(Lotario de' Conti) He received his early education at Rome,
studied theology at Paris, jurisprudence at Bologna, and became
a learned theologian and one of the greatest jurists of his
time. Shortly after the death of Alexander III (30 Aug., 1181)
Lotario returned to Rome and held various ecclesiastical offices
during the short reigns of Lucius III, Urban III, Gregory VIII,
and Clement III. Pope Gregory VIII ordained him subdeacon, and
Clement III created him Cardinal-Deacon of St. George in Velabro
and Sts. Sergius and Bacchus, in 1190. Later he became Cardinal-
Priest of St. Pudentiana. During the pontificate of Celestine
III (1191-1198), a member of the House of the Orsini, enemies of
the counts of Segni, he lived in retirement, probably at Anagni,
devoting himself chiefly to meditation and literary pursuits.
Celestine III died 8 January, 1198. Previous to his death he had
urged the College of Cardinals to elect Giovanni di Colonna as
his successor; but Lotario de' Conti was elected pope, at Rome,
on the ve