed a Rome contested at home, making the pacification of external fronts all the more valuable.
“Celestine II”: The Name of an Aborted Election (1124)
The very choice of name deserves a note. Nearly twenty years earlier, in December 1124, another cardinal — Teobaldo Boccapecci, cardinal-priest of Sant'Anastasia — had been regularly elected pope and had already taken the name Celestine II. But, before his consecration, an armed band from the Frangipani faction broke in and wounded him; in the tumult, their candidate, Lamberto Scannabecchi, was proclaimed under the name Honorius II.[31] Abandoned by his supporters and not having been consecrated, Boccapecci renounced.
Because this election did not reach completion, Boccapecci is not counted in the list of popes: this is why Guido di Castello could freely take the name Celestine II in 1143. The history of this name carries, in miniature, the whole violence of Roman factions in the twelfth century.
Election and Consecration (September-October 1143)
Innocent II died on September 24, 1143. Two days later, on September 26 (the 25th according to the 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia), the cardinals elected Guido di Castello without controversy — an election the New Catholic Encyclopedia calls “widely acclaimed” and Girgensohn, in the Enciclopedia dei Papi, unanimous.[32][33][34][35] He was consecrated on October 3, 1143 — Girgensohn: “the following Sunday, October 3, he was consecrated bishop and crowned pope” — by Alberic of Ostia according to the notices (Wikipedia, Catholic-Hierarchy), Girgensohn naming no consecrator.[36][37][38] The “1143 papal election” page for its part indicates a consecration on the very day of the election: an isolated variant against the notices that retain October 3.[39] The unanimous agreement of the cardinals, in an agitated Rome, testifies to the moral authority acquired by the old learned cardinal.
The Acts of a Brief Reign
In five months, Celestine II had time neither to legislate nor to convene a council. His action consists of a few precise decisions: to restore peace with France, to resist the concessions wrung from Innocent II by Roger II of Sicily, and to redirect papal diplomacy discreetly in England and in the Holy Land. Only the French reconciliation was brought to completion; the other affairs — the Sicilian conflict, the Roman communal revolt — remained open; but together they sketch the profile of a lucid pope, more conciliatory than his predecessor on one front, firmer on another.
Lifting the Interdict on France: The Bourges Affair
The major act of the pontificate belongs to a several-years-long Franco-Roman crisis, the Bourges affair. In 1141, the chapter of Bourges had elected Peter of La Châtre as archbishop, with the support of Innocent II. But the young king Louis VII had his own candidate, his chancellor Cadurc, and refused Rome's choice. According to the common account, wounded by the pope's tone, the king swore on the relics that Peter of La Châtre would never enter Bourges.[40][41] The royal candidate's name and this oath are concordantly attested by the Louis VII notice of the 1911 Britannica and the French article; verification against the primary sources (Suger, Bernard, acts) remains open. Innocent II replied by placing under interdict the places where the king stayed.
The conflict was aggravated by a second quarrel, the Vermandois affair: to allow his sister-in-law Petronilla to marry the seneschal Raoul of Vermandois, the court had the latter's first marriage annulled, setting off a war with Theobald IV of Champagne. During the royal campaign, the army burned the church of Vitry (in January 1143 according to the French notice), where the population had taken refuge — a massacre that haunted the conscience of Louis VII.[42][43]
It was on this mined ground that Celestine II intervened. The mediation is traditionally attributed to Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis and to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux — the precise role of each remaining to be verified — and, Innocent II being dead and replaced by a more conciliatory pope, Louis VII finally accepted Peter of La Châtre as archbishop of Bourges; in return, Celestine II lifted the sentence of interdict.[44][45] This point — the acceptance of Peter of La Châtre followed by the lifting of the interdict — is corroborated, including by the modern Britannica which names Suger and Bernard as mediators; the exact share of each and the precise dating of the lifting remain to be established. As for the crusade: Louis VII declared his intention only at Bourges, at Christmas 1145, and took the cross only at Vézelay, at Easter 1146, after the appeal of Eugene III (Quantum praedecessores, December 1145), departing in 1147.[46][47] To make the expiation of Vitry and the reconciliation of 1143-1144 the demonstrated motive of that departure would require a source and a chronology that the article does not provide here.
Refusal of the Treaty of Mignano Against Roger II of Sicily
If Celestine showed himself conciliatory toward France, he stiffened in the south. In 1139, after the defeat and capture of Innocent II at the Battle of Galluccio, the defeated pope had been forced to recognize Roger II as king of Sicily by the Treaty of Mignano. Celestine II refused to ratify these concessions extracted under duress.[48] This intransigence placed him “on the eve of a serious conflict with Roger of Sicily” — a conflict he did not have time to wage, since he died shortly afterward.[49]
Stephen's England, the Plantagenets and the Orders of the Holy Land
The brief pontificate left a few traces in English and eastern affairs. According to the historian Horace Mann, following here the chronicler John of Hexham, Celestine II distanced himself from King Stephen of England: convinced of the rightful claims of the house of Anjou (the Plantagenets) to the English crown, he refused to renew the legation which his predecessor had granted to Henry of Blois, the king's brother and bishop of Winchester.[50] Mann further reports that he favored the Templars, for whom he ordered a general collection, and the Hospitallers, to whom he entrusted the hospital Sancta Maria Teutonicorum in Jerusalem.[51] These modest decisions show a pope attentive to the two fronts of Christendom in his day: the English rivalry and the defense of the Holy Land. The pro-Angevin orientation is corroborated, in general terms, by Girgensohn (Enciclopedia dei Papi): Celestine “began to proceed against Stephen in favor of Matilda” — the earlier 1139 disagreement itself remaining a “si dice” in that author.[52] These points rest on Mann (pp. 107-108 and 111, English text verified against the Internet Archive scan), following the chronicler John of Hexham for England; the Jaffé references (nos. 8478 and 8472 a) are taken via Mann, without direct consultation of the Regesta, and remain cited on the sole authority of that intermediary.
Death (March 8, 1144) and the Succession of Lucius II
Celestine II died in Rome on March 8, 1144, after five months and thirteen days of reign according to Boso (fourteen days according to other notices), and was buried at the Lateran — Girgensohn specifies, following the medieval Lateran notice, that he was buried in the basilica of Saint John beside Honorius II, to whom he owed his cardinal's hat; the medieval tombs of the basilica having been destroyed, the present location of his burial remains debated.[53][54][55][56] He was immediately succeeded by Gerard Caccianemici, who took the name Lucius II.[57] Lucius would inherit head-on the revolt of the Roman commune and the Sicilian conflict left in suspense: he would die as early as 1145, reportedly from wounds received while attacking the Capitol. The rapid death of Celestine II therefore belongs to a series of short and tense pontificates that marked mid-twelfth-century Rome.
“Ex castro Tiberis”: Celestine II and the Prophecy of Saint Malachy
What the Tradition Says
The Prophecy of the Popes is a series of 112 brief Latin mottos traditionally attributed to Saint Malachy of Armagh (1094-1148), the Irish archbishop and friend of Saint Bernard. Each motto is supposed to characterize a pope, from Celestine II to a final pontiff named “Petrus Romanus”, whose reign would end amid the ruin of Rome.[58] The very first motto, attached to Celestine II, is:
“Ex castro Tiberis.” — “From a castle on the Tiber.”[59]
The application that tradition makes of it is obvious: Guido di Castello is said to have been born at Città di Castello, whose very name means “city of the castle,” on the banks of the Tiber. The motto fits this traditional origin perfectly — which, as will be seen, is also explained by composition after the fact.
What Historians Say
This attractive concordance is explained, unfortunately, by a prosaic reason. The prophecy appears in no source before 1595, the year in which the Benedictine Arnold de Wion first published it in his Lignum Vitæ, a history of the Benedictine order.[60] No document, no allusion mentions it during the four and a half centuries separating Malachy's death from that publication. Moreover, the mottos are precise for the popes before 1590 — precisely those whom the author could know — and vague or inaccurate for those who follow: the classic sign of composition after the fact (vaticinium ex eventu).
Many historians therefore see in it a probable late sixteenth-century fabrication, composed around 1590: thus M. J. O'Brien (An Historical and Critical Account of the So-called Prophecy of St. Malachy, Dublin, 1880), Patrick Healy (“St. Malachy” article in the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911), the “Malachy, St.” notice of the New Catholic Encyclopedia and Oxford Reference (“document apparently composed in 1590”), all noting the absence of any medieval attestation and the 1590 break.[61] The hypothesis of a piece composed to influence a 1590 conclave in favor of a cardinal candidate (Cardinal Simoncelli, designated by the motto “Ex antiquitate Urbis”) is often advanced, without being demonstrated: it remains a hypothesis.[62] For ancient popes like Celestine II, the author would have had no prophetic merit: he was writing after the fact, from pontifical annals that already mentioned Città di Castello. This conclusion — a late text, very probably fabricated — is a strong historical probability, not a formal demonstration: the late date of publication alone would not suffice to prove it.
A Catholic View: Prudence Without Contempt
The just position is neither credulity nor disdain. In the current state of the repertories consulted, no recognition of this prophecy as an authentic private revelation is attested, and it appears in no recorded act of the magisterium (scope: Denzinger, pontifical acts cited in the notes): it therefore does not bind the faith — it being recalled that private revelations, in general, do not belong to the deposit of faith (CCC 66-67), which by itself decides nothing of the particular case of this text.[63] No specific formal condemnation is alleged here: particular institutional verification remains open. A Catholic is therefore free to regard this text as a literary curiosity, and the historical data strongly invite that judgment.
At the same time, the very probably fabricated character of this late text does not disqualify the seriousness of true private revelations recognized by the Church, which rest on identified witnesses, investigations and ecclesial discernment. The case of the “Prophecy of Malachy” simply illustrates the constant Catholic requirement: test the spirits (1 John 4:1), and distinguish a pious fabrication from an authentic prophetic charism. That Celestine II's name opens this apocryphal catalogue is an accident of birth; it neither adds to nor subtracts from the dignity of his real pontificate.
A Pope Neither Saint Nor Blessed in the General Repertories Consulted
Unlike several of his namesakes — notably Saint Celestine I (422-432) and the future Saint Celestine V —, Celestine II bears, in the general repertories consulted (pontifical lists, Roman Martyrology, General Roman Calendar), no title of saint or blessed, and no liturgical feast is attributed to him therein (scope: the universal Church; a possible local cult, in a particular calendar, remains to be verified).[64] He belongs, in the current state of this dossier, to the long cohort of simply deceased popes, neither proclaimed saints nor controversial figures, whose personal holiness remains known to God alone — which is not a judgment, and still less a statement about his state: the absence of attested cult proves nothing more. It merely recalls that the pontifical office, by itself, does not make a saint, and that the Church canonizes only after investigation.
What This Pontificate Reveals
The lightning reign of Celestine II condenses several features of the ecclesial twelfth century. It first shows a papacy once again capable of arbitration: scarcely out of schism, the Apostolic See still knew how to untie a Franco-Roman conflict by conciliation rather than sanction. It also shows the temporal fragility of Rome, caught between the insurgent commune of the Capitol and the Norman power of Sicily — two dangers that Celestine left intact to Lucius II.
Finally, it reveals a spiritual truth that Ignispedia is glad to note: the value of a pontificate is not measured by its duration. Five months were enough to lift the interdict that weighed on the king's entourage and certain French lands.
“Diversity of ministries, but it is the same Lord.” — Saint Paul, 1 Corinthians 12:5 (Jerusalem Bible)
The history of transitional popes recalls that the Church is served as much by her great lawgivers as by those discreet pastors whose only merit, sometimes decisive, was to reopen a door that others had closed.
Timeline
- Unknown dateBirth of Guido di Castello
Birth, at a wholly unknown date, according to the dominant tradition at Città di Castello on the upper Tiber — hence the future motto “Ex castro Tiberis”.
- YouthAbelard's student
Formation under Peter Abelard (place and circumstances uncertain); Guido becomes a reputed master, then subdeacon and scriptor apostolicus (drafter of pontifical acts) in the curia under Callixtus II.
- December 1127Cardinal-deacon
Created cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria in Via Lata by Honorius II.
- December 1133Cardinal-priest of San Marco
Promoted cardinal-priest by Innocent II, whose obedience he supports during the schism of Anacletus.
- 1139Legate in Lombardy
Lombard legation attested in 1139; the 1140 French legation and the protection of Arnold of Brescia, asserted by the 1908 notice alone, remain unestablished. Saint Bernard's warning (Letter 192) concerns Abelard.
- September 26, 1143Election
Two days after the death of Innocent II, elected without controversy under the name Celestine II.
- October 3, 1143Consecration
Consecrated by Alberic of Ostia.
- 1143-1144Lifting of the interdict on France
Reconciliation with Louis VII in the Bourges affair (mediation traditionally attributed to Suger and to Bernard; precise dating unestablished).
- March 8, 1144Death in Rome
Death after five months and thirteen days; burial at the Lateran. Lucius II succeeds him.
The Sources: A Secure Core and Debated Points
The secure core is narrow but solid: Celestine II reigned for about five and a half months in 1143-1144; he had been Abelard's student; he lifted the interdict that weighed on the king's entourage and certain French lands; he refused the Treaty of Mignano; he died on March 8, 1144 and was replaced by Lucius II. These facts agree in the reference repertories — Catholic Encyclopedia, New Catholic Encyclopedia, Encyclopædia Britannica —, the death and succession resting in addition on Boso's Vita Coelestini, verified directly in Watterich (vol. II, p. 276).[65][66][67][68][69] The bull subscriptions recorded by the cardinal prosopographies (Catholic-Hierarchy) prove, for their part, only Guido's curial career before his election, not his pontifical decisions.[70]
Some points remain debated. The table below summarizes the principal divergences between sources, which stem from the age and imprecision of medieval notices.
| Debated point | Versions in the sources | Position retained |
|---|---|---|
| Birthplace | Città di Castello (dominant tradition, taken up notably by the 1911 Britannica: “Guido of Città di Castello (Tiferno), born of noble Tuscan family”); Roman Tuscia (Catholic Enc.); Macerata, March of Ancona (New Cath. Enc.) | Città di Castello, as the dominant tradition based on biographical notices — without making the late motto Ex castro Tiberis a proof [71] |
| Date of election | September 26, 1143 (Wikipedia; New Cath. Enc.: pontificate dated Sept. 26, 1143 to Mar. 8, 1144, election “two days after the death of Innocent II”); September 25 (Catholic Enc.: “He succeeded Innocent II, 25 September, 1143”) | September 26, 1143 (two days after the death of Innocent II, on the 24th)[72] |
| Date of consecration | October 3, 1143 (Wikipedia, Catholic-Hierarchy; elected on the 25th and consecrated on the 3rd according to Catholic365; confirmed by Girgensohn: “consecrated bishop and crowned pope”); consecration “on the same day” as the election (“1143 papal election” page) | October 3, 1143 (the consecrator Alberic of Ostia being named only by the notices: identification to be verified, Girgensohn not naming him); “same day” variant noted[73][74] |
| Burial | Lateran (all notices); Girgensohn following the medieval Lateran notice: beside Honorius II; medieval tombs destroyed, remains gathered in a polyandrion | Burial at the Lateran, beside Honorius II according to the medieval notice; present location debated[75][76] |
| Date of birth | Unknown; pope “already aged” at election | Indeterminate |
| Year of the cardinal's hat | December 1127 (New Cath. Enc., Wikipedia/Mann); 1128 (Catholic Enc., Celestine II art.) | December 1127 (cardinal-deacon attested by subscriptions from 1130) |
| Length of reign | “Five months and thirteen days” (Wikipedia, following Mann; Boso's Vita Coelestini, Watterich II, 276); “five months and twelve days” (Catholic Enc., Lucius II art.); “about six months” (Catholic Enc., Celestine II art.; New Cath. Enc.); “fourteen days” according to other notices (Baronius-Theiner 18, sub anno 1144) | Five months and thirteen days (September 26, 1143 – March 8, 1144)[77] |
For the pontificate itself, contemporary narrative sources are meagre: the essential rests on the pontifical catalogues and the modern repertories that exploit them.[78][79] For the Prophecy of the Popes, the only primary source is Arnold de Wion's Lignum Vitæ (1595), whose late character grounds the critical judgment of historians.[80] Documentary coverage is not fully secured: the identification of Alberic of Ostia as consecrator and the exact circumstances of the aborted December 1124 election (Teobaldo's wounds, date discrepancy) remain open points; the Lateran burial, for its part, is corroborated by Girgensohn following the medieval notice (beside Honorius II), only the present location remaining debated because of the destruction of the tombs (see table and notes).
Further Reading
- Pope Innocent II — immediate predecessor, victor of the schism of Anacletus and author of the interdict on France.
- Pope Lucius II — successor, carried away by the struggle against the Roman commune.
- Pope Honorius II — the pope who made Guido a cardinal, elected in 1124 after the aborted election of Teobaldo Boccapecci.
- Pope Saint Celestine I (422-432) — the first pope of this name, not to be confused with Celestine II.
- Pope Clement II (1046-1047) — another very brief pontificate, illuminating the papacy of transition.
- Second Lateran Council (1139) — the council that closed the schism of Anacletus, just before Celestine II's election.
Notes and References
Catholic Encyclopedia, “Pope Celestine II”, vol. 3, New York, Robert Appleton Company, 1908; text reproduced on New Advent: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03478a.htm (consulted June 8, 2026; English text verified on the page October 4, 2026). Verbatim: “He was a disciple of Abelard, and added to great learning the reputation of a grave and upright priest”; “He succeeded Innocent II, 25 September, 1143”. Origin in Roman Tuscia, cardinal's hat in 1128, legate in France in 1140 (protection of Arnold of Brescia, displeasure of Saint Bernard), lifting of the interdict on France, death on March 8, 1144 on the eve of a conflict with Roger of Sicily.
1 6 10 18 20 26 49 57 66 78“Pope Celestine II”, Wikipedia (en), consulted June 8, 2026: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Celestine_II. Birth at Città di Castello, subdeacon and scriptor under Callixtus II, cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria in Via Lata (Dec. 1127, Honorius II), cardinal-priest of San Marco (Dec. 1133, Innocent II), election on September 26, 1143, consecration on October 3, 1143 by Alberic of Ostia, refusal to ratify the Treaty of Mignano, distance from Stephen of England, favor toward the Templars and Hospitallers, death on March 8, 1144, burial at the Lateran (the English text, following Mann p. 111, specifies the south transept — a location now debated, see latran-tombeaux note), first motto in the prophecy of Malachy.
2 15 29 30 33 36 48 53Documentary page “Sede Vacante 1144”: “He had reigned for five months and thirteen days [Watterich, p. 276; Baronius-Theiner 18, sub anno 1144, no. 1, p. 621 (or fourteen days, in other sources)]”, reign dated September 26, 1143 to March 8, 1144. The page distinguishes the death apud Palladium (monastery of the Palladium, on the Palatine — after Ciaconius, with no source cited: “periit Coelestinus apud Palladium”; taken up by modern notices: Saint-Sebastian monastery, on the Palatine) and the burial at the Lateran according to Cardinal Boso's Vita Coelestini. http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1144.html (consulted October 4, 2026). Primary source verified directly October 4, 2026 (Internet Archive scan, item “bub_gb_O2Tm63Ex6AMC”): Vita Coelestini II a Bosone cardinali conscripta, in Watterich, Pontificum Romanorum vitae, vol. II (Leipzig, 1862), p. 276 — verbatim: “Coelestinus II, natione Tuscus, patria de castro Felicitatis qui et Guido, presbyter cardinalis tituli sancti Marci, sedit mens. V. d. XIII”; “Defunctus est Romae apud Palladium VIII. id. martii; in ecclesia Lateranensi tumulatus”. Also cited in the bibliography by the New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 2, pp. 276-278.
3 34 55 65 69 72 77Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Letter 192 (Epistola CXCII), addressed to Cardinal Guido di Castello, cardinal-priest of Saint Mark (around 1140), on the errors of Peter Abelard. Content verified October 4, 2026 via Horace K. Mann, The Lives of the Popes in the Middle Ages, vol. 9, p. 105: “St. Bernard wrote to warn him so to love Abelard as not to love his errors, reminding him that "he did not question his goodness in asking him to prefer no one to Christ in Christ's own cause"” (ref. “Ep. 192”). Latin text: Patrologia Latina, vol. 182 (column not directly verified: no verbal quotation from Bernard is given here). The body presents the content as paraphrase, without quotation marks.
4 21 22 28New Catholic Encyclopedia, “Celestine II, Pope”; text reproduced on Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/celestine-ii-pope (consulted June 8, 2026; English text verified on the page October 4, 2026). Verbatim: “Pontificate: Sept. 26, 1143 to Mar. 8, 1144”; “presumably at Macerata in the March of Ancona”; “His election without controversy two days after the death of Innocent II was widely acclaimed”; “already an old man”. Cardinal-deacon in 1127 and cardinal-priest in 1134, lifting of the interdict after the submission of Louis VII in the Bourges affair. Bibliography of the article: Watterich, Pontificum Romanorum vitae, vol. 2, pp. 276-278.
5 11 13 16 17 19 24 32 67 79“Louis VII le Jeune”, Wikipédia (fr), consulted June 8, 2026: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_VII_le_Jeune. Bourges conflict (1141), election of Peter of La Châtre supported by Innocent II, opposition of the king and oath on relics, pontifical interdict, affair of the marriage of Raoul of Vermandois and Petronilla, war of Champagne, burning of the church of Vitry (January 1143), mediation of Bernard of Clairvaux and Suger, final acceptance of Peter of La Châtre and taking of the cross for the Second Crusade.
7 12 40 42 44 46Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Celestine II (pope)”: pontificate September 26, 1143 - March 8, 1144, student of Abelard who remained on good terms with him after Sens, lifting (through the mediation of Suger and Bernard) of the interdict that Innocent II had laid in 1141 upon the places sheltering Louis VII. Page consulted June 8, 2026: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Celestine-II-pope.
8 45 68“Prophecy of the Popes”, Wikipedia (en), consulted June 8, 2026: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecy_of_the_Popes. Series of 112 Latin mottos attributed to Saint Malachy (1094-1148), from Celestine II to “Petrus Romanus”; first publication by the Benedictine Arnold de Wion in the Lignum Vitæ (Venice, 1595); first motto “Ex castro Tiberis” applied to Celestine II (Città di Castello, on the Tiber); absence of any attestation before 1595, precision of mottos down to popes of about 1590 then vague character: common hypothesis of a pseudepigraphic fabrication composed around 1590, with the undemonstrated hypothesis of a maneuver in favor of Cardinal Simoncelli at the 1590 conclave.
9 14 58 59 60 62 80David M. Cheney, “Pope Celestine II (Guido di Castello)”, Catholic-Hierarchy.org: cardinal titles, dates of bull subscriptions (April 3, 1130 - December 21, 1133, then January 11, 1134 - May 16, 1143), consecration on October 3, 1143. https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bcstllg.html (consulted June 8, 2026).
23 25 37 70Dieter Girgensohn, “CELESTINO II”, Enciclopedia dei Papi, Rome, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 2000, vol. II, pp. 272-276 (text verified directly October 4, 2026 on treccani.it: https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/celestino-ii_(Enciclopedia-dei-Papi)/). Verbatim: “né di certo soggiornò in Francia ma svolse invece una legazione in Lombardia” — evidence: document issued September 24, 1139 at Piacenza — and “Dopo il febbraio 1140 non abbiamo prove che Guido si sia assentato un'altra volta dalla Curia pontificia”. Arnold of Brescia is never named in the article. Only the 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia notice therefore asserts the 1140 French legation and the protection of Arnold.
27“1124 papal election” and “Teobaldo Boccapecci (Pope-elect Celestine II)”, Wikipedia (en), consulted June 8, 2026: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1124_papal_election. Teobaldo Boccapecci, cardinal-priest of Sant'Anastasia, elected on December 16, 1124 under the name Celestine II, attacked and wounded by the Frangipani faction before his consecration; in the confusion, Lamberto Scannabecchi was proclaimed and then, after renunciations, elected and consecrated Honorius II on December 21, 1124. Since he was not consecrated, Boccapecci is not counted among the popes.
31Dieter Girgensohn, “CELESTINO II”, Enciclopedia dei Papi, Rome, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 2000, vol. II, pp. 272-276 (text verified directly October 4, 2026 on treccani.it: https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/celestino-ii_(Enciclopedia-dei-Papi)/). Verbatim: “il 26 settembre, i cardinali elessero unanimemente Guido de Castello”; “La domenica successiva, il 3 ottobre, fu consacrato vescovo e incoronato papa” (without naming the consecrator); “cominciò a procedere contro Stefano a favore di Matilde” (England; the earlier 1139 disagreement remaining a “si dice”); death “l'8 marzo 1144 a Roma” in the “Palladium, cioè nel monastero di S. Maria in Pallara alle falde del Palatino”; “Fu sepolto nella basilica di S. Giovanni in Laterano a fianco di Onorio II al quale doveva la sua elezione a cardinale”. Its bibliography cites notably Jaffé, Regesta, vol. II, pp. 1-7 (without the precise references 8478/8472 a).
35 38 52 56 74 75“1143 papal election”, Wikipedia (en): election of Guido di Castello on September 26, 1143 at the Lateran, consecration “on the same day” — an isolated variant against October 3 by Alberic of Ostia retained by “Pope Celestine II” (infobox), Catholic-Hierarchy and Catholic365 (“Guido was elected on 25 September and consecrated on the third of October”). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1143_papal_election (consulted October 4, 2026).
39 73Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed. (1911), art. “Louis VII of France”: “The archbishopric of Bourges became vacant, and the king supported as candidate the chancellor Cadurc, against the pope's nominee Pierre de la Châtre, swearing upon relics that so long as he lived Pierre should never enter Bourges. This brought the interdict upon the king's lands.” War with Theobald of Champagne (1142-1144), capture of Vitry (“many persons perished in the burning of the church”, with no month specified — January 1143 according to the French notice alone), crusade declaration at Bourges on Christmas Day 1145 and Bernard's preaching at Vézelay (Easter 1146). Text verified on Wikisource October 4, 2026: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Louis_VII._of_France.
41 43 47Horace K. Mann, The Lives of the Popes in the Middle Ages, vol. 9 (1130-1159), London, Kegan Paul (St. Louis, B. Herder): English text verified directly October 4, 2026 against the Internet Archive scan (item “mann-the-lives-of-the-popes-in-the-early-middle-ages-v-9”). Pp. 107-108: opposition to the concessions to Roger of Sicily and to the recognition of Stephen, “convinced of the justice of the claims of the house of Anjou to the English crown”, refusal to renew the legation granted to “Henry of Winchester”, after the chronicler John of Hexham (“alumnus Andegavensium”); death and burial section (p. 111): “Celestine favoured both the Templars, ordering a general collection for them (Jaffé, 8478), and the Hospitallers, placing under their care the hospital of St Mary Teutonicorum (ib. 8472 a, ii. p. 758)”. The Jaffé references (8478, 8472 a) are taken via Mann; Jaffé (Regesta Pontificum Romanorum) was not consulted directly and primary verification remains open.
50 51“Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran”, Wikipedia (en), section on pontifical burials: the popes whose tombs were destroyed include Celestine II (1143-1144) — the remains of the burned tombs were gathered and reburied in a polyandrion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbasilica_of_Saint_John_Lateran (consulted October 3, 2026).
54 76M. J. O'Brien, An Historical and Critical Account of the So-called Prophecy of St. Malachy Regarding the Succession of Popes (Dublin, Gill, 1880); “St. Malachy” article in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1911, P. Healy); “Malachy, St.” notice in the New Catholic Encyclopedia (reproduced on Encyclopedia.com: first appearance in A. Wion's Lignum vitae, Venice, 1595; mottos plainly derived from the popes for 1143-1590 then very vague); Oxford Reference, “Prophecies of Malachy” (“document apparently composed in 1590”). Common points noted: no medieval attestation, break around 1590, conclusion of a sixteenth-century fabrication — probable, not formally demonstrated. The Church has no official position on this text (within the scope of the repertories consulted).
61Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 66-67: private revelations do not belong to the deposit of faith and add nothing to it. This text governs the general status of private revelations, not the authenticity of the “prophecy of Malachy” in particular.
63Scope: general pontifical lists, Martyrologium Romanum (Typis Vaticanis, 2004), Calendarium Romanum Generale. In these general repertories, Celestine II (1143-1144) bears no title of saint or blessed and no feast is attributed to him in the universal calendar. Particular calendars (dioceses, religious orders) have not been examined: a possible local cult remains to be verified.
64Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed. (1911), art. “Celestine (popes)”: “Celestine II., pope in 1143–1144. Guido of Città di Castello (Tiferno), born of noble Tuscan family, able and learned, studied under Abelard”. Text verified on Wikisource October 4, 2026.
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