Papal election, October 1187

The papal election of October 21, 1187 was a papal election convoked after the death of Pope Urban III. It resulted in the election of Cardinal Alberto Sartori di Morra, who took the name of Gregory VIII.

List of participants

At the death of Pope Urban III there were probably 23 cardinals. Basing on the countersigning of the papal bulls in October 1187 it is possible to establish that probably 13 of them participated in the election of successor of Urban III:

Elector	Place of birth	Cardinalatial title	Elevated	Elevator	Notes
Henri de Marsiac, O.Cist.	Château de Marcy, France	Bishop of Albano	March 1179	Aleksander III	Declined the election to the papacy
Paolo Scolari	Rome	Bishop of Palestrina	September 21, 1179	Alexander III	Archpriest of the patriarchal Liberian Basilica; future Pope Clement III (1187-1191)
Thibaud, O.S.B.Cluny	France	Bishop of Ostia e Velletri	1184	Lucius III
Alberto di Morra, Can.Reg.Praem.	Benevento	Priest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina and Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church	December 21, 1156	Adrian IV	Protopriest; elected Pope Gregory VIII
Pietro de Bono, C.R.S.M.R.	Rome	Priest of S. Susanna	March 18, 1166	Alexander III
Laborante de Panormo	Pontormo	Priest of S. Maria in Trastevere	September 21, 1173	Alexander III
Melior le Maitre, O.S.B.Vall.	Pisa	Priest of SS. Giovanni e Paolo	March 16, 1185	Lucius III	Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church
Adelardo Cattaneo	Verona	Priest of S. Marcello	March 16, 1185	Lucius III	Future bishop of Verona (1188-1214)
Giacinto Bobone Orsini	Rome	Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin	December 22, 1144	Lucius II	Protodeacon; future Pope Celestine III (1191-1198)
Graziano da Pisa	Pisa	Deacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano	March 4, 1178	Alexander III
Ottaviano di Paoli	Rome	Deacon of SS. Sergio e Bacco	December 18, 1182	Lucius III	Future bishop of Ostia e Velletri (1189-1206)
Pietro Diana	Piacenza	Deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere	March 16, 1185	Lucius III
Radulf Nigellus	probably France	Deacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro	March 16, 1185	Lucius III

Six electors were created by Pope Lucius III, five by Pope Alexander III, one by Pope Lucius II and one by Pope Adrian IV.

Absentee cardinals

Probably ten cardinals were absent:

Elector	Place of birth	Cardinalatial title	Elevated	Elevator	Notes
Konrad von Wittelsbach	Bavaria	Bishop of Sabina and Archbishop of Mainz	December 18, 1165	Alexander III	Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals (external cardinal)
Giovanni Conti da Anagni	Anagni	Priest of S. Marco	1158/1159	Adrian IV	Protopriest; future bishop of Palestrina (1190-1196)
Guillaume aux Blanches Mains	France	Priest of S. Sabina and Archbishop of Reims	March 1179	Alexander III	Minister of State of the Kingdom of France; external cardinal
Ruggiero di San Severino	San Severino	Priest of S. Eusebio and Archbishop of Benevento	Ca. 1178-1180	Alexander III	External cardinal
Albino, C.R.S.F.	Gaeta (?)	Priest of S. Croce in Gerusalemme	December 18, 1182	Lucius III	Future bishop of Albano (1189-1197)
Pandolfo	Lucca	Priest of SS. XII Apostoli	December 18, 1182	Lucius III
Soffredo	Pistoia	Deacon of S. Maria in Via Lata	December 18, 1182	Lucius III	Papal legate in France
Bobo	Rome	Deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria	December 18, 1182	Lucius III	Papal legate in France; future bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina (1189-1190)
Gerardo	Lucca	Deacon of S. Adriano	December 18, 1182	Lucius III	Papal Vicar; Cardinal-nephew (?) of Lucius III
Rolando	Pisa	Deacon of S. Maria in Portico	March 16, 1185	Lucius III	Former bishop-elect of Dol (1177-1185)

Six absentees were created by Lucius III, three by Alexander III, and one by Adrian IV.

Death of Urban III and the election of Pope Gregory VIII

Pope Urban III died at Ferrara on October 20, 1187. On the following day thirteen cardinals present on his deathbed started proceedings to elect his successor. There were three candidates to the papal throne: Henri de Marsiac, Paolo Scolari and Alberto di Morra. However, Henri de Marsiac refused the papal tiara, while Paolo Scolari was excluded because he was seriously ill at that time, so there remained only the old papal chancellor Alberto di Morra. On October 21, 1187 he was unanimously elected pope and took the name Gregory VIII.