Below is a list of all of the popes who reigned during the thirteenth century. The first number is which pope they were. This is followed by their chosen name, the starting and ending dates of their reigns, and finally the number of years they were pope. Follow the links to read short biographies of each pope and learn about what they did, what they believed, and what impact they had on the course of the Roman Catholic Church.
177. Innocent III:
January 8, 1198 - June 16, 1216 (18 years, 6 months)
Shortly after his election, Pope Innocent III took advantage of a power vacuum in Germany to reassert papal authority in Rome and take control away from the German government.
178. Honorius III:
July 18, 1216 - March 18, 1227 (10 years)
Pope Honorius III was old and in poor health when he was elected, but nevertheless he reigned for almost eleven years and managed to accomplish quite a lot during that time. His two main goal were to maintain papal authority over lands in Italy and to resist the incursions of heresy throughout Christendom.
179. Gregory IX:
March 19, 1227 - August 22, 1241 (14 years, 6 months)
Gregory IX was a compromise candidate who quickly made use of his power by placing Emperor Frederic under the ban of the church on the 29th of September, 1227 for failing to fulfill his oath to set out on a crusade to the Holy Land.
180. Celestine IV:
October 25, 1241 - November 10, 1241 (16 days)
Celestine was already old and infirm when he was elected. The cardinals had been locked in a conclave for two months when they finally chose him as a compromise candidate. At the time there were only 10 cardinals available to meet in conclave and they were evenly divided.
181. Innocent IV:
June 25, 1243 - December 7, 1254 (11 years)
Pope Innocent IV inherited a plethora of political troubles between the papacy and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Frederick had so often delayed setting out on a crusade that Pope Gregory IX had excommunicated him and even went so far as to depose him as king in Germany.
182. Alexander IV:
December 12, 1254 - May 25, 1261 (5 years)
A nephew of Pope Gregory IX, Alexander IV made a number of serious political blunders which ensured him the enmity of several important European rulers. On the other hand, he did show favor towards the mendicant orders.
183. Urban IV:
August 29, 1261 - October 2, 1264 (3 years)
Urban IV was elected in a conclave that included just eight cardinals, and even then he was only elected after bitter fighting among them.
184. Clement IV:
February 5, 1265 - November 19, 1268 (3 years)
Before, became a priest in 1256 (when his wife died), Gui Folques was a respected jurist under King Louis IX. After his ordination, he quickly climbed the Church hierarchy and was appointed bishop in 1257. A position as archbishop came two years later and cardinal another two years after that.
185. Blessed Gregory X:
September 1, 1271 - January 10, 1276 (4 years)
The election of Gregory X occured while he, as archeacon of Liege, was a pilgrimage to Saint Jean d'Acre during a crusade with Prince Edward of England. As a result, he was not consecrated until the next year; the date of his consecration is often used as the beginning of his pontificate.
186. Blessed Innocent V:
January 21 1276- June 22, 1276 (1 month)
Innocent V was the first Dominican monk to ever rise to the papacy. Because the Dominican habit was white, Innocent also started the traditionof the pope wearing a white cassock.
187. Adrian V:
July 11, 1276 - August 18, 1276 (5 weeks)
Adrian V occupies an interesting position in the history of the papacy. Because of how brief his "reign" was, he was never ordained a priest (he was only a deacon at the time of his election).
